I spy
Encyclopedia
I spy is a guessing game
usually played in families with young children, partly to assist in both observation and in alphabet familiarity. I spy is often played as a car game
.
One person starts by choosing an object (a cow, for example) and says "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C" or simply "I spy something beginning with C." The other players look around and suggest things it might be: "Crow" (no), "Car" (no), "Cloud" (no), "Cow" - yes. The person who guesses correctly often gets to choose the next object.
When played in a car, the group playing may need to decide beforehand what to do about items that are no longer visible (the field with the cows is a mile back - usually permitted but the person choosing the object has to say "I can't see it any more" and "I can see it now"). Sometimes items within the car are excluded.
n countries play the following dialogue:
The person then names the color of the object picked up. Another variation, more faithful to the original, has the person choosing a letter instead of a color.
In Spain there's another version:
"Veo, Veo" (I see, I see)
"¿Qué ves?" (What do you see?)
"Una cosita" (A little thing)
"¿Por qué letrita?" (What little letter does it begin with?)
"Empieza con la letra... ¡B!" (It begins with... B!)
In Germany
, the phrase is closer to the English one: Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst, und das ist.... Translated, it reads "I see something that you don't see, and that is..."
In the Netherlands
this game is known as "Ik zie, ik zie, wat jij niet ziet en het is..." which translates to: "I see, I see, something that you don't see, and it is..." After this sentence, often a hint is given, which is mostly a color. The object referred to, is almost always in sight. It is almost the same as the German
version.
In Italy
there are two games similar to "I Spy": the first is "Lupo Mangiatutto" ("Wolf who eats everything"), in which a players has the role of the "Wolf" and states the beginning letter, while the others have to run around and touch something beginning with that letter; if someone gets caught from the "Wolf" before, he/she becomes the new wolf.
The second game is called "Strega Comanda Colore" ("Witch, tell us the color") and is similar to "Lupo Mangiatutto": a player is the witch and the others ask him/her to state a colour, then they run around looking for something of that colour to touch. Sometimes the witch states the beginning letter instead of the colour.
In French, the closest variant of the game is "J'ai dans ma tête quelque chose qui commence par..." ("Inside my head there's something starting with [the letter] ..."). Another more limited and harder variation on those lexical fluency games is "Que mets-tu dans mon corbeillon?" ("What can you put into my little basket?") where the players must suggest word ending with the syllable [jɔ̃].
Guessing game
A guessing game is a game in which the object is to guess some kind of information, such as a word, a phrase, a title, or the location of an object.Many of the games are played co-operatively...
usually played in families with young children, partly to assist in both observation and in alphabet familiarity. I spy is often played as a car game
Car game
Car games are games played to pass the time on long car journeys, often started by parents to amuse restless children. They generally require little or no equipment or playing space. Some such games are designed specifically to be played while traveling Car games are games played to pass the time...
.
One person starts by choosing an object (a cow, for example) and says "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C" or simply "I spy something beginning with C." The other players look around and suggest things it might be: "Crow" (no), "Car" (no), "Cloud" (no), "Cow" - yes. The person who guesses correctly often gets to choose the next object.
When played in a car, the group playing may need to decide beforehand what to do about items that are no longer visible (the field with the cows is a mile back - usually permitted but the person choosing the object has to say "I can't see it any more" and "I can see it now"). Sometimes items within the car are excluded.
In other countries
Spanish-speaking countries have a slight variation of the game. Instead of declaring the letter in a single phrase, Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries play the following dialogue:
- "Veo, Veo" (I see, I see)
- "¿Qué ves?" (What do you see?)
- "Una cosa" (A thing)
- "¿Qué cosa?" (What thing?)
- "Maravillosa!" (Wonderful!/Marvelous! [thing])
- "¿De qué color?" (What color?)
- "Color, color..." (Color, color...)
The person then names the color of the object picked up. Another variation, more faithful to the original, has the person choosing a letter instead of a color.
In Spain there's another version:
"Veo, Veo" (I see, I see)
"¿Qué ves?" (What do you see?)
"Una cosita" (A little thing)
"¿Por qué letrita?" (What little letter does it begin with?)
"Empieza con la letra... ¡B!" (It begins with... B!)
In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the phrase is closer to the English one: Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst, und das ist.... Translated, it reads "I see something that you don't see, and that is..."
In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
this game is known as "Ik zie, ik zie, wat jij niet ziet en het is..." which translates to: "I see, I see, something that you don't see, and it is..." After this sentence, often a hint is given, which is mostly a color. The object referred to, is almost always in sight. It is almost the same as the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version.
In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
there are two games similar to "I Spy": the first is "Lupo Mangiatutto" ("Wolf who eats everything"), in which a players has the role of the "Wolf" and states the beginning letter, while the others have to run around and touch something beginning with that letter; if someone gets caught from the "Wolf" before, he/she becomes the new wolf.
The second game is called "Strega Comanda Colore" ("Witch, tell us the color") and is similar to "Lupo Mangiatutto": a player is the witch and the others ask him/her to state a colour, then they run around looking for something of that colour to touch. Sometimes the witch states the beginning letter instead of the colour.
In French, the closest variant of the game is "J'ai dans ma tête quelque chose qui commence par..." ("Inside my head there's something starting with [the letter] ..."). Another more limited and harder variation on those lexical fluency games is "Que mets-tu dans mon corbeillon?" ("What can you put into my little basket?") where the players must suggest word ending with the syllable [jɔ̃].