19449

Hollywood Sleepover Mystery -13yr- Super Sundaes

February 2009

Amy in Harford, CT, USA

Special Mention

For my daughter's 13th birthday she insisted on having a murder mystery party. She didn't want just any mystery party, it had to be glam. That is how I came up with a Hollywood themed party. My daughter wanted only a few of her closest friends to come but this party could be just as fun with more people.

INVITATONS: for the invitations I chose to do a simple card that I made on word. It said You Are Invited to a Night of Bright Lights, Big Stars, and (my daughter's name) at the (our last name) Awards! Please come dressed in formal attire. Dressing up is just a suggestion but my daughter and her 11 friends loved it!

DECORATIONS: For this party not much decorating is involved. My husband and I decided that most of the party was going to happen in our large finished basement because it is very big, open, and easy to clean. The day before the party, my daughter and I prepared the room by taking everything out of the room. In our basement, there is a home theater. We decided that that would be our center piece and we ended up making a background on the computer to project onto it to make it look the Oscars. Then we hung red pieces of fabric along side of the home theater to make it look like a stage. Comfortable chairs (they were all matching) were lined in neat rows and behind the chairs were small round tables from all over our house that were to be used for food and drinks. I also got red, black and gold balloons because those were our party colors. In the back, we had a white sheet put up and a red carpet leading to the seats. Gold stars and glitter were also everywhere. Of course you can always add more decorations but the party is still just as fun without as many.

THE PARTY (includes everything else like cake and food): My daughter's friends arrived at four o'clock in the afternoon. They enjoyed walking down the red carpet and showing off their dresses. I was surprised by how dressed up they got; one girl even wore a floor length gown!! Once everyone had arrived, we took pictures in front of the backdrop. The pictures were developed that night to give out as party favors. Then a game called what star am I? was played. I taped a famous person's name on the girls backs so they couldn't see. Everyone went around asking questions about who they were. The catch was that all the questions have to be yes or no. This game was great for the girls to get to know each other and loosen up a little. Next came the short films. The girls were slit up into teams of 3 so there were 4 teams.

Each team was given three items that they had to use in there short skit. They had 20 min. to make up and practice the skit that could be no longer then 5 min. long. Some of the items were a brush, a bra, a blanket, a wooden spoon and other household items. They had lots of fun doing this activity and loved to perform it for everyone. Once everyone was done performing, it was about 5:30 so we had dinner. The girls could sit in chairs or stand, it didn't matter. My daughter chose to serve small finger foods like pigs in a blanket, chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks. The girls were also delighted to have champagne" (sparkling cider or sprite) and ate everything quickly. Small munchies such as chips cookies and candy were left out during the party on the back tables.

The next thing we did was the mystery part even thought the guests didn't know about the mystery before the party. I pretended I was the host of the _______ awards and I pretended to go and get the awards and acted like I was shocked because they weren't there. The awards were on display (cheap fake Oscars from the party store) during the party and I snuck them away when the girls were eating. I told them that the awards were stolen from somebody in the room because nobody else had been near the awards since they were stolen. Then I said that if we wanted the awards to be given out and the party to go on then we would have to figure out who stole the awards what there motive was and finally where they were hidden.

Each guest was given a clipboard and paper to take notes on. Then the first rounds of clues were given out. Each girl got one envelope per round that was unique to them and their character. Inside the envelope was a sheet of paper that had a list of four things to share with everyone and three things to keep a secret. The catch was that if somebody asked you a question that may provide useful information you must tell the truth and no lies. It is important that you tell the truth even if you stretch it a little. The girls mingled for a few min. asking each other question. This round was meant to find out who stole the awards. It was very fun because the girls didn't know if they had stolen the awards because I didn't tell the person who had "stolen" them.

After round 1 we had super duper ice cream sundaes. My daughter doesn't enjoy cake and wanted to have an easier more laid back dessert. Another benefit of having ice cream is that it is cheaper and everyone can have what they like. The 2 round which focused on why the thief took the awards was basically the same as the first. Everyone was given there cards and they mingled trying to find out information. All conclusions that the girls made were kept a secret until the end. The final round was a group round where the group went on a search (kind of like a treasure hunt) for the awards using the first clue I found and gave to them. Once they found them the awards were brought back downstairs and everyone said who they thought stole them and what there motive was. I revealed who the thief was and gave out the awards to everyone.

This game is better for older kids because they take it lightheartedly and still have fun. I made up all the clues because I wanted the game to go a certain way and I wanted it to be appropriate for the age group. You can also easily buy mystery packs online so you don't have to do the work. After the mystery was done it was about eight o'clock so I let the girls change into their pj's and watch a movie. I have no idea what they did after the movie but I assume they were just being girls. This part of the party doesn't need to be supervised so you can do a little cleaning up. In the morning we ate star shaped pancakes with chocolate chips and donuts. Our guests were picked up at nine thirty and at that time I gave them the goodie bags which included their award the photo lip gloss a star key chain the clipboard they were given and a bag of candy. This party was a lot of fun and the best part was seeing how the girls worked as a team in the mystery and to see the smiles on their faces. Many of the parents emailed me and told me how much fun their daughter had and where I got the party idea from. The party was a huge hit!"

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