The driver was pronounced dead but there were some fishy things about the crime scene, there were bloody hand prints on the driver’s door, some bloody footprints, some blood on the couch, and a dent in the hood of the car… that could or could not have been made by a human body. It definitely looked like the driver had gotten out of the car, yet he was still sitting in it!?!
The FREE CSI Downloads White Balloons {1 per person} Pencils {1 per person} Clipboards – Optional {1 per person} An Old Stuffed Animal {the victim} Washable Red Paint White Chalk Orange or Yellow Crepe Paper {or Police Line Tape if you really want to set the mood} Four Shoes {that have very similar tread – I used tennis shoes} Nine Manila Envelopes… depending on how many couples there are {or you can use regular white envelopes} Adhesive {I use scrapbooking tape because I don’t like how glue wrinkles up your paper!} “Sticky Fingers” Activity – Optional Stamp Pad
We have a great group of friends that are always game to go on our crazy group dates with us. When they showed up, they were greeted by the actual crime scene!! Everyone loved it and it was the perfect way to kick off the evening. Poor Jack Tupp had been killed!! Great start to a fun date. 🙂 After eating our yummy homemade Cafe Rio Pork Salad, we got down to biz-ness! Hand out the “Sticky Fingers” activity to warm up your detective skills! (Include balloons & pencils!) This is an activity I found online for teachers to do with their students. I found it SO fascinating, how different every fingerprint is, that I thought it would be neat for the couples to take their own prints to see what they look like. You basically place your fingerprints on a balloon, using ink, and then blow it up to see an enlarged version of your prints! THEN, each couple tries to solve a crime that happened at a local bakery, at which fingerprints were left behind. It’s pretty interesting. This part is totally optional! You can do this to get everyone “warmed up” to solve the real crime or skip right to the action! 🙂 When your group is ready to start the actual solving of the crime… Read aloud the “Crime Scene” & the bios of the Possible Suspects. (This is on the first page of the download.) Then – get the “Suspect Statement” envelope & hand out the statements to different people to read. The people in our group were HILARIOUS when reading those statements! Cute Lynsie started it off with a funny accent that cracked us up and then after that everyone changed their voice up in some way. Anjuli was last and I loved her expression when we told her that she had to do an accent as well. I then pulled out the Crime Scene Evidence Envelope & everyone looked at that stuff. {You will need those items for the rest of the investigation.} We continued on, going through the different envelopes, checking out the evidence and talking about it each step of the way. I would suggest doing it in this order: #1 – Suspect Statements #2 – Handwriting Analysis #3 – Fingerprint Analysis #4 – Footprint Analysis (This should be the most obvious…so save it for last!) Since you will know who did it as well as all the details, you can slightly “prod” everyone else and make sure they are on the right track, by asking questions, pointing out details they may have missed, or suggesting they go back and look at certain things. After the LAST analysis is finished, hand out the “Crack the Case” slips, have everyone fill theirs out, and then read aloud the paper in the “Whodunnit?” envelope. NOW, this can be a group date OR a date with just you and your spouse. Whatever floats your boat! 🙂 You could then end the night by watching the classic movie – CLUE!! 🙂 We also have our very own Murder Mystery Party in the store that is a TON of fun! I also found a few other websites that had CSI-related things on them. They looked interesting, but I didn’t play any of them so if they don’t “pan out”… lemme just say they aren’t officially “Tara-Approved!” 😉 CSI Odds & Ends
I found an extremely creative KID’S murder mystery party HERE! A bunch of educational & fun CSI activities HERE. Another crime you can download & solve… about a mortgage company & shredded documents….click HERE! A virtual crime you can solve… I am not sure if the entire thing is free or just the first “session”. Go HERE! BBC Radio Murder Mysteries (You download the clues/papers that go with it and listen to the play… and then figure out who the killer was.)
That should give you enough ideas/references to put together a FUN and memorable CSI night with your sweetheart! 🙂
