“Looking” for a game to shake up your morning routine? Is it getting too loud at dismissal? Try I-Spy for a simple yet memorable game that students could continue to play at home or with friends.
I-Spy
I-Spy “with my little eye” is a game that can be played with children of all ages. The game began with an oral question-and-answer guessing game. The first person says, “I spy with my little eye something…green.” The guesser names all the green things they can find in the surrounding area.
There are many benefits to this game. Finding differences and commonalities is one of them. If you are playing on paper, it is great for working on tracking for students.
I imagine this game played in a science room where you have pictures of different animals and you could say, “I spy with my little eye something that lives in the desert.” Students would then choose from the animals that live in that habitat. You could continue the game with other habitats or biomes for students.
What you’ll need:
- If you are playing aloud you really only need two people.
- Photographs of lots of objects (You could take pictures or you could find them on a program like Canva).
- A slideshow program like Canva, Powerpoint, or Google Slides if you want to play digitally
Prep work:
Begin with an idea for the game in the classroom. What would you like to review? Gather pictures for the slide show on Google Slides or Canva. You can choose a timer from YouTube or use a classroom timer. Students will guess a number of objects, find objects that align with your objective, or find a number of differences.
How to play:
This week, I prepared a birthday-themed I-SPY. Our guest has 30 seconds to find birthday cakes, hearts, and tell the difference between the three provided pictures. The format: one slide is for guessing (our guest will guess a number of objects, find objects, and find a number of differences) with the next slide being the answer.
Hope you “find” this game enjoyable!
