How old should it be when you stop organising themed parties for your kids?
In our family we have always done ‘Epic Theming’, where parties meet immersive events. In my sons life we have done Harry Potter, Zombies Apocalypse, the Apprentice and Marvel.
When my son hit 12, I was certain that that was the end of the Epic Themed parties. But one week before the party (booked at Lazerquest) my son casually turns to me and says “so mum, whats the theme this year?”. Turns out you can never be too old for a bit of Epic Theming…
Last year (2023) my son turned 15. His theme of choice for his party: The Traitors TV show.
Considerations: The theme is quite straight forward. In the TV show, a group of 20 or so people have to complete tasks to earn money from a prize pot. During this time, they also have to work out who the ‘Traitors’ are (a select few) and vote them out of the game. Traitors can vote off players who they think are getting suspicious of them, and if there are any traitors left at the end of the game, the traitor takes the whole prize pot.
So… how to translate that into a 2 hour party?
We decided to follow the basic structure of an Epic Themed party, and have contestants complete tasks together followed by a finale. Two ‘traitors’ would be selected for each task in secret (having been blind folded). Their challenge was to sabotage the task in secret (this is a slight deviation to the TV Show but, meh! It worked).
Step 1: Setting the Scene: In any Epic Themed party, the idea is to feel transported into the world of the theme.
- The TV show is set in a castle, so we decided our house probably wouldn’t cut it re. the venue. We hunted around the area for castle vibes on a budget, and found the local hall which hires out at about £45 for the party duration. We borrowed some lights from friends and created a spooky ambiance with red lighting. Adding on the Traitor logo to the front door, (made out of cardboard, silver and black paper) finished it off.
- For invitations, we recreated the letter given to contestants on the show, when they find out they have been ‘murdered’. We wanted to create a ‘stamp’ vibe for the logo at the top of the page, so created one by cutting into a large rubber. The stamp seal for the envelop was made with a wax stamp kit purchased off amazon.
Step 2: Set up.
In the TV show, contestants sit around a round table at the end of each task, to discuss suspicions and vote out a traitor. This was an important addition to the party.
- Participants were each given a small chalk board and chalk to write the name of their suspected traitor on at the end of each round.
- Participants were also given a blind fold for each rounds ‘Traitors’ selection process
The GRAND PRIZE would be a large bucket of chocolates
- For every task completed chocolates get added to the bucket
- For every task failed, AND for every time a traitor is not guessed, the traitor takes a handful for themselves 😎
Step 2: Games
We decided on 3 rounds of games.
The first game was a OUIJA BOARD riddle. Premise:
“In this castle, spirits are trying to communicate from the other side, but we can’t quite understand their meaning…. your challenge is to match up the riddle with the corresponding picture“
We created the Ouija Board prop using a large piece of cardboard and then taped down long narrow rows of cardboard to create ‘ledges’ (or shelves). These ledges could fit in pieces of card with pictures on it. We taped the riddles down so that pictures could be moved around to find the right place. (I think having themed props for games really levels up a party. There is something about having something to hold which brings the kids together)
We had 10 riddles and 20 pictures. An example riddle was
Riddle: What has one eye, but can’t see?
Answer: A needle
Spoiler: After much heated discussion 1 Traitor was eliminated, and one Traitor succeeded.
For the second game we created an assault course. Premise:
“There has been an explosion at a local office block! We need to escape, but unfortunately most of us have been blinded in the explosion…. your challenge is to navigate through the course while blindfolded, and with guidance from your friends. But be CAREFUL. You must not touch any items in the area, in case you trigger more explosions”
1 Traitor eliminated, 1 success
For our final game, we deviated from the preselection of Traitors.
In this game, participants were asked to draw a picture of an object on a large piece of paper. Each participant could draw 1 line at a time. Participant’s were informed what they were drawing (together) by picking a piece of paper out of a hat. There were pieces of paper for the number of participants HOWEVER, 2 slips of paper said simply ‘TRAITOR”. These participant’s did not know what they were drawing together as a group, and simply had to blag that they did.
This was a great quick fire game.
For the FINALE of the party, we brought in one final twist. Our 15 year old is a big fan of quiz shows, so to mix things up we brought in a cameo from the quiz show “SPLIT OR STEAL”. Participant’s were paired of in two and given homemade ‘split of steal’ balls. Secretly, they must choose to either split their prize with their partner, or steal it for themselves. If both participants split, they split the prize, but if one person steals, they steal the lot. If they both steal they both go home with nothing.
To make the split of steal balls we carefully cut open regular ‘ball pit balls’ filled them with small pieces of cardboard (for weight), super glued round pieces of cardboard to the cut open sides to make two ‘faces’, and taped the two sides of the ball together.
This was a brilliant end to the party, and a quite a revelation on which kids to keep an eye on in future 😉
Despite any split of steal fiascoes, all participants went away with a share of the prize pot.
The party concluded with a house party back at home, while my partner, 6 year old and I went for a well deserved meal and glass of wine at the local pub 🙂 Another party down!