I Spy With My Little Eye
Introduction
Do you remember playing, "I Spy With My Little Eye" as a child? It's a classic game that will teach your child to listen carefully, focus on your clues and practice taking turns. It's also a great confidence booster!
Activity
If you're playing this game with your child for the first time, you will be the "spy" who will select the first object.
Look around the area and focus on an item within your child's field of view.
Once you have chosen your item, say: “I spy with my little eye…” and then offer your first clue.
When playing with a younger child or to get a child interested in the game, I like to make pretend binoculars by curling my thumbs to my fingertips and putting my hands up to my eyes.
In the early stages of this game, I like to look in the general area of the object that I have chosen. But as your child gets better at listening to your clues, this won't be necessary.
"I spy with my little eye, something that I use when I eat ice cream."
Your child will make guesses based on the clues that you provide.
You will answer “yes” or “no” until your child comes up with the right answer.
If your child gets stuck, he or she may also ask you "yes or no" questions such as: "Is it in the kitchen?"
But don't let your child guess items randomly. This game is all about fostering the development of your child's listening, focus and thinking skills!
When your child guesses the object, he or she gets to pick an object and give you clues to help you guess what it might be.
This is a great game to help your child:
- Identify colors and learn color names with clues such as: "I spy with my little eye, a red circle."
- Work on shape identification with clues such as: "I spy with my little eye, something shaped like a triangle."
- Build positional vocabulary (in front of, behind, above, below) with clues such as: "I spy with my little eye, something behind the table."
- Identify letters or numbers with clues such as: "I spy with my little eye, the letter Z."
- Develop thinking skills with clues such as: "I spy with my little eye, something I use to clean my teeth at bedtime."
You can play this game while waiting for an appointment or waiting to be seated at a restaurant. You can play it while riding an elevator or walking down the street. You can play it while getting dinner ready.
Whenever and wherever you play "I Spy," play it often. It's always fun—and the learning never ends!
