SCOOBY-DOO And the Pirate red beard mystery--  First we had a treasure chest pinate sitting in the middle of the room.  we hid clues (chocolate coins) all around the room. the coins had a small piece of paper attatched to it with a symbol on it .  the symbols reprsented letters. When the children were eating Pizza my father in-law came busting in the room dressed as a pirate and made a rucuss and stole the treasure chest pinate.  The children were told a story of th phantom RED BEARD who sailed his ships in the chippewa lake (a lake in our area) and buried his treasure in the area and the legend says that RED BEARD haunts the area looking for his treasure.  The children were told to look around the room for clues. They were given small memo pads with the same symbols and th letters that went with each symbol. they were also given small magnifying glasses to help them with the clues. I put them in groups and had them unscramble the clues to find out who red beard really was and where he took the treasure chest. the reward was getting to do the pinate. the group that got figured out the mystery first got first shots at the pinate.  the kids had a blast.  Inside the pinate were rings, necklaces, more chocolate gold coins and all kinds of candy.