Off the top of my head…

Sherlock was trying to solve this *MYS*tery at the zoo. First, he passed by the

1) lions, that are big _ _ _ _
2) not stopping to look at the big 'mice', the _ _ _ _ (rhymes with #1)
3) he passed the _ _ _ _ _ _ _, an eight armed creature that lives in the sea
4) and then the _ _ _ _ _ _ _, swinging from the trees
5) flew by the _ _ _ _ _, chirping away
6) shuddered when he saw the 'buggy", or _ _ _ _ _ _ display.
7) stopped the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, whose trunk was packed up to leave
and exclaimed, "if I take the first letter of each clue, the answer I will receive!"

Cats
Rats
Octopus
Monkeys
Birds
Insect
Elephant

An 8 year old should be able to come up with the answers and they will have fun (I think) with it.

Best success at your event and with the youngsters!

~J (who obviously doesn't want to do housework at the moment)

Dancing man is pretty cute!

Thanks for the ideas! These are great

I think I remember watching a show in school wherre Sherlock had to figure out the clues using dancing man. ;-)

Thanks!