A Mystery Party.
That's right, a mystery. And we're not talking Clue and who done it? here. I'm talking about a party where the attendees have no idea what's happening next, when, where or how. To best explain, let me run down the pre-party organization involved.
1. Birthday Girl/Boy selects guest list. This should be kept to a short list for a few reasons. The party involves driving the kids to different places and - yes - by different places it also entails several entrance fees or charges that come across making it less economical than doing a party at home with a lot of kids. Make sure you have parent contact info for the guests as you'll be working with them on this.
2. Contact Guests' Parents. You need to collaborate on a day that works with everyone. I plan to do my daughter's party on a day where we have the whole day to do things. This could also be done for an evening/school night party though it might not go as many places but still be fun! You can decide whether to come up with a specific time frame when talking to parents or work on that after you've made the activity list in step 3.
3. Activity Planning. Brainstorm a list of different things that your child enjoys and throw in a few that they may never thing of or don't know about. Then sort the list based on time of day they can be done, weigh costs, and solidify the specific things you want to accomplish with the party. Some other things to consider would be the need to eat throughout the day - will you be going out to eat, packing a picnic, or stopping by the house for a meal cooked by someone else? You may also want to consider the gift giving part of the party. Should each gift be given at once or along the way as you go to different stops.
I've made a list of different places and activities to consider from the list I came up with for my own daughter's party:
- Bowling
- Movie
- Hiking
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Dessert/Cake/Ice Cream Stop
- Bike Ride
- Snow Shoe
- Swimming
- Rock Climbing
- Museums
- Photo Shoots
- Mall Walking/Shopping Spree
- Parks
- Zoo
- Corn Maze
- Amusement Park
- Fishing
- Library
- Indoor Skydiving
4. Make invitations. In our case, my daughter found some cute invitations she wants to hand out, so I didn't need to make the actual invitation. The part that the parent needs to make is the supply list. Each girl should be asked to pack a bag (backpack would probably be best) with a specific list of items in it. The list can include items needed for the mystery or just random things to throw them off. I keep telling my daughter she'll need to pack a swimsuit and hiking boots but that doesn't mean we'll end up in a pool or on a hike. What other adventures could you have with those items? The girls will start to brainstorm all kinds of crazy ideas and still have no clue of the intended plan (ie. Why did mom tell me to pack a horse pick? Am I really going to be using superglue today?). Be sure to follow up with the other parents at this point to make sure they know exactly where you'll be and when in case of emergency.
5. It's time to party - or is it? I'm not feeling this ambitious, but if you want to psyke out your kid, spend a day or two acting like its the party day even when it isn't. Ask them if they've packed their bag yet. Better yet - if you know they haven't, wake them up early and make them get in the car (pj's and all) just to drive around the block while asking "Did you remember your birthday bag?" It'll probably make them mad for a bit, but will throw off the idea that they knew it was coming. That and they'll be sure to pack their bags.
6. Laying the clues. It would be a nice extra touch to come up with clues for where the trip is going to lead your party. You could put them in cute envelopes and pass out as the time comes or go a step further and coordinate with your end destinations to have them planted for your arrival.
7. Yes, it's really party time. You have two options on the day of the party. 1) Act like a normal morning and don't tell them about the party until after breakfast. Or 2) wake your child up early (like in step 5) to go take them out to breakfast in their pj's. That's the method I plan to do. Once the birthday girl/boy is ready to go - bag and all - drive around to pick up their friends. Depending on the time of morning, your child may get the privilege of waking their friends up and dragging them out just like you did to them! After that the day is yours. So, now it's time to reveal my so-called day plan. Since my daughter isn't quite aware of this blog, I'll post my ideas as I'm thinking them and then tweak if we go a different route at the party. Nothing like posting the big surprise for the world to see and she doesn't even know it's out there!
Sample Mystery Party Plan
6:00AM - Wake up birthday girl using the ol' frying pan and wooden spoon drum method.
6:15AM - Get in car wearing pjs (Don't forget bag)
6:30AM - Pick up other party guests (and bags)
7:15AM - Breakfast at Waffle House
8:30AM - Back to house to change into real clothes
9:30AM - Bike ride in park
(Perfect time to have a new bike waiting with a friend's parent who brought all bikes.)
10:15AM - Mid-morning snack and possible coffee run for the driver.
10:30AM - Rock Climbing at the Rec Center
Noon - Lunch picnic at a different park
12:30PM - Photo Shoot at Littleton Museum (Each girl would get a camera to use at this time.)
2:00PM - Continue Photo Shoot at the Mall - Each girl chooses an outfit for themselves and one for the birthday girl. They try them on and take pictures. No shopping involved! (I used to do this with my friends in high school and it was a blast.)
3:30PM - Cool off in the Rec Center Pool (a different location if you have more than one)
5:30PM - Dinner - Restaurant TBD (Good guest present time.)
6:30PM - Cake & Ice Cream at a different restaurant (or brought to dinner if allowed). My daughter wants an ice cream cake from one of several places, so I'm not telling her where it's from or what type it'll be.
7:00PM - Tired yet? Movie Time! (aka. Nap for mom) or Scrapbook the pictures at home.
~10:00PM - Drop guests off at their houses. Possibly arrange to drop the birthday girl off at one of their houses for a sleepover. That way you can get some much needed zzz's.
A few obvious things will jump out after looking at this schedule. The driver/party host/parent is going to be exhausted at the end. The kids will probably be, too. And when it's all said and done, the day-long party doesn't have to be that expensive! Also, the kids may take longer or shorter times than listed. Maybe it turns out they really like to ride bikes and want to do it for a couple hours. I'll be prepared to eliminate some items or make the times shorter. The kids will never know as they didn't know what was happening in the first place. For this reason alone, I wouldn't anticipate purchasing any tickets for activities until we arrive (in case there's no time for a movie!).
Whew! I can't imagine how an actual sleepover might top a party like this. The kids are sure to be talking about it before and after the party day. Now it's time for me to build the supply list for my daughter's actual party. Stay tuned for a re-cap. What would you pack in the party bag?
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