Secret Agent Spy Party

Your mission: Throw your child a great spy-themed birthday party. Secret codes, high security, everyone knows the password to fun is 'spy party'!

If your child is a fan of Spy Kids, Agent Cody Banks, Mission Impossible, James Bond or Totally Spies, a Spy Party is sure to make your Secret Agent's special day be the best birthday ever!

Scroll down the page to see all the ideas for this party, or click a link below to move directly to that area:

Secret Agent Invitations
Spy Party Decorations
Spy Party Tableware
Spy Party Food & Snacks
Secret Agent Birthday Cakes
Secret Agent Games & Activities
Secret Agent Party Favors

Secret Agent Birthday Party Invitations

Secret Code Invitations

These are so easy to make yourself! First you need to create a secret code. The easiest way to do this is with a font like Wingdings. Type the letter of the alphabet in the Wingdings font, then type the actual letter below the symbol created by the font. Each symbol is the code version of the letter below it. [view sample of cipher card - opens in new window]

Then you create the invitation, putting certain words into code (just using the Wingdings font to type them). Send each guest the invitation and a Cipher Card so they can translate the coded words. The Cipher Cards can also be used for the Secret Code party game. See Secret Agent Birthday Party Games & Activities (below) for details.

You can download a sheet of Cipher Cards which use the Wingdings font here in .doc format: ciphercards.doc
They are ready to be printed on business card paper.

Try out this text for your invitations, putting the words in [brackets] into your font code:

Attention all Secret Agents: Your presence is requested for a Top Secret mission. There is a [birthday party] for Agent 0025. Password for entry is [password]. Use the cipher card to decode secret words. See full mission details on the other side of this document.

Print the party details on the reverse side - child's name, party date, location, etc. Add an official looking seal or logo to finish it off! The example shows the CIA seal - you can see the CIA seal and learn more about it at https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/k-5th-grade/the-cia-seal/index.html

Sample spy party invitation:

Spy Party Decorations

You can set up the party room as 'Headquarters' or 'Top Secret Base' - post a sign saying so over the door. Be sure to add some 'Authorized Personnel Only' signs too!

Another fun option is to get a small cardboard box. Cut a hole - about eye-sized - on one side. Place a min-flashlight inside, pointing up so it illuminates the hole without blinding anyone! Set up the box child-level outside the party room, with a sign that says 'Retina Scanner'. Partygoers have to pass the eye scan before entering! You can add a small pad for a thumbprint scan too.

Crime Scene Tape or yellow Caution Tape also makes for great Spy Party decorations. Place it strategically around the area.

You can also add a chalk-outlined victim to the sidewalk or driveway outside if you're having the party at home. If you don't want bodies lying around:) try chalk shoeprints leading up to the door instead!

Spy Party Tableware

Black tableware is a great choice for your Spy Party - Mysterious and sophisticated, just like all the best Secret Agents! Try black plates with silver cups and napkins for a hi-tech look!

Spy Party Food & Snacks

For those suave kids who prefer their party beverages shaken, not stirred, try serving Shirley Temples in plastic martini glasses (available at most party supply stores). You don't have to call them Shirley Temples - not a terribly cool name for a Secret Agent drink! Call them whatever you like, add a couple of cherries to a plastic sword, and you'll have the most sophisticated spies around!

What food would you feed your Junior Secret Agents? Email your ideas to ideas@thebestbirthday.com!

Secret Agent Birthday Cakes

For your Spy-themed birthday, bake a cake that's really 'the bomb'! This cake is easy to do... you just need a sports ball cake (see left).

Follow the directions for the pan, then frost black (you can add black paste food coloring to chocolate frosting for a good, true black). The cake in the picture had black licorice added to the top to make the base for the fuse. The fuse is actually tall, slender candles. At the very top of this page is a picture of a bomb cake with the candles lit - yikes!

If you don't want to do black frosting - it does color your teeth! - you can frost this cake with chocolate frosting. See a picture of a Spy Party Bomb Cake with chocolate frosting. (opens in a new window - may not work if you have a popup blocker installed)

Secret Agent Birthday Party Games & Activities

Secret Agent ID Cards
Fingerprinting
Diffuse the Bomb
Secret Mission
Obstacle Course
Pinata

Secret Agent ID Cards

Make an ID card with space for important information - name, code name, specialties, etc which you can print up for each child. Let them fill in the blanks when they get there. You can leave space for a photo, then take one with a digital camera as the guests arrive, print them off, and put them on the cards. An easy way to do this is to print the pictures on sticker paper, then just cut them out and stick them to the card. If you create business card-sized ID cards, you can print them on business card paper, which separates easily - no cutting!

You can also print a free Junior Special Agent handbook on the FBI website at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/partnerships_and_outreach/community_outreach/jragent_pg1.




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Fingerprinting

Have your Secret Agents take turns fingerprinting each other. Just for fun, do it on an FBI fingerprint card, which you can get at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks/standard-fingerprint-form-fd-258

You can get a free 'Junior Fingerprint Expert' card to print from the FBI website at http://www.fbi.gov/fun-games/kids/about_resources/fingerprint_credentials.pdf

*Be aware that fingerprinting can be messy! Do it somewhere easy to clean up, and make sure you have an adult ready with wet paper towels, rubbing alcohol, or good old soap & water to clean those inky fingers!

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Diffuse the Bomb

Take either the goody bags or prizes and tie a long piece of yarn to each one. String the pieces of yarn across the room, going over, under, and around the other pieces of yarn - as well as any furniture you'd like to include in this crazy maze! - leaving the ends of the yarn available for the party guests.

Each guest takes an end and has to follow their 'wire' all the way to the other end to 'diffuse the bomb' and collect their prize! This game can get a little crazy, but kids love it. It also works well as an outdoor game.

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Secret Mission

All spies need a mission! Send partygoers on a quest to locate their goody bags or other prizes. Give each guest a pencil and paper and a Cipher Card. Instructions for the Cipher Cards & Secret Code are in the 'Invitation' area of this page.

Before the party, you need to create a series of small cards with instructions written in code. The instructions are actually the names of locations where you have hidden other instruction cards with additional locations.

The first card gives a location to look for the hidden items (under a chair, on the bookcase, etc). They have to decode the message using the cipher cards to find the location.

When they arrive at the location, there is another card waiting for them. The second card has further instructions (under the couch, or whatever you like).

Send them to 4 or 5 places - how many you choose should depend on the age/attention span of party guests! Eventually they arrive at the location of the goodies!

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Obstacle Course

Everyone knows that Secret Agents must be in top physical condition! Send your junior spies on a mission that will test their strength and stamina with an obstacle course.

Outdoor obstacle courses can include balance beams (2x4 laid on the ground), water hazards (wading pools) - whatever you can think of!

Indoor obstacle courses are fun, too. A blanket laid over two chairs has amused kids for generations:) You can include a mini trampoline, tunnels of cardboard boxes - whatever you can fit into the space available!

Consider giving certificates after completing the obstacle course, saying they completed their spy training.


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Pinata

For a great Spy Party pinata - get a bomb! Not a real bomb of course, a pinata that looks like one of those old cartoon bombs. Bomb pinatas are not so easy to find, so what you need to do is buy a round pinata - like a baseball pinata - and simply spray paint it black. For a little added flair, you can glue a piece of string to the top for a fuse, and paint a nuclear symbol or something similar on the side. Now let your Secret Agents put it out of commission!

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Secret

Agent Birthday Party Favors

Badge & ID Holder

Police Badges

Handcuffs - Check out these great Metal Handcuffs

Disguise items - Sunglasses, hats, fake mustaches, etc.

Squirt guns or toy guns

Toy binoculars

Army men

Notepads & Pens

You can put party favors into a big manila office envelope and mark the outside 'Top Secret', 'Confidential', or 'For Your Eyes Only'.