How to Play the I Spy Game

Co-authored by David Decker

Last Updated: June 26, 2024 References

I spy is a fun and family-friendly guessing game that can be played by children of almost any age. Because it’s a call and response game, you don’t need any tools, accessories, cards, or boards to play, meaning you can play anywhere and anytime, as long as you have at least two players. I spy tests and develops the powers of perception and observation, expands vocabulary, and can be used to teach young children about letters, names, shapes, and objects. It’s also a fun way to pass time when you're on a road trip, waiting to board a train, plane, or bus, on a family holiday, in a waiting room, while you're out shopping, or if you're looking for something to do with friends.

Part 1

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Playing the Game

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You need a minimum of two players to play I spy, but otherwise there's no limit on how many people can play a game. Players are old enough to play when they have an understanding of the world around them and can easily name everyday objects.
2
Select the first spy. For each round of I spy, there is one person who is the spy. That person selects an object and has to get the other players to guess what the object was based on a clue. ^{[1]
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- There are many ways you can determine who gets to be the first spy. For instance, you can draw cards or straws, ask whose birthday is coming up next, go by whose name is alphabetically first or last, or even have an outside person who isn't playing randomly select the first spy.
- In another variation on the game, the spy is instead called the king or queen bee. ^{[2]
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Pick an object. As the first spy, your job is to pick an object from your immediate surroundings that all the players can see. But once you’ve picked it, don’t say what it is! ^{[3]
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- If you're in a moving vehicle, you will have to work quickly, otherwise the object will have passed before anyone else has a chance to see it.
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Pick your first hint. In order to get players to guess the object you’ve chosen, you have to provide them with a piece of information about the object. Use those noteworthy features you came up with and think about what you can say that will hint to your fellow players what object you're thinking of. Good adjectives to use can relate to the object’s:
- Color
- Height
- Weight
- Texture ^{[4]
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- Geometric features ^{[5]
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- First letter
- Material
- A word that it sounds like
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Provide the first hint. In this game, the spy uses the phrase “I spy with my little eye, something that…” and the then finishes that hint with the descriptor or adjective chosen to describe the object. For instance, if you picked a purple hat that a nearby person was wearing, you could finish with “something that you wear.”
- When you say the hint out loud, be sure you aren't looking right at the object! ^{[6]
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- Another variation on the hint phrasing is “I spy something and it’s designed to keep you warm,” for instance.
- For the bumblebee game, you can say “Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, I see something you don't see, and the color of it is purple,” for example. ^{[7]
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Let each player guess. Once you’ve provided the hint, give the other players a chance to look around and find the object. Then, go around the group and give each player a chance to guess what object you chose.
- I spy is usually played with yes or no answers (players ask if specific objects were the chosen ones and the spy says yes or no), but the spy can also provide additional hints to the players by saying whether the guess was hot or cold.
- If a guess was close to or similar to the chosen object, the spy says the guess was warm (close) or hot (very close). If a guess was nowhere near the object, the spy says cold, or cool if the guess was mostly off.
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Provide another hint if necessary. If none of the players are able to guess the object, repeat the phrase and provide another hint. Choose a different adjective this time, and concentrate on a different feature.
- For instance, if your hint before told the players what color the object was, provide a hint about something else, like the object’s material, shape, or texture. ^{[8]
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Let the player who guesses correctly become the next spy. Go around in the same order and let each player guess again. When a player does guess correctly, that player becomes the new spy, and the game begins anew.
- If nobody is able to guess the object, you can either provide another hint, or the spy role can automatically pass to a new player.
- If all the players are young and not able to easily guess, consider having a set order in which everyone gets to be the spy. ^{[9]
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Part 2

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Using I Spy to Teach Letters and Object Names

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1
Get the child settled on a play mat or high chair. I spy is a great way for parents and educators to teach younger children about letters and the names of different objects. To start, settle down somewhere that you can place objects in front of the child.
- In order for this game to work, the child needs to have already begun learning the names of different objects, because the game is used to reinforce that knowledge.
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Select an object the child is familiar with. Pick a household object, such as a toy, utensil, or stuffed animal whose name the child has learned. Place the object down in front of the child on the mat, floor, or tray. ^{[10]
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- In this version of the game, the object isn't to get the child to guess what object you’ve chosen, but rather to encourage the child to come up with the name of the object you’ve put down.
- This game also works for older children who are in the process of learning a new language, and the game can be used as a learning exercise for foreign words.
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Give the hint. Just like if you were playing with older children, say the rhyme to give the hint. For this version of the game, focus on letters, and specifically the first letter of the object. As the child progresses and gets better with names and spelling, you can try going by the last letter of the object too. For instance:
- “I spy with my little eye, something that starts with the letter S” for a spoon
- “I spy something and it ends with the letter G” for a toy dog
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Let the child guess the name of the object. This game only works with familiar objects because the child already has to have learned what the objects are in order to be able to name them.
- If the child needs some more help, begin sounding out the name of the object one letter at a time. For the word “spoon,” for example, sound out just sp first, then "spoo", until the child is able to come up with the word. ^{[11]
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Advance to using two or more objects. As the child advances, you can progress to placing two or three objects down. Choose one particular object that you want the child to identify and name, and then say the rhyme and give the beginning letter. Make sure all the objects start with a different letter.
- Another advanced version is to lay down five or six objects, two or three of which start with the same chosen letter, and have the child identify and name all the objects that start with that letter.
- As the child’s perception improves, you can stop placing objects down and start using objects in the immediate environment. ^{[12]
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Is 'paint' an acceptable object in a game of ISpy?

Michael Ng Choon Hau

Community Answer

'Paint' might be fair if it is in a bucket or paint can, but if you're referring to paint on the walls, that would be a bit of a stretch.

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For older children, you can also choose sounds instead of objects. Sounds could be an overhead plane, the rain falling, a waterfall, the radio, or any other noise that all the players can hear.

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How to Play the I Spy Game

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Using I Spy to Teach Letters and Object Names

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