I Spy Bingo
Is the object called out on your board? Add a token, and get four in a row to win. A game for pre-readers.
<p><strong>Toy Description</strong></p>
<p>Cardboard game boards are divided into sixteen squares, each with a letter and objects that start with that letter. Game cards have four objects on each side.</p>
<p>The boards and cards are both double-sided. The sides that have a white background are the easy level, and the sides that have colored backgrounds are a little harder. The easy level cards also have one of their four objects as a letter. The objects do not necessarily belong to that letter.</p>
<p>Includes six double-sided boards, twenty-six double-sided cards, fifty tokens, and instructions.</p>
<p><strong>Play</strong></p>
<p>The game is fairly straight forward. It’s a game of Bingo but with objects instead of numbers.</p>
<p>Each player gets their own gameboard and pile of tokens. The first player draws a card (either easy or hard, depending on how everyone wants to play), then calls out an object shown on said card. Every player who has that object on their board will put a token over that square. Another player now takes a turn drawing a card and calling an object. The game continues as such until someone gets four tokens in a row.</p>
<p>Alternatively, an adult can be They What Draws The Cards while six kids use the gameboards.</p>
<p><strong>Observations</strong></p>
<p>This game is meant for children who are pre-readers, meaning they are just learning how to recognize the shape and sound of specific letters. Additionally, children are practicing their object recognition skills by having to think of what to call something. For instance, most children know what a horse is, but not all children will be able to recognize an egg-beater or a ruby.</p>
<p>Getting great feedback from users, this game is loved in classrooms, daycares, and homes. Wherever it’s found, it typically gets played multiple times a week, often daily. It’s quick, it’s simple, and it’s a game that pre-readers can play on their own.</p>
<p>There IS a little bit of strategy to this game. It would benefit players to call out objects that appear on their gameboard but that is not on the boards of most of their opponents or the board of someone who is nearing the four-in-a-row winning goal. However, it can take children quite a long time to look over their board for a matching object and then look over everyone else’s board, so we imposed a time limit.</p>
<p>We decided that a player has to call out an object within 10 seconds or they skip their turn. The child to the right of the kid who draws the card will count down the time, silently, on their fingers, so as not to distract the card drawer. We adjusted this time when dealing with very young kids (2 and under) because their vocabulary just may not be able to keep up with that time. Have fun with the rules. It’s a game, after all.</p>
<p>Altering the rules may also need to happen when it comes to deciding what objects are called. For example, there’s a picture of an apple in the grid with the letter A. There is also an apple in the grid with the letter G, because it’s green. So when a child calls out “Apple,” some kids will want to put tokens on the G grid, and in some cases both the A and G grids. So we made some more rules.</p>
<p>Only one token can be placed during a turn, and only on the letter grid that matches what the speaker actually said. So when a child calls out “apple,” the token goes on A, but when the child calls out “green apple,” the token goes on G. Also, a child may need some help figuring out what to call something, so an adult may want to help out a bit and make sure that the “magic question and answer ball” is actually called an “eight ball,” just to save some frustration.</p>
<p>All parts fit back into the box, so storage is a breeze.</p>
<p><strong>Care</strong></p>
<p>Avoid spills as these parts are made of cardboard.</p>
<p><strong>Parts and Pieces</strong></p>
<p>All required pieces are included.</p>
<p><strong>Concerns</strong></p>
<p>Aside from a little confusion about what to call an object, which we discussed above, we don’t have any concerns about this game. </p>
Written by: The Guide For Toys
I Spy Bingo
Date published: 2016-07-19
9.00 / 10 stars
Detailed ReviewToy Description
Cardboard game boards are divided into sixteen squares, each with a letter and objects that start with that letter. Game cards have four objects on each side.
The boards and cards are both double-sided. The sides that have a white background are the easy level, and the sides that have colored backgrounds are a little harder. The easy level cards also have one of their four objects as a letter. The objects do not necessarily belong to that letter.
Includes six double-sided boards, twenty-six double-sided cards, fifty tokens, and instructions.
Play
The game is fairly straight forward. It’s a game of Bingo but with objects instead of numbers.
Each player gets their own gameboard and pile of tokens. The first player draws a card (either easy or hard, depending on how everyone wants to play), then calls out an object shown on said card. Every player who has that object on their board will put a token over that square. Another player now takes a turn drawing a card and calling an object. The game continues as such until someone gets four tokens in a row.
Alternatively, an adult can be They What Draws The Cards while six kids use the gameboards.
Observations
This game is meant for children who are pre-readers, meaning they are just learning how to recognize the shape and sound of specific letters. Additionally, children are practicing their object recognition skills by having to think of what to call something. For instance, most children know what a horse is, but not all children will be able to recognize an egg-beater or a ruby.
Getting great feedback from users, this game is loved in classrooms, daycares, and homes. Wherever it’s found, it typically gets played multiple times a week, often daily. It’s quick, it’s simple, and it’s a game that pre-readers can play on their own.
There IS a little bit of strategy to this game. It would benefit players to call out objects that appear on their gameboard but that is not on the boards of most of their opponents or the board of someone who is nearing the four-in-a-row winning goal. However, it can take children quite a long time to look over their board for a matching object and then look over everyone else’s board, so we imposed a time limit.
We decided that a player has to call out an object within 10 seconds or they skip their turn. The child to the right of the kid who draws the card will count down the time, silently, on their fingers, so as not to distract the card drawer. We adjusted this time when dealing with very young kids (2 and under) because their vocabulary just may not be able to keep up with that time. Have fun with the rules. It’s a game, after all.
Altering the rules may also need to happen when it comes to deciding what objects are called. For example, there’s a picture of an apple in the grid with the letter A. There is also an apple in the grid with the letter G, because it’s green. So when a child calls out “Apple,” some kids will want to put tokens on the G grid, and in some cases both the A and G grids. So we made some more rules.
Only one token can be placed during a turn, and only on the letter grid that matches what the speaker actually said. So when a child calls out “apple,” the token goes on A, but when the child calls out “green apple,” the token goes on G. Also, a child may need some help figuring out what to call something, so an adult may want to help out a bit and make sure that the “magic question and answer ball” is actually called an “eight ball,” just to save some frustration.
All parts fit back into the box, so storage is a breeze.
Care
Avoid spills as these parts are made of cardboard.
Parts and Pieces
All required pieces are included.
Concerns
Aside from a little confusion about what to call an object, which we discussed above, we don’t have any concerns about this game.