20 Awesome Detective Activities for Kids

Kids are born learners and are naturally curious. This explains why they love solving mysteries. Moreover, kids are eager to figure things out, discover, and explore. Therefore detective activities are a great way to enhance problem-solving and deductive reasoning skills. They also encourage communication, organization, and cooperation skills. Examples of detective activities include board games, escape room challenges, solving murder mystery games, and many more. Here are the 20 awesome detective activities for kids.

20. Making Secret Message Using Lemon Juice, Grape Fruit Juice, and Paper

Your kids can engage in writing various secret messages using different substances. They include baking powder, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice. Moreover, you will use a cotton swab or paintbrush to write the message on paper carefully. Then you will help the kids put the paper between two sheets and then iron the sheets politely. Iron the sheets for two minutes and remove the paper to see the secret message. You can also burn the paper lightly on a candle to see the secret message.

19. Playing the Detective Puzzle Game for Kids

Kids like playing secret agent or spy games. They enjoy sneaking on people and completing secret missions. In addition, kids like pretending to be secret agents and stopping a crime or solving a murder mystery. This puzzle game is free and printable. You can help the kid read directions or explain the game to your kids. It involves some eyewitness reporting that six people stole a diamond. Now the secret agent’s job is to find the suspects based on descriptions given by eyewitnesses. Moreover, this game helps improve problem-solving, visual discrimination, and scanning skills.

18. Creating an Escape Room Puzzle for your Kids to Solve

Escape rooms have puzzles that need solving to get the key so that you escape. You kid will rely on critical thinking, logic, and visualization to solve the escape room puzzle. Furthermore, it can be fun sometimes, and other times it can be frustrating. Each puzzle in this game leads to another clue, and eventually, you find the key. You can make an easy puzzle quest for your kid or medium, depending on your kid’s ability to solve puzzles. In addition, you can use anything to make escape room puzzles. You only need to be topic specific in the puzzle quest.

17. Playing the Scotland Yard Game with your Kids

The Scotland Yard is a classical board game that needs three to six players. Therefore you can play it as a family. It involves tracking down Mr. X, who keeps moving around London city. It is a game that improves your kid’s problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The Scotland Yard game set includes travel tickets, cards, playing pieces, a log book, and a playing board. One player will be Mr. X, and the rest will be Scotland Yard agents. Additionally, the agents will be chasing, cornering, racing, and dodging through London, looking for Mr. X. The agents will move through London using taxis, subways, and taxis.

16. Creating an excellent Crime Scene Set Up for Kids in Your Home

A crime scene setup is a good way to teach your kids inference skills. It also strengthens your kid’s ability to read comprehension. According to Poet Prints, your child learns to observe and draw conclusions. It also improves the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of the kid. The kid will also learn how to look for clues and how they relate with one another. Moreover, your kid’s concentration will improve because solving a crime scene needs one to pay attention to details.

15. Creating Laser Lights (Sprinkle Water) and Kids Walking Through Them without Being Zapped

In this game, if you have a backyard or a front lawn, your kids can use it for this activity. Instead of using laser light, you will only need a water sprinkler. The kids can try and move through the water sprinkler without being zapped by water. This activity promotes concentration, balance, and accuracy. You will also have to be creative and move fast for the water not to zap you. Moreover, you can play these games as a family, and whoever gets zapped is removed from the game until you get a win.

14. You can engage your Kids in Playing Nature Detective

You will give your kids a list of different items such as trees, plants, flowers, and bugs found in your neighborhood. Then you can help your kid check them from the list by providing clues of different items. If your kids are in elementary, you can make the clues simple. However, if your kid is in middle or high school, make the clues difficult. You can award them points for every clue that they find a correct item. At the end of the game, you can analyze how many items they found correct. Additionally, you can put a time limit on the game.

13. You can play the Host Mystery Night Game as Family

Older kids like playing murder mystery games. However, for young children, something that is less creepy would be fun for them. Moreover, depending on the kids’ ages, you can play a night game known as “who stole cookies from the jar?” You can write up clues for the kids and hide them in the house. Some of the kids will be suspects, and others kids can be detectives. Additionally, you can guide the detective kids to ask the right questions while interrogating the suspects. You will be amazed by the funny answers and questions from both ends.

12. Playing the Cooperative Whodunit Game to Solve the Fingerprint Puzzle

This mystery game will require your kid to use visual perception and decisive reasoning skills. The fingerprint puzzle can be difficult and frustrating to solve. Moreover, according to Growing Play, the game involves matching fingerprints to find the thief. You will cut the six identification cards for your kids and hide them in the house. The kids will look for the identification cards and match the fingerprints. The suspect whose prints will be missing is the one who stole the diamond.

11. Playing the “where are going game” in the House or Around the Neighborhood

This game is fun to play, especially with young children. It would help if you blindfold the kid and let your kid use other senses to determine your location or area. Additionally, this game will improve your kids listening skills and concentration. The fun part of this game is guessing the wrong things depending on what you are smelling or hearing. Kids find it fun, and you also need to think critically to make the correct guess. Moreover, playing the game in different parts of the house is more fun.

10. Playing I Spy Games (Earth Day) with Your Kids to Improve Their Observation Skills

Kids are fascinated by of smallest things. You engage your kid in I Spy games such as Earth Day. The Earth Day game involves counting the number of items you see on the paper. Moreover, the advantage of this game is that you can play with two or three people. This game improves the observation skills of your kid. Your kid also learns to pay attention to details in the paper. To be a good detective, you must have top-notch observation skills. In addition, the advantage of this game is that you can print it out.

9. Playing the Taste Detective Game with Different Foods

Kids have a high degree of taste and can differentiate foods. In this game, you will purchase various foods such as milk, water, tomato sauce, peanut butter, and juice. Moreover, the game is not limited to these foods. You can use different foods. You will remove the labels, blindfold your kid, and allow the kid to taste the different foods. For each correct answer, award your kid a point. Furthermore, the importance of this game is developing critical thinking skills and improving your kid’s ability to remember things.

8. Playing the Smell Test Challenge Using Different Scents

The smell test challenge is fun, and you do not have to spend any penny. You can use whatever you have at home. You will use a cotton wool ball to swab the smell of perfume, cooking oil, vinegar, lemon, and mint. Moreover, according to PBS, smelling test helps to teach kids observation and critical thinking skills. You will award the points for every cotton swab your child gets correct. If the kid has an eighty percent score at the end of the game, feel free to award the kid. It means your kid has a sharp sense of smell. In addition, a smell test improves the ability of your kid’s mind to remember things.

7. Creating Finger Prints Using Honey, Baking Soda, or Baking Powder

Creating fingerprints is an easy and fun activity to do with your kids. You put a small quantity of honey on their fingertip. Then using a piece of cloth, wipe off the excess honey. Additionally, you will press the kid’s finger on a smooth surface like a vase, glass, tabletop, or doorknob.

You will sprinkle baking soda on the surface with the fingerprint. Then you will use a brush to remove excess powder. After you are done dusting, you will see the fingerprint. Additionally, you can transfer the print to paper by carefully putting tape on the area. Then you will lift it carefully and place it on the paper. If your powder is blue, your fingerprints will be blue.

6. Estimating and Accuracy Game by Determining the Number of Candies in Jar

Estimation is a unique skill that, as a detective, you need to have. Estimations are used every day to determine value or time spent time. Therefore you can engage your kid in some estimation activity to improve your kid’s accuracy in estimation and critical thinking skills. You will use a different jar and put candies inside. For each jar, you will fill it with different amounts of candies. After that, you can request your kid to give you an estimate of each jar. Moreover, you can count the candies in each jar after your kid is done. This will help determine how far or close your kid came to being correct.

5. Playing the Theme Tray-Finding Commonality in Things

The Theme Tray game is a critical thinking activity. It involves the kid finding a common theme in the things presented in a tray. This game shows how it is important to know how things relate to one another. In addition, being a detective, in some cases, you will have to find a commonality for you to solve them. You can use the various items at home. For example, you will put a calculator, ruler, and protractor in a tray. Here the theme is numbers. All the items in the tray have numbers. Moreover, you can have a tray with a glue stick, tape, mod podge, and tacky glue. The theme of this tray will be sticky.

4. Playing the Spot Difference Game to Determine Authenticity of a Picture

The spot difference game involves identifying the difference between two images. You compare the features of the two images to determine which image is authentic. Moreover, according to Download Cnet, this game can be played by all age groups. This game needs you to be keen on noting the deceptive pictures’ differences. Sometimes it can be challenging to see any differences between the pictures. In addition, you play the online spot difference game or create one for your kids.

3. Making Secret Agent Identification Cards for Kids

You can engage your kid in making a secret agent ID. You will need an I.D. template, a pen, paper, and a camera to take a picture. Additionally, you can show your kid how to make the I.D. template and allow the kid to write the details. Allow your kid to be creative with the design. Creating the I.D. makes the kids feel they are real detectives and ready to stop any criminal activity. Moreover, it is also a good way of enhancing their imagination and creativity.

2. Engage your Kid in Color Matching Activity

You can use materials or manila papers. You will cut small pieces of different manila papers. Ensure there are two pieces of manila paper for each color. Then, mix the small pieces and put them in a tray.

After you finish mixing the papers, give your kid to collect small pieces of manila having the same color. This is a good way to know if your kid knows colors. Moreover, knowing color in detective work is vital for easily identifying people, objects, or materials.

1. Playing Animal Track Memory Game for Kids

The Animal track Memory game involves matching animal tracks or prints with the animals. The game is a twist on the former memory game. Moreover, you can create your version of this game, provided you have a printer and paper. The advantage of this game is that it promotes critical and creative thinking. It also increases your kid’s ability to remember things. Moreover, the game seems easy, but it can be frustrating if your kid cannot remember which animal tracks belong to which animal.

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