The Preschooler

I Spy Syllables

Most kids have played “I Spy” at some point even in their young lives.  However, if your child hasn’t played this game, you may want to play the traditional version a few times before moving on to this slightly more challenging syllable version.

In the original version, whomever is the “spy-er” gets to secretly choose an object in the room and tell the other players the color of that object.  The other players than attempt to guess the secret object based on that information. 

In the syllable version of the game, simply replace the color with the number of syllables in the word that names the object.  For example, instead of saying, “I spy with my little eye something yellow” when choosing a banana as the secret object, the “spy-er” would say, “I spy with my little eye something with three syllables.”  The players then scan the room searching for an object with three syllables. 

Once a player correctly guesses the object, that person gets to be the “spy-er”.  However, with younger players, you may want to simply take turns.  Also, if younger players are getting frustrated at not being able to guess the secret object, the color can also be given as a clue, but be sure to verify the number of syllables in any object your child guesses so that she understands that the object must have three syllables and be yellow in the example above.

Resource: Adapted from Kathy Meindl’s “Play Syllable I Spy” at Education.com.

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Written by Laura on May 11, 2011