Behind the Scenes: A Secret Agent Spy Party

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My daughter requested a spy party this year for her birthday, and as our planning got underway, the whole family couldn’t help but fall in love with “Secret Agent L’s Birthday Mission.” As you may have guessed from previous posts, my family actively enjoys planning and hosting parties. We create many things ourselves and purchase items to make our lives a little less chaotic in the days leading up to the bash. This year was no different, and plans began during the summer for L’s big day. Here are some of the highlights.

The Invitation

The invitations set the scene for the party, and I believe wholeheartedly in sending them the good old-fashioned way – through the mail. I designed this simple one, and it only required black ink. A quick search on Amazon for a Confidential red stamp, and they were ready to go.spy party invitation

The Details

The weekend began with us realizing that we would need to plan for an indoor party as most of Sunday looked like a wash-out. My husband and I quickly transformed our modest home into a usable space for 24 seven-year-olds. I began to give myself a pep talk as the anxiety set in: “I can host 24 kids in my house. It won’t get too crazy.” As is the story of my life, the rain ended up holding out despite the 80% rain forecast the night before. C’est la vie! We had already embraced the indoor party and were going to rock it as best we could!

Each guest received a spy code name upon entering and a spy identification card to wear. I also had downloaded a cool finger scanner app on my iPad that I used at our family party, but unfortunately, it wasn’t practical with that many kiddos coming in all at once. I always plan an opening craft to keep little hands busy as guests trickle in. They sat down to create their very own spy notebook. Over the summer, our VBS camp made journals similar to these, and I snagged this easy idea as it required no messy glue or markers.

After making their notebooks, they learned of their mission by cracking a code. I used a number to alphabet code. They had to find the missing goody bags! This seemed to be the common theme to every spy party I could Google, so we joined along. The kids then had to complete tasks to prove their spy skills. We played a game of Solve the Clues with these awesome buzzers (also purchased on Amazon), where the kids competed in four teams to guess different popular characters from the clues given. We then played a Pass the Dynamite game that was modified for indoor fun. Then the crew was divided in half; some went for target practice off our deck with my husband using water grenades and the rest with me for a laser maze and dance party.

Spy party
Little B in the laser maze at our family party.

Overall, the party was a blast! And what was in those mysterious missing goody bags? An invisible ink pen, magnifying glass, dusting powder candy, and a candy watch. Highly doubtful that we would ever have an indoor party for that many kids again, but everyone had a good time, including the birthday girl. Highly recommend the spy theme as it was great for both genders and super fun to plan.

IMG_5439  spy party

Have you ever thrown a themed party? We would love for you to share the details!

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Shannon
Shannon has lived in Fairfield County, CT for most of her life and currently lives in Monroe. She has a daughter L (September, 2008) and a son B (May, 2012). Shannon balances being a wife and mom with working 186 days out of the year as a special education teacher. Thank goodness for vacations, summer break, and snow days! You can be sure that she fills those days with as many amazing activities and outings that she can think of to make up for the time that she is at work. In a distant life, way before babies, Shannon was an aspiring actress and musician. You can sometimes still find her leading sing-a-longs with her guitar at the kids’ playgroups or at her daughter’s school.

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