Rainbow Detective Agency Activity Packet

ACTIVITY SUMMARY

Set up a super fun activity where kid detectives find a secret code, solve clues, and find treasure at the end.

BACKGROUND

Last year I created a detective crime solving activity for my cousin’s three kids who love puzzles. The activity was a big hit and my cousin’s oldest son even asked me to create another activity for him for his birthday party. I felt like the coolest aunt in the world!! With “social distancing” from COVID-19 forcing my friends with kids into their homes, I figured this was the perfect activity to pull out and surprise some of them at the doorstep.

HOW IT WORKS

1. A parent/caregiver (aka “Head Detective”) hides a secret code in a room or designated area (portion of a house, outside, etc..). There are 26 small pieces of paper each with a letter and a symbol for that letter.

2. Once the code is hidden, the kids (aka “detectives”) are given their instructions envelope

3. The detectives find all 26 pieces of paper called “evidence” AND collect 6 other items of evidence from around the house in a bag. Because of the Rainbow theme…there must be one item from each color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. All the items must fit in their collection bag and it can be anything they are allowed to pick up and put in a bag (aka probably no tiny dogs or steak knives, etc..).

4. Once the kids show the “head detective” they collected all the evidence, they are given Clue #1 or all the Clues, depending on how the game is set up.

5. Each clue is written in the secret code language and the “detectives” must use the 26 pieces of paper to crack the code and solve the clues.

6. The Clues can either all work together to lead to the treasure ( example: clue #1: “Look”, clue #2:“Under” clue #3:“The” clue #4:“Mailbox”) OR can lead you from one clue to the next and then to the treasure (clue #1 “Find Clue #2 in a brown bag in the kitchen”; Clue #2 “look under the blue table” to Clue #3 to Clue #4). Obviously more words and places the detectives are led to the longer and harder the game will be.

7. At the end, the detectives will find gold (because its Leprechaun themed). The first time we did this activity, we made cookies with gold sprinkles. When I made it for my neighbors, we painted rocks gold and put glitter on them.

Here was the video I made about this project to share with my neighbors. Even with kids, it gives a pretty good synopsis.

TWO WAYS TO PLAY

PRE-MADE CLUE METHOD: Since I was surprising my neighbors with this packet on their doorstep, I wanted to give as little instruction to the parents as possible. I decided all the clues would work together and point the detectives to the base of their mailbox, where the gold was hidden.

The mailbox was the simplest place I could hide stuff in all of my neighbor’s yards. I figured everyone had a mailbox, so everyone got the same four clues: clue #1: “Look”, clue #2:“Under” clue #3:“The” clue #4:“Mailbox.”

We told the parents they were the “head detective” and had to look at their envelope first. Inside their envelope was 26 pieces of paper/code and their directions. Their directions told them to hide the 26 letters, give the “Case Instructions” envelope to the detectives. and then give all four clues to the detectives after the detectives found the evidence.

CUSTOM CLUE METHOD: When I created the game the first time for my cousin’s kids (I had to google the technical term here…they are my first cousins once removed, but I digress…), I worked with my cousin to create long, elaborate clues, like: “go to the brown bench built into a stone wall” and each clue led to another envelope with another clue until finally they led to the kitchen where there were cookies. If you are doing custom clues for older kids you could make the clues into rhymes and riddles that need to be solved to add a level of fun and challenge to the game.

So, to create a custom clue method, you will probably want to use an easier ABC code than the one I made for the “Pre-Made Clue Method”, especially one that you can just write by hand. I wouldn’t want to cut and paste pictures or icons in a word document for every letter if I’m writing lengthy clues. AND being able to write the clues by hand means you don’t have to print out your clues. So, I have included a different Code for the Custom Clue Method.

YOU WILL NEED

Here are all the supplies, BUT I forgot to lay out the “Detective Instruction Letter” AND my plastic evidence bag. You can actually see the letter in the first image in the blog. (And see the bag in the attached video)

• Scissors

• Tape

• String or Yarn to wrap about the packaging and make it look official

• Ziplock bag or any type of Bag for Evidence (detectives must collect items in each color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.)

• GOLD! (get creative, in the past I have (1) made gold cookies with edible gold sprinkles and on a separate occasion (2) painted rocks gold and covered them with glitter - With younger kids you may want to involve them in the process of making the gold and THEN hide the gold and give them clues to find it…with older kids, it may be more fun just to surprise them all together with the activity and treasure at the end)

• Printer (OR you could just hand write on envelopes and make it more DIY…like I did the first time)

• 5 Business size Envelopes (I used #10 Size)

• 1 A6 Envelope or similar

• 1 Manila Envelope

• A Secret Code (handwritten or icon option or make your own)

• Top Secret Agency Page (Cover Page)

• 4 Clue Envelope Covers (Clue 1 & 2 and Clue 3 & 4)

• 4 Clues (create your own or print this optional one)

• Envelope Cover for the Detective “Case Instructions” (print)

• Detective Case Instructions Letter (or edit mine using this google doc)

• Envelope Cover for the Head Detective (OPTIONAL)

• Instructions for the Head Detective (OPTIONAL)

MORE INFORMATION ON THE DOWNLOADABLES

• Detective Agency (Alphabet) Code -

  • WITH ICONS and cut lines (jpg)

  • WITH ICONS in Google drive (so you can copy and edit and create to make your own clues on the computer)

  • WITH EASY HANDWRITTEN CODE (so you can use to hand write clues)

  • WITH BLANK CODE (so you can write your own)

• Detective Agency (Alphabet) Code - WITH easy Handwritten Code w/cut lines

• OPTIONAL: Pre-Made Clue Sheet from ICONS with cut lines

  • (this spells out “ Look,” “Under,” “The,” “Mailbox”)

• Top Secret Agency Page (Cover Page)

  • This gets taped to a large manila envelope or wraps around all of the other envelopes with a piece of tape or ribbon.

• Clue 1 & Clue 2 Envelope Covers

  • These are each taped to the front of a long business envelope. You will stick the clues you either print or hand write in their correct envelope.

• Clue 3 & Clue 4 Envelope Covers

  • These are each taped to the front of a long business envelope. You will stick the clues you either print or hand write in their correct envelope.

• Case Instructions & Head Detective Envelope Cover + Instructions for Head Detective

  • The Case Instructions will be cut out and taped to the front of a long business envelope. Inside the envelope you will put the Detective Instruction Letter.

  • The Head Detective Envelope Cover + Instructions are OPTIONAL and only used if you are giving this packet to someone else and don’t hide the code yourself.

  • If you are giving the packet to someone else, you would put this in a regular sized envelope with the Head Detective Cover taped on line and the instructions cut out and placed inside with the 26 piece code.

• Detective Case Instruction Letter

  • If you want to customize this letter, I have included a google doc here. You can copy this and create your own.

Below you will find photos from our most recent Rainbow Detective Agency Project with designed printables:

Below you will find photos from the first time I created this project. It was all hand written and I put the Alphabet code inside Easter Eggs.