Customer Reviews

I Spy Preschool Game

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This game was given to our 3 year old as a gift and he loves it. His little sister, who is two, also loves this game. This game really helps to develop a childs ability to concentrate on visual cues. It is basically a matching game combined with a puzzle concept. There are no complex rules to learn, so within minutes of opening the box any child can begin to play and enjoy this game. As each match is made the child receives immediate reward and motivation to find a new match. Best of all is that this is a simple game with no buzzers or bells and is best played with the TV turned off.

This concept is a great for little kids. Personally I think it is geared towards ages 2-4 yrs. Problem is, there are only so many pieces and it took my daughter 2 times to memorize the game. She was 3 and I found it too easy for her. She loves I Spy but this game isn't worth it. Get the momory game instead

I just wanted to correct the manufacture's age recommendation info. provided at the beginning of the item description. The box says it is for children aged 3-6. My 3 & 6 year old can both play it. In reference to the first reviewer who did not recommend the game - there are 5 different ways to play which makes the game more challenging for older kids.

My 2 year old already has the items on the puzzle pieces memorized after seeing them only 3 times. Our version did not include the "5 ways to play" as stated on the box. (I've requested a copy from Briarpatch.) My 4 year old - who received the gift - lost interest after the first time he played. Both of my boys LOVE the "I Spy" and "Can You See What I See" books. This game just wasn't challenging enough for them.

I agree with the other reviewers that the small number of puzzles made it too easy to memorize the solutions. My kids enjoyed this game the first time but had no interest in it again until several months later when they again enjoyed it for one round. Not worth the money.

I agree with almost all the other reviewers who said the recommended ages were way off. The box says ages 3-6 but my 3 year old memorized the cards after ONE round of play. The second time we played the more challenging version where all the cards are laid out and the child has to search through to find the objects I am calling out. She was clearly not searching and just picking up the cards based on imagery. This is easily done because the card sets are so different from one another in terms of color scheme and layout that there is no challenge at all. If all the cards looked more similar this issue probably wouldn't occur. Also there aren't very many objects on each card either. So you are searching for 2 objects in a spread out pile of maybe 8-10.

There are indeed 5 versions of play included in the instructions. Briefly...
Level 1: Select one matching set and hand picture card to player. Read clue card and have player search for the objects.
Level 2: Distribute picture cards among 2 or more players. Read clue card and have players search their set of cards for the match.
Level 3: remove picture cards. Read clue cards and find rhyming words.
Level 4: (independent play) picture cards are distributed. Clue cards are placed in a pile. Take turns selecting and reading clue cards to find the match.
Level 5: Place all cards face down in a grid. Player selects 2 cards, one of each type. If they match you keep the pair, if not turn back over and move to next player (similar to Memory).

The metal box is durable and the cards are thick and sturdy. Overall it's a good quality, fun game that builds concentration skills but I think level 5 is the only one that would be appropriate for the upper age range. The other levels could easily be mastered before age 3.

I really like all of the I Spy products. I like the beautiful photos, and I like to find the items in the books, too. Knowing that, we got this game off of an Amazon.com wish list for my daughter's third bithday. She's still playing with it at four years, but she needs my help to lay out the pieces and play it with her. I would recommend it, though. The puzzle pieces are easy to put together, and it is a well made toy.

I guess I'm a little surprised after reading several of the other reviews- my children did not master this game after 10 minutes! I have 2 children who fall into the appropriate age range for this toy. My 5 year old was not very interested in this game although he's played once or twice, but my 3 year old really enjoys it. I lay out the picture cards in columns, and then give him a stack of the word cards that have items to search for. He has completed this task several times. It would be even more challenging if I did not sort the cards and he had to hunt for both pieces. Some children at 3 years old can complete 100 piece puzzles- this game would probably be too easy for them. For my 3 year old this game is at a great challenge level- hard enough to be interesting, but not overwhelmingly frustrating either. The best feature is that the game is self-checking, if the piece fit together, it's the right match, if they don't the child has to keep looking!

I'm going to save this toy for my newborn daughter when she turns 18mos old, since my 3yo twin boys found this game MUCH too easy and got bored in less than five minutes. The quality of the cardboard is great, thick and sturdy, and comes in a great carry-along twin. Unfortunately, the game itself didn't pose much of a challenge for the recommended age range.

My son is 2 and we got him this for a good indoor on a rainy day game, however, it only took him 2-3 times in playing it to have it memorized. There are not that many pieces in the box and it didn't take long at all for him to get bored. I tried mixing it up and making up different games with it, but he lost interest the second day. Now it just sits there in the box. I recommend saving your money on this game and just purchasing "memory" or a simple deck of cards.