If you’ve got a kid who’s into mysteries, detectives, and solving puzzles, you’re in for a real treat. We pulled together the most awesome list of Escape Room party ideas — from cool invitations and mind-boggling activities to rewarding treats.

As you probably know, Escape Rooms are popping up all over the country as popular party venues for older kids and adults. But if you’re not eager to be locked in a room to crack codes and solve logic puzzles in order to be crowned victorious at the end of it all, you can easily find ways to pull off an Escape Room party right at home.

To prove our case, we scoured the web like an ace detective to find 25+ ideas and tips, all just perfect for a mysterious Escpae Room party theme that even our littlest ones can get into.

Let the adventures begin!

At top: Escape Room Favor Bags
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Escape Room Party: Invitations

This fun Escape Room Party invitation will really set the mood for a night of old-fashioned puzzle solving. I love the antique parchment paper design, which looks expensive, but isn’t. This one comes as a digital download so you can save and print at home as many copies as you need. ($8, Gypsy Soul Art Studio)

This cute Sherlock Holmes Mystery-style invitation is perfect for an Escape Room Party for younger Whodunits. ($16 and up, That Party Chick)

Escape Room Party: Games & Activities

Set Up a Photobooth

You don’t need much more than a great whodunit game for an Escape Room event, but a party just isn’t a party without some great photo ops, and we’re big fans of photo booths. Check out these 75 Printable Murder Mystery Photo Booth Props and you can masquerade as Miss Peacock and Colonel Mustard. ($7 for 75 printalbe props)

Play an Escape Room Board Game

Cool Mom Picks discovered Escape the Room: Mystery at Stargazer’s Manor at Toy Fair this year, and rightfully included it in a roundup of the 11 best board games for families. It includes challenging puzzles tied together with a mysterious storyline, which means everyone has to work together to get through it. It’s better for tween parties (ages 10 and up), so maybe make it something to pull out at the sleepover once the PJs are on.

Create Your Own Escape Room Challenges and Codes to Crack

Use combination locks, or cipher puzzles like this Mini Pharaoh’s Cipher (perfect for an Egyptian Pyramid-themed Escape Room Party), and other fun props to create your own challenges. Of course, if you’re up for the challenge, you can put together your own riddles, puzzles, and clues for your party with these printable Secret Code Riddles or Create Your Own Cipher tips.

And don’t forget about mood music! Create a playlist with intense, dramatic music like the theme from Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, or The Incredibles…you get the idea!

Related: The coolest birthday gifts for tweens and teens

Escape Room Party: Decorations

Every Escape Room Party adventure needs a timer and a 60 Minute Hourglass Sand Timer is an exciting way to measure the passage of time. Set it for whatever big mystery game you’ll be treating your guests to and see if you can unlock the clues and solve the mystery before the timer runs out. (You can also use your phone alarm to make sure you really know when 60 minutes are up!)

Set the scene with a roll of Crime Scene Tape we found at The Party Teacher. You can use it for decoration in the party room, across the center of the table where the kids will have cake, and as a photo booth backdrop. Or hey, you might even want to save some to close off parts of your home that you don’t want kids to enter (heh).

Make a big impression by spelling out “ESCAPE” at the entrance to the party room with these Gold Mylar Letter Balloons from the Oh Happy Day Shop. Easy and fun!

Real sleuths needs tools to solve mysteries and this set of mini Magnifying Glasses on Amazonwill come in handy and can be used as party decorations too. At each place setting, write the guest’s name in very tiny letters on a napkin, then  place one of the magnifying glasses over top Finding their seats at the table becomes a fun activity all on its own.

The Party Teacher

We love how The Party Teacher used vintage pieces — a typewriter, a rotary phone, antique hand mirror — to decorate a Vintage Nancy Drew Mystery Party. Take a cue from her — this would also work perfectly for any Escape Room party! You may already have some of these items at home, but if not, you may be able to score some at a local thrift shop.

Don’t forget these Footprint Floor Decals, which you can place throughout the party rooms. Even the smallest details like this can make a big impression! You can get 16 footprints for around $10, so maybe pick up a few packages — you can even use them as clues to solving other “find it” games.

Escape Room Party: Food

How great is this Mystery Cake created by Candi’s Cake Creations!  Love the fondant clues, caution tape, and the huge magnifying glass on top. She’s got a ton of craft ideas on her Facebook page, and of course takes custom orders, so definitely click over to get inspired.

If you’re looking for something DIY, you can keep it simple by topping your own homemade cupcakes with these cool, vintage-looking detective-style fondant toppers from Edible Details (also shown at very top).

I’m partial to the girl detective here, but if you prefer a boy (or even better, a combo) they take custom orders. Love the apt yellow-and-black color scheme that The Party Teacher used for these Nancy Drew cupcakes at her daughter’s own mystery birthday party.

These cardstock Detective Cupcake toppers from RSVP party decor are another simple (and less sugary) option to dress up simple cupcakes. They match perfectly with the Sherlock Holmes invitations above!

Make regular popcorn a Pop-Secret Snack like the The Nerd’s Wife did at her Secret Agent Spy Party. Solving puzzles and riddles works up an appetite and these would be perfect for game-time snacks.

You don’t need strong solving skills to know that he kids will gobble up puzzle-piece sugar cookies. This Puzzle Cookie Cutter from Rochaix — plus some homemade or store-bought sugar cookie dough — is all you need.

I spy with my little eye some very happy kids if you make these cute Magnifying Glass Cookie Pops for desserts. Click over to Anders Ruff Design for the super easy tutorial.

Escape Room Party: Favors

We found some cool escape room favor bags on Amazon (also at top) that are perfect. Fill with some of our favorite Escape Party favor ideas below or with a detective-themed book or two., likeThe Nancy Drew Files series or the Encyclopedia Brown series.

These Sherlock Holmes-themed favor bags are budget-friendly and perfect for smaller treats and trinkets like candies and a deck of cards. ($16.50 for 8, K Port Gift Company)

We love this Sherlock Holmes pencil set from Lit and Whimsey Shop. Give each party guest one, or if you’re guest list is small, gift the entire set as a very cool Escape Room party favor. ($14 for set of 6)

We love the chocolate brain pops from NJ based Etsy shop, Ele’s sweets. After all, to be a success at an Escape Room party, you need some serious brainpower. If you don’t server them at the party, they’d make great party favors to honor your guests’ skills.

These mini puzzle cube erasers are a game and school supply in one, which makes for a very logical gift for an mind-boggling Escape Room Party. ($9.99/12, Amazon)

These Invisible Ink Markers with UV Black Light are perfect for creating secret messages and the cool factor is off the charts. ($19.99/pack of 32, Amazon)

Metal Mind Teasers will keep their IQs sharp for days after the party. Trust me, I can spend hours trying to figure these things out! ($5/set of 35, Amazon)

These antique, Victorian-style “Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.” bookmarks make a great keepsake. Pair these one some of the detective books we mentioned for a thoughtful Escape Room Party reward when you have a small group of guests. ($17 each, Elysian Workshop)