10 Awesome Mystery Activities for Kids

You can get your kids into incredible adventures by letting them participate in mystery games. The games are reported to have started in the 1st half of the 19th century and have gained momentum since then. The gamers evolve through setting a problem or a puzzle and letting your kid solve them as either a true detective or a lifesaver. Each age group has a specific mystery game in which one can comfortably participate. Here is a detailed explanation of the ten awesome mystery activities for kids.

10. Funskool Scotland Yard Board Game

Kids best play the game in elementary and middle school, and it can also involve parents. It requires 3-6 players who are challenged to track down a Mr. X as he wanders through London City. It is a breathtaking game of racing, dodging, cornering, and chasing the suspect. As the players track down Mr. X, they have to pick up buses, taxis, and subways in different parts of the city.

A complete game set includes a playing board, playing pieces, a log book, cards, and travel tickets. All its components come in assorted colors, making it very appealing for children to watch. The game not only helps kids to improve their analysis skills but also guides them to improve on how they utilize different transport systems.

9. Educational Escape Room Game

The game allows kids to solve math problems, identify the real culprits, and eliminate suspects. It is appropriate for kids in elementary school. The Teachers Pay Teachers, defines it as a circular mystery challenge that keeps kids engaged, challenged and investigating from its start to the end.

Kids will work their way through 4 clues as they keep on eliminating a suspect. It is available both in printable and digital versions. It comes with five suspect posters, a suspect tracking sheet, and four clues. The game is played step by step, i.e., before you proceed to the next clue, you must exhaust the level you are in.

8. Easter Egg Math with a Hundred Chart

These math games use a hundred’s charts to practice addition, counting, recognition, and other number-related activities. It can be best played by kids who are in pre-school and at the elementary level. For you to play the game, you shall need:

• Plastic Easter eggs
• 2 copies of a hundred charts (one can download the chart)
• Scissors and
• Crayons / Markers

How to Play

Let your kid cut out the numbers from your numbered chart. Place the cut-out numbers into your Easter plastic eggs and divide them into almost equal sizes. Have your kid break out the egg and have him choose a number, say it loud, and they should find it in the chart. In addition, you can have them color the number they have identified. Repeat the above procedure until all eggs are used.

7. Mystery at the Lux Museum

Kids love this game because it is inspired by an escape from a room. 1-6 players play it, which is appropriate for elementary and middle school kids. It involves solving the problem of finding something missing in the museum. This features a full-color board, secret messages, and complex challenges. It is one of the most appropriate games for a birthday party. The kids get to solve puzzles and a mystery of perplexing things. When purchasing the game, you will find that it has maps, museum maps, model statues, stamps, pictures, ciphers, and other directional features. The game lasts between one to two hours. The research parent recommends the game for parents and children.

6. Spy Alley

The game has won many titles, including the Australian Game of the Year Award. It is appropriate for kids aged eight years and over and is played by 2-6 people. The game is one the funniest to be undertaken by families. It involves high levels of deception, and it keeps one second-guessing what their opponents’ next move is. The play box comes with six spy identification cards, pens, money, a game board, and markers. To play the game, you need to follow the following basic steps.

Every player should assign themselves a secret identity. Every player should collect a codebook, key, disguise, and password that fits the identity they had picked. It will help them to land in the winner’s square. Once you purchase an item, the player will put a peg at the designated hole on their scoreboard. If another player fails to mention your identity before you put it onto the scoreboard, you are out of the game. The most bluffing part is when you start buying things you do not even need. The winner is the one who has the highest on their scoreboard, and they managed not to identify.

5. Outfoxed!

The Outfoxed! is appropriate for kids aged five years and above. Your kid can play it with only 2-4 others. On average, the game takes between 20-30 minutes to play and fits kids with shorter attention spans very well. The game is based on attempting to catch a Fox before it escapes with Mrs. Plumpert’s (a unique character of the game) pot pie.

The kid will have to do so by eliminating one suspect after the other until they get the naughty guy. The game box comes with 16 thief cards, 16 suspects, four detective hats, two clue markers, one fox, one clue detector, three custom dice, and one game board which is beautifully designed. Setting up the game is a seven-step procedure outlined in the Kids Activities.

How To Play

In a clockwise manner, the person with the most recently eaten pie shall lead the others in picking all the dice and stating where you want to reveal the suspects or search for clues. If the dice you picked cannot reveal the suspect, the thief shall move three steps forward. The game comes to an end when the fox beats all the players and arrives at the foxhole space; all the players have discarded their cards, or when one of the players can reveal the thief.

4. Escape the Room Stargazer’s Manor

The game is also made by ThinkFun and is appropriate for kids aged ten and above. It takes 3-8 players to play. The game’s box has a clear instruction booklet, five sealed envelopes, a scene card, secret items hidden inside, and a solution wheel. The game’s storyline is that you were once employed by an astronomer who fired you after a long service. Your former employer has grown old and lives in a house with odd noises and alien-like lightning that keeps escaping through the windows. The kid and other investigators will enter the mansion to uncover the secrets that have been hidden in it.

How to Play

Use the clues and solve the puzzles in each envelope and across different cards. The game ends when you escape the room and solve everything.

3. Cat Crimes

ThinkFun makes Cat Crime. The company is famous for making games that combine complex challenges with a quirky and fun theme. This game is suitable for kids who are eight years and above, and a single player can only play it. The game box comes with six crime tokens, six cat games, an all-inclusive instruction manual, and 40 challenges, along with their solutions. The game is such that it addresses the needs of beginners and those who have experience. It features different cats with varying characteristics, and then it comes with instructions on finding the criminal cat. The player aims to identify the culprit cat.

How to Play

Choose a challenge card. Put your corresponding crime token onto the game board. Read the multitude of clues about the chosen challenge card challenge. Using the detective’s reasoning, you shall be required to determine where each cat was sitting when the crime occurred. You will only win if you identify which cat was sitting in front of the crime token.

2. Printable Detective Party Games for Kids

The inspiration behind the game is that someone steals goodies at a party, and the kid has to look where they are. It is appropriate for kids who are aged 8-14. The games come with ten ready-to-print eye-catching challenges. Each trickster makes two statements, one being the truth and the other the lie. First, the kids must find all the statements they should record on their statement sheet to complete the challenge, and they should get each statement right.

Each challenge comes in different forms. It might be a puzzle, Wordplay, mazes, and riddles, among other sets. To play the printable detective party game, you shall need Scissors, glue, white rice, single hole punch, and pennies. In addition, you shall need (but optional): brown paper, an apple, nail, dime, rock, an envelope, and a watch. You can make several challenges using the material. For example, a tangram puzzle that has strategically placed holes punched into them. You win the game by correctly putting the scattered letters together, and then you glue them to form an orderly structure.

1. The Secret Door

The secret door has been tailored to suit children five years and above. The Family Pastimes make it. To play the secret box, you need one to eight players if you want to enjoy maximumly. The secret box contains a full-color game board, clock cards, a set of valuables, a rule book, and the elusive secret door.

The game’s idea is that the valuables are stolen from a mansion, and the kid is tasked with finding them. If they fail to find them by midnight (when the clock strikes 12), then all the items will have gone with the thieves. To set up the game, you need to take out the object cards from the deck. Mix the three object cards with the other 12 clock cards. Place them onto the spots on the game board.

How to play

To start the game, one person should turn over two cards in an attempt to form a match. Each player takes their turn in turning over the two cards to achieve the maximum number of matches. Add a clock card to the time row if it is turned over. Repeat step 3 until you reveal the 12th clock card. When it is revealed, the game comes to an end. After the end of the game, every player must find out which three cards were removed at the beginning, the cards that were spotted, and any pairs that were created.

What are Some of the Benefits of Your Kids Playing Mystery Games?

Foremost, mystery games can help supplement your kid’s learning in school. They develop a high level of analyzing different social problems, and this prepares them to be better people in their lives. In addition, they come with the natural game value of getting your kids into constructive play; by doing so, they will avoid engaging in social vices.

Kids who engage in these activities are likely going to have or improve their concentration spans. Parental-kid bonding also improves when both parties are involved in gaming. Lastly, another benefit of playing mystery games is that they mainly include playing in groups and improve kids’ intersocial skills.

In Conclusion

Now you know the ten awesome mystery games in which your kids can get involved. As demonstrated in our discussion, it is clear that they have far-reaching benefits for your kids. Kids can play them at their school level or at home under the guidance of parents or their older siblings.

Unlike many games which you must buy, some mystery games are available on downloadable forms, and you can quickly get them from the internet. They also use readily available material, which teaches our kids how to recycle home items and get maximum enjoyment from them. For the lovers of mystery games, ours remains a significant role in waiting to see how their production companies will better their performance and interactions with users.

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