In European and American countries, “I Spy” is a household game, a bit like the “guessing game” we played when we were young. It is deeply loved by children both at home and in school.
The first time I discovered this game was when I was playing “Peppa Pig” for my students. At that time, Peppa’s family was on their way to Windy Castle and played the fun little game “I SPY”. It was extremely joyful! 
Peppa’s father said “I spy with my little eye” and at the same time gave a small hint “something colored red” to let others guess what he was thinking.
Peppa quickly found that her skirt was red, but the answer in her father’s mind was not this. It was the car they were sitting in! So some children shouted at me: “Teacher, let’s also play I spy in class!”
So Teacher Xiaoyuan began to do homework at home. How can I use I spy in class? Unexpectedly, many teachers on the internet have long shared “How to use I Spy for teaching!” For example, there is a combination of I spy and phonics:
There is also a combination of I spy and scientific knowledge:
This game is highly sought after by parents and teachers. What’s so magical about it? Today we will explore its secrets!
What’s good about this game?
1. English learning
From letters to words, this game forms a three-dimensional language network, allowing children to establish English thinking in an English environment.
For example, when summer arrives, English words like ice cream, swimming rings, and beach volleyball magically appear in children’s minds. Whether it’s writing or language communication, children are full of confidence and are no longer afraid of having nothing to say!
2. Math learning
Counting is a most basic math skill. “I Spy” provides a lot of math mini-games to exercise children’s counting ability and give them a certain understanding of the quantity of items.
For example, in the following exercise, children need to use their keen eyes to find out how many squares, triangles, circles, etc. are there, and count while spying on the pictures.
3. Observation and concentration
This game also has the advantage of cultivating children’s good observation and concentration by carefully observing various attributes of items.
Usually, I find that some children are particularly focused when doing things. Even if there is noise around them, they can still concentrate on doing their own things without being disturbed. Such children have strong concentration! Children with strong concentration usually have higher learning efficiency and better completed works.
At the same time, children can also judge what item they need to find according to the clues given by parents and combined with their own thinking. This process also improves their reasoning ability.
For example, adults can say: Can you spy the green dinosaur with a pointy head? Children first need to observe which dinosaurs are green, and then further filter which dinosaurs have pointed heads. Through information processing, children infer the final answer.
Rich themes
“I SPY” contains a wide variety of themes. In addition to the vegetables and fruits that children are familiar with, there are also various scenes such as farms, zoos, and undersea adventures to meet the needs of different children. I downloaded a whole basket of I spy games. Let me classify them for you according to themes!
01 Vegetable paradise
Corn, carrots, tomatoes? Children can quickly recognize and remember the vegetables we often eat!
02 Fruit world
Fruits are rich in vitamins. While children are spying, they are also learning the English expressions of fruit words. At the same time, we can also combine it with “color” and “shape” words. For example, ask children: What fruits are red? What fruits are semicircular.
After finding them, children also need to mark the quantity of fruits on the “math ten-square grid” to exercise their counting ability.
