Spot It! Camping, Spot It! On the Road

Spot It! Camping and Spot It! On the Road

All the fun of Spot It! in summer themes - camping and vacationing. Spot It! is my favorite card game for several reasons: the rules are simple, a game only takes 5-10 minutes  to play, there are five different ways to play, it comes in a variety of themes, everyone plays on every turn so there's no down time, many ages can play together, and you can work on several skills at the same time. Whew! There are eight items on each card (except the junior version which has only six). The items are in different orientations and may be different sizes, but never differ in color. Between any two cards there is one, and only one, match. Not sure how they do that, but it is true. The goal is simply to find your match before the other player(s) finds his match. What happens then depends on the version you are playing. Here are the original five games:

• The Tower - To win, collect the most cards by the end of the game. One card is dealt face down to each player. The rest of the cards are put in a face-up deck within everyone's reach. Everyone plays at the same time to see who can be the first to find a match between his card and the card on the top of the deck. The first person to call out his match takes the top card and adds it to the top of his personal pile. All players immediately start looking for the match between their card and the new top card on the deck in the middle. Play continues until all cards from the deck on the table have been collected.
• The Well - Be the first to get rid of all your cards to win. Put one card face up within reach of all players. Deal the rest of the deck evenly and face-down to all players. At the same time, all players flip their card pile face-up and quickly look for the match between their top card and the card on the table. The first to call out his match gets to lay his card on the pile on the table. Everyone immediately starts looking for the match between their top card and the new top card on the table. Play continues in this manner until someone runs out of cards and wins the game. 
• Hot Potato - Have the least amount of cards after all the rounds have been played to win. Evenly deal all cards between players, face-down in their palms. To start, all players turn their cards face up at the same time and look for a match between their card and anyone else's top card. Once you find a match, add your card, face-up, to the pile in their palm. This is their new top card. The game continues until only one person has cards in his palm. He counts his cards and that is his score. Play several rounds and the winner is the person who has the lowest score.
• The Poisoned Gift - Have the least number of cards at the end of the game to win. Deal one card to each player, face down. Put the remainder of the deck in the middle, face-up. All players turn their card face-up at the same time and start looking for a match between the card in the middle and any other player. Once you see a match, call it out and put the card from the middle onto that player's pile. That now becomes his top card. Keep playing until the stack of cards from the middle is gone.
• Triplet - Collect the most cards by the end of the game to win. Lay nine cards (3 X 3) face-up on the table. Everyone looks for three of one item within those nine cards. First to find a match calls out the item and takes the three cards. Three new cards are added in those spots. Keep playing until there are less than nine cards left or no more sets of three. 

Some of the images unique to Spot It! Camping are tent, raccoon, sleeping bag, camp fire, marshmallow on stick, fish, flashlight, mosquito, map, hiker, and animal track. Some of the images unique to the Spot It! On the Road version is motorcycle, road sign, rainbow, railroad tracks, cat, stoplight, jogger and pickup truck. Spot It! is a compact game that travels easily and would be fun on a camping trip to the forest or the backyard. Another fun Spot It! summer game is Spot It! Splash. The cards are laminated so that you can use it by (in) the pool or at the beach. Below left - SpotIt! Camping, below right - SpotIt! On the Road.

 

Try this:

• Start by showing the players each image in the instruction guide and make sure that they recognize or learn what to call each item. It would be an unfair disadvantage if he found the match but didn't know what it was so couldn't call it.
• Play with non-verbal individuals and point to the match on one of the cards instead of calling it out.
• Start by making it a simpler matching game to teach the object to beginners. Put two cards side by side on the table and find the match. If the person has difficulty, turn the cards so that the matching items are close to each other so they will be easier to spot.
• Eliminate the need for speed. Take turns finding matches.
• Ask the player to hold the stack in the non-dominant hand throughout the game. Push each card off the top with the thumb.
• Lay several cards in front of you on the table and call out an object on the cards. Count how many times that object appears on those cards.
• Lay two cards side by side on the table. Every looks. The first to find the match gets the cards. Play till all the cards are gone.
• Work on figure ground, visual discrimination, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, shuffling and dealing cards, manual dexterity, spatial relations, visual form constancy, visual scanning, executive functioning skills, processing and motor speed, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the tin: 55 cards

Ages 7+, 2-8 players

If you are interested in purchasing either of these games or just want more information, click on the image below.