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As a busy parent, you’re always on the lookout for fun activities you can encourage your kids to play with quietly.
You need options that are fun and entertaining but that also provide some educational or developmental value.
Some of the best quiet play activities you can offer your children are I Spy Printables!
It can be hard to get your kids away from those ever-enticing screens and encourage them to do something that’s actually beneficial for their development.
I Spy Printables offer children a fun alternative to screens while still providing an engaging, stimulating activity.
We offer a large variety of free I Spy Printables that will keep your children entertained for hours.
I Spy Printables are a great option to squirrel away in your indoor play arsenal, and they’re fun for children of most ages.
Read on to find out how I Spy Printables can be beneficial for your children, and download as many free I Spy Printables as you’d like!
I Spy printables are fun, screen-free activities for children.
Unlike traditional I Spy activities, these free printables require children to find thematic objects within the worksheet and then color them according to a color key.
The last step involves counting how many of each object they’ve found and writing the number in a grid.
These I Spy printables are a combination of traditional I Spy games and a coloring by number activity.
There are easy versions of the printables that are color coded for younger children, and there are more difficult versions for children who know how to read.
What makes I Spy printables such a valuable activity for your kids? They help strengthen children’s working memory, problem solving skills and their ability to make associations.
As children work through the I Spy worksheet, they’ll refer to a list of objects they need to search for and find. As they go about searching for the objects within the I Spy game, they’ll need to hold the items they’re looking for in their memory.
The extra element of color coding requires that the child build associations between certain colors and objects on the sheet. This is a great activity for strengthening your little one’s mental processes.
Also, I Spy printables and games provide hours of entertainment for children that don’t involve engaging a screen. Screen-free play is incredibly important for the development of children’s brains.
The learning objectives of all our I Spy printables and worksheets also include:
We provide I Spy printables that are suitable for nearly every theme, holiday, and event. You’ll be sure to find some printables that match the interests of your children and that are perfect for the current season.
You can encourage your children to play with I Spy printables whenever they need some quiet time.
I Spy games make for the perfect rainy day activity, and they help keep children quietly busy when you need to work. They also are fun for children to do on sick days or on any day when they need to stay inside.
Browse through our variety of I Spy printables to find the perfect quiet-time activity for your child.
A few situations where I Spy printables can be used:
I Spy printables and games for kids are a great quick and easy choice for times when you want to engage kids in quiet autonomous play. I Spy games for kids need very little in the way of supplies which makes them the perfect quick and easy activity choice.
Here are some of our favorite recommendations for making your child’s I Spy experience a really fun and engaging one:
These I Spy printables can be used in a variety of creative ways that encourage children to have fun while playing and learning autonomously.
Here are a couple of tips for getting the most out of these I Spy printables for kids and making them a go-to in the car, at home and in the classroom.
Print a variety of different I Spy games in different themes and create a busy book that you can pull out on the fly when you need fun activities that encourages quiet independent play.
Creating your very own I Spy busy book is really quite easy. Print a variety of I Spy games (click here to see our entire database of free I Spy games), hole punch them using a 3 hole puncher and place them in a 3 ring binder or duotang folder so they are all neatly stored in one place.
Laminating your I Spy printables is a great way to cut down on paper and make your I Spy games for kids 100% reusable.
We love the idea of reusing I Spy games for kids by laminating each individual worksheet and using dry erase markers in a variety of colors to complete the activity.
Laminate a variety of I Spy printables and games to have a good selection to rotate and reuse.
If your child likes an added challenge you can make traditional pen and paper I spy games even more fun by using a timer.
Using a timer turns this solo activity into a challenge that can motivate kids to work more quickly and more efficiently. Challenge them to find items in a set number of minutes and then slowly reduce the allotted time to make it even more difficult.
Adding a timer is especially fun when I Spy games are being used in group settings like birthday parties and in classroom settings. Group kids in pairs and have them compete to solve an I spy challenge.
Kids have this way of ripping, soiling or otherwise destroying paper. As a result, we highly suggest you print multiple copies (click here to check out our entire collection of free I spy games for kids) to have extras on hand should you need them.
Carrying extras also makes sharing easy! After all, sharing is caring!
For kids who love learning about space this I Spy Space activity requires kids find rockets, astronauts, planets, UFOs, stars, constellations and satellites.
Cute puppies and dog themed objects make this I Spy Dogs worksheet a favorite among kids. Children are asked to find: puppies, food bowls, bones, collars and dog houses in their grid.
Engage kids that are fascinated by outer space and extraterrestrials! In this free printable I Spy Aliens children need to find and color a variety of different aliens based on the legend.
For bug enthusiasts this I Spy Bugs worksheets asks kids to color, count and group lady bugs, grass hoppers, ants, bubble bees, butterflies, spiders, crickets and beetles!
Celebrate the luck of the Irish with the fun I Spy St Patrick’s day activity. Children are asked to find, color and count St Patrick’s day themed objects including Leprechauns, rainbows, clovers, horseshoes and coins.
Celebrate Winter and all the fun activities you can do with this cute I Spy Winter activities worksheet. In this I Spy game children are asked to find, color and count items we use for winter activities including sleds, skates, skiis, snow mobiles, shovels, snow boards and snow shoes.
Celebrate the arrival of winter and explore fun winter themed ideas. Kids need to spy, color and count snowflakes, snow men, sates, sleds, mittens, hats, Christmas trees and hot cocoa.
Celebrate all things Santa with this adorable I Spy Santa’s favorite things. Kids are asked to spy, color and count cookies, hot cocoa, reindeer, Mrs. Claus, presents, chimneys, elves and sleds.
Boost holiday spirit with this cute I Spy Merry Christmas I Spy activity. Children need to find, color and count reindeer, Santa, wreaths, stockings, Christmas trees, elves, gifts and gingerbread men.
Add this Festive wreaths I Spy activity to your holiday activity list this year. Children are asked to find, color and count a variety of different festive wreaths.
Celebrate decorating your Christmas tree with these cute Christmas ornament I Spy game. Kids are asked to find, color and count ornaments in a variety of shapes and designs.
If the kids love elves then this I Spy Santa’s helpers is a must in anticipation of Christmas. Children need to find, color and count a variety of cute elves in the worksheet grid.
In this I Spy activity kids need to make the visual distinction between a variety of different holiday trees.
For kids who love learning about dinosaurs this Dinosaur I Spy activity asks children to find, color and count a variety of different dinosaurs.
