Back to school emotions I Spy board game fun for naming feelings! In this School Supply I Spy game, children flip a card, scan a busy board of school supplies with feeling faces and race to spy a happy pencil or a sad backpack first.

This playful, fast-paced game gives emotion recognition a back-to-school twist. Crayons, pencils, glue, notebooks, calculators, backpacks, books and tablets show faces that are happy, sad, worried, angry, surprised, tired, silly and more. As preschool, pre-k and kindergarten children search for each match, they notice eyes, eyebrows and mouths, name the feeling they see and build social emotional vocabulary in a low-pressure way.

With this back to school emotions I Spy game, you get

• 10 full-color school supply emotions I Spy game boards
• 40 I Spy image cards with expressive school supplies
• 20 token cards for scoring
• A simple game format young learners understand quickly

Print, deal the cards and let the feelings hunt begin!

What's Included

• 10 different I Spy game boards with school supply emotion pictures
• 40 I Spy image cards, such as a happy pencil and a sad backpack
• 20 token cards for keeping score during each round
• Clear visual directions for easy game play
• Simple prep instructions for printing, laminating, cutting and storing

Why Teachers Love It

• Feelings practice that feels like play: Kids think they are playing a quick search game while they practice naming emotions.
• Familiar school objects: Smiling pencils and worried crayons give children something easy to talk about in the first weeks of school.
• Builds feelings vocabulary: Each match is a chance to name a feeling and talk about the clues on the face.
• Prep once, use all year: Ten boards and 40 image cards keep the game fresh long after back-to-school season.
• Flexible settings: Use it in centers, small groups, partner play, calm-down corners or therapy sessions.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Emotion identification: Children look at each face and name the feeling, such as happy, sad, worried or surprised.
• Reading facial expressions: Children notice eyes, eyebrows and mouths as clues to how each school supply feels.
• Social emotional vocabulary: Children use feeling words as they describe what they find.
• Visual discrimination: Children compare similar faces to find the exact match.
• Visual scanning: Children search a busy board to locate their picture.
• School supply vocabulary: Children name crayons, pencils, backpacks, notebooks and more.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Taking turns
• Waiting during group play
• Listening to classmates
• Maintaining attention
• Communicating choices
• Building confidence during group participation

How to Use It

Step 1: Print, laminate and cut apart the game boards, image cards and token cards. Choose one school supply emotions board and place it where all players can see it. Play with partners, a small group or one-on-one with a teacher, therapist or homeschool parent.

Step 2: Give each player a stack of image cards face down or place the cards in one shared pile. Players flip the top card and look closely at the school supply emotion picture.

Step 3: Players race to find the matching picture on the board. The first player to point to or touch the correct match wins a token card. Keep playing until the cards have been matched, then count the tokens to see who collected the most.

For extra social emotional learning practice, pause after each match and ask simple questions like, "How does this pencil look?" or "What clues helped you know that crayon looks worried?"

Easy Differentiation

Children come to this game with different feelings vocabularies, visual skills and comfort levels with group play. It is easy to adjust so everyone can join in.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Name the feelings on the board together before the game begins
• Start with a smaller stack of image cards
• Take turns searching one player at a time
• Make the face on the card together before searching

For On-Level Practice

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

For an Extra Challenge

• Use all 40 image cards in one game
• Tell what clues on the face show the feeling
• Share a time you felt the same way
• Sort the cards into feeling groups after the game

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Practice feeling words and school supply vocabulary such as pencil, crayon and backpack
• Use a short language frame such as "The ___ feels ___."
• Build visual scanning and visual discrimination in OT sessions
• Use the pictures to make new words easier to understand for ELL and ESL learners
• Give extra processing time and take turns one at a time when needed

Perfect For

• August and September back-to-school centers
• Preschool and pre-k social emotional learning
• Kindergarten morning tubs
• Small group instruction and partner games
• Calm-down corner activities
• Speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions
• ELL and ESL vocabulary support
• Early finishers and indoor recess
• Homeschool social emotional lessons

Standards

This back to school emotions 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 and phrases learned through conversations, such as happy, worried and surprised.

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines

• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.I.B.2.b: Use words, faces and actions to communicate basic emotions and feelings.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.II.D.1: Understand and use a wide variety of words to label and describe feelings and school supplies.
• 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.3.B: Use illustrations to learn or clarify word meanings, such as matching feeling words to faces.
• TEKS ELAR K.1.D: Work with others by following agreed-upon rules, including taking turns.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS SED2.1: See and name emotions in self and others while matching faces on the game boards.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD1.2: Use vocabulary to name and talk about the feelings and school supplies.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL English K.RV.1.C: Use vocabulary from across content areas, including feelings words.
• VA SOL English K.C.1.A.i: Listen actively and follow agreed-upon rules for participating, such as waiting for a turn.

Add the Back to School Emotions I Spy Board Game to your cart and start the year with a game that helps kids notice, name and talk about feelings. Your students will be racing to spy happy pencils and sad backpacks from the very first week!

The Back to School Emotions I Spy game is also included in 30 I Spy Board Games: Bundle #4 with color, emotion, counting and 2D shape games. 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