Fairy tales I Spy board game fun for vocabulary centers, small groups and therapy sessions! Enchanted castles, brave princes, sparkling crowns, glass slippers and magic wands fill every board. Kids race to spy them first! The Fairy Tales I Spy Board Game brings a whole fairy tale kingdom to your classroom.

Bright, kid-friendly storybook pictures and easy-to-follow rules make this I Spy game a hit in preschool, kindergarten, speech and occupational therapy, ELL and ESL lessons, homeschool and indoor recess. Children will beg to play again and again as they hunt for princes, princesses, dragons and royal treasures, all while building vocabulary, articulation and visual discrimination skills.

With this fairy tales I Spy game, you get

• 10 full-color fairy tale I Spy game boards
• 40 picture cards to find on the boards
• 20 printable gem tokens for keeping score
• Independent, parallel and group ways to play
• Vocabulary, visual scanning and turn-taking practice in every round

Print, laminate and let the spying begin!

What's Included

• 10 full-color I Spy game boards packed with fairy tale images like castles, glass slippers, crowns, magic mirrors and dragons
• 40 fairy tale image cards, such as a prince, a princess, a frog, a carriage, a wand, a rainbow, a shield and an enchanted book
• 20 printable gem tokens (or use your own mini erasers, bingo chips or buttons)
• Step-by-step teacher instructions for small groups, centers and therapy sessions

Each board has plenty of details to keep students scanning carefully, but it is not so crowded that they become overwhelmed. Every image is clear and kid-friendly, so it is easy for learners to find a match whether they are preschoolers just building vocabulary or older students working on visual scanning in a therapy setting.

Simply print, laminate, cut and go! The small storage size makes it super easy to keep everything in one place.

Why Teachers Love It

• Kids ask to play again: The race to spy each picture first keeps every player watching the board.
• A high-interest theme: Castles, dragons, unicorns and royalty draw in even reluctant talkers.
• Quick to prep: Print, laminate and cut apart the cards and you are ready to play.
• Three ways to play: Use it as a group race, a calm independent activity or side-by-side parallel play.
• Made for therapy and intervention: It works as a vocabulary game, an articulation activity or a visual scanning task.
• Easy for substitutes: Simple to explain and quick to set up on a busy day.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Visual discrimination: Children spot details in busy fairy tale scenes to find exact picture matches.
• Vocabulary development: Repeated exposure builds fairy tale words such as castle, crown, prince, princess, dragon, unicorn and glass slipper.
• Articulation: Saying each word out loud during play gives natural speech practice.
• Expressive and receptive language: Image-to-word matching supports English language learners and early talkers.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Taking turns
• Waiting during group play
• Maintaining attention
• Following directions
• Working independently
• Building confidence during group participation

How to Use It

Step 1: Choose a fairy tale game board filled with magical objects and place it in the center. Deal the image cards face down to each player or draw from a shared pile.

Step 2: On each turn, players flip their top card at the same time and race to spy the matching image on the board. The first player to point to it wins a token.

Step 3: Keep playing until all the cards are used. The player with the most tokens at the end is the winner!

Bonus Play Options

Independent play: A single student works through the deck of image cards on their own. They flip one card at a time, search for the matching picture on the game board and cover it with a mini eraser or token. This option builds focus, visual scanning and vocabulary skills without the pressure of competing against others.

Parallel play: Two students each have their own I Spy game board and set of cards. They play side-by-side, flipping and matching cards at their own pace. This works well for children who need personal space, are just beginning to join group activities or thrive in a more relaxed, non-competitive setting.

Easy Differentiation

Every group of players brings different visual skills, language needs and attention spans. This game is easy to adjust so everyone can play.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Start with independent play and a small stack of image cards
• Name each picture together before the game begins
• Point to the part of the board where the picture can be found
• Cover each match with a mini eraser or token

For On-Level Practice

• Play the race version as written with a partner or small group
• Name each picture out loud when you find it
• Rotate through different game boards
• Count the tokens at the end to see who won

For an Extra Challenge

• Use the full deck of 40 image cards in one game
• Tell a one-sentence story about each picture before collecting a token
• Describe where the picture is on the board, such as "at the top" or "next to the castle"
• Find the picture before a short timer runs out

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Target specific sounds with vocabulary-rich fairy tale words
• Use a short language frame such as "I spy a ___ in the castle."
• Build visual scanning and fine motor control as children flip cards, grab tokens and point to matches
• Use parallel play for children who need personal space
• Give extra processing time and take turns one at a time when needed

Perfect For

• Fairy tale and storybook units
• Literacy and vocabulary centers
• RTI and small group interventions
• Speech and occupational therapy sessions
• ELL and ESL vocabulary support
• Homeschool learning and family game time
• Early finishers
• Sub plans
• Rainy day fun and indoor recess

Standards

This fairy tales I Spy game supports the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and Virginia's Early Learning and Development Standards (2021), plus kindergarten speaking, listening and vocabulary standards in Common Core, the TEKS (ELAR, adopted 2017) and the Virginia English SOL (2024):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS SL.K.1.a: Follow agreed-upon rules, such as listening to others and taking turns, during group play.
• CCSS L.K.6: Use words learned through conversation and stories, such as castle, crown, dragon and carriage, while naming pictures.

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines

• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.II.D.1: Understand and use a wide variety of words to label and describe the fairy tale pictures.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.E.1: Sort objects that are the same and different. Children compare similar pictures to find the one that matches their card.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.I.C.4: Interact with peers during cooperative play that shares a common plan and goal.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS ELAR K.1.D: Work with others by following agreed-upon rules, including taking turns.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS CLLD1.2: Use vocabulary to name and talk about fairy tale pictures.
• Virginia ELDS CD3.4: Sort and classify by noticing how pictures are alike and matching the ones that are the same.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL English K.C.1.A.i: Listen actively and follow agreed-upon rules for participating, such as waiting for a turn.

Check out what other educators are saying:

★★★★ Christine H. wrote: “I used this as a vocabulary game with my RTI group. It was great to have new types of words… and a good tool to see which students could grasp words and images quickly.”

Add the Fairy Tales I Spy Board Game to your cart and bring a little fairy tale magic to your classroom or therapy sessions. Kids will love racing to find princes, princesses, castles and magical creatures again and again!

The Fairy Tales I Spy Board Game is also included in 30 I Spy Board Games: Growing Bundle #3 with community helpers, animals and more fun themes. Grab the bundle and save!

Download Details

Please note: This is a digital download that will be available to you directly after purchase. Nothing will be mailed to you.

You will receive a link to the download in three places

1. On the 'thank you' page after checkout
2. In your email
3. Login on the site here: https://lifeovercsstore.com/account