Scavenger Hunt - Cleodore the cat for 5-8 year olds

Cleodore the cat is divided into several 40-minute sessions (over 10 hours of projects!) that can take place in one room.

You will set up several Mission Stations in the room. Each mission will challenge your sleuths to explore their five senses through art, music, dance, science, math, literature and much, much more.

We recommend that sleuths travel in groups of 2-4 members and spend about 10 minutes on each mission. The number of stations that you set up depends on the number of sleuths and the amount of time you have. If you have a very large group, consider setting up multiple stations with the same mission so that everyone gets an opportunity to complete all of that day's challenges. Sessions can be shortened or lengthened easily depending on your schedule. You select the number of missions you want the kids to complete. There are 4 to 5 missions for each sense plus 8 missions to introduce the kids to the game and 5 missions to summarize what the kids have learned so far about their senses.

AGE RANGE: Grades K through 3rd grade aka 5-8 year olds. However, there are enough activities provided that will challenge sleuths up to about 10-12 depending on their sleuthing skills.

THE MYSTERY CLUB FORMAT Option A
(Several 45 minute-1 hour Meetings)
As with your home or classroom, this club relies on consistency and routine. Each Mystery Club session follows the same format. People tend to perform best when the expectations are clear and familiar.

Here's the suggested format for a 45-minute session. Adjust the time spent at the stations according to your time requirements:
5-7 minutes: Introduce and explain Missions
30-35 minutes: Complete Missions spending 10 minutes at each station.
5-7 minutes: Whole group culminating activity (a list of these is included)

THE MYSTERY CLUB FORMAT Option B
(One 2-3 hour Meeting)
This works great if you are using Mystery Club for a party or on a rainy day. Simply divide the time into two sessions lasting from about 45-90 minutes with a fun snack time in between. The first half will feature missions from the Intro To The Five Senses session and end with a 15-25 minute snack break. The second half can either feature a variety of missions selected from each week in order to focus on each of the five senses independently, or can feature one of the missions from the Come To Your Senses sessions.
Break the time down like this:
First Half:
5-10 minutes: Introduce and explain first half Missions
30-60 minutes: Complete Missions spending 10 minutes at each station.
10-20 minutes: Set the group up with an aromatic snack like popcorn or garlic bread or cinnamon rolls. Yum!!!

While they snack, set-up for the second half of Missions. You can either:
A. Set-up 5 more Missions, choosing one from each sense
OR
B. Choose one Mission from the Come to Your Senses section for your sleuths to work on for an hour.

Second Half:
5-10 minutes: Introduce and explain second half Mission or Missions
30-60 minutes: Complete Mission or missions spending 10 minutes at each station.
10-20 minutes: Culminate with one of the Whole Group Activities (list included in this kit)

EXAMPLE - MISSION: Treat Garlands. Use these garlands to decorate a bush or tree. These make lovely treats for all your woodland friends. You will need:
Day old bread cut into quarters or cubes.
Oranges, sliced then cut into quarters
Apples, sliced then cut into quarters
Heavy-duty thread or yarn cut into 1 1/2 lengths.
Plastic yarn needles

Set up the stations so that each sleuth can thread their yarn with all as many goodies as they like. Encourage them to create a pattern with the treats.

PRE-GAME PREP TIME: Weekly prep will take about 1 hour (includes shopping for supplies, reading and prepping the materials). You mostly need to print the documents included with the kit, buy supplies (mostly office type supplies, arts and craft items and books). Our facilitator guide provides a supply checklist for you.

THIS MYSTERY GAME INCLUDES FRIENDLY, HELPFUL SUPPORT ALONG WITH MASTER COPIES OF:
Our easy to follow facilitator guide, instructions and supply list. We provide handy links to online web sites that sell the books we recommend for this game.
All the 5 senses missions
These supporting documents:
5 Senses Chart
Find the Twins - Clowns*
Find the Twins - Silly Walter
Morse Code
Weekly Letter Home

From Cars, Planes, Trains Fun Book, by Tony and Tony Tallarico, 1994. Kidsbooks, Inc.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO BUY/PROVIDE: Arts and craft supplies (crayons, glue, children's scissors, paper, Play Dough, etc.), books and music (we provide links to these on Amazon or you can see if your local library has them), old magazines & newspapers, some food items, a digital camera and other inexpensive, easy to find items. Our facilitator guide will provide a check list for you and links to online resources.