Looking for a fun idea to do with the kids during quarantine? How about a Mystery Dinner based on the board game/movie, Clue. I’ve provided all the free printables needed.
My two teens, two of their cousins, and I had so much fun doing this, so I wanted to share the idea.
In advance…
I gave each attendee a Character Sheet with their character’s name, personality, weapon, and a list of things they had to say/do at some point during the event.
You can download Character Sheets here.
One person was the “Murderer.” That is listed on their Character sheet.
I created 10 clues on half sheets of copy paper and hid them around our home. (Don’t make them too hard to find.)
Download Clue sheets here.
For added fun, I found five weapons and put them by the fireplace and made a rule they had to get their weapon and hide it at some point, without anyone knowing. This was just another fun challenge. I put blue painters tape on Mr. Body’s neck and happened to notice a “bruise.” One of the kids immediately said that means he was bludgeoned with the candlestick or wrench or strangled with the rope. It just helped them narrow things down. But you can eliminate weapons and still be fine.
We all dressed our parts and stayed in character the whole evening.
During the event…
One of the kids was the Maid and one the Butler, who served our food and let us in one by one as we rang the front door bell.
We had a 4 course meal with plenty of time to drop hints. Our meal consisted of soup, salad, Fettuccine with a baguette, and cheesecake.
After dinner, we retired to the “Lounge” (living room). My son slipped into the laundry room, killed the lights at the breaker, and laid Mr. Body on the floor with a loud thump as we all dramatically screamed!
Mr. Body was a huge stuffed monkey the girls had dressed to look like a person.
We used broken Popsicle sticks to “draw straws,” and broke into two groups and walked around with candles looking for clues. (Use flashlights if your children are younger.) When we found one, we’d scream and everyone would run to hear the clue read.
We kept trying to figure it out and once all 10 clues were found, the kids did a great job remembering all the dropped hints and figuring out who the murderer was. You see, multiple people had characteristics of the killer, but only one matched all ten characteristics so you couldn’t be sure until all ten clues were found.
We had a blast! Hope this will give you something fun to do with your family as well!