I spy is a guessing game usually played in families with young children, partly to assist in both observation and in alphabet familiarity. I spy is often played as a car game.
One person starts by choosing an object (a cow, for example) and says "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C" or simply "I spy something beginning with C." The other players look around and suggest things it might be: "Crow" (no), "Car" (no), "Cloud" (no), "Cow" - yes. The person who guesses correctly often gets to choose the next object.
When played in a car, the group playing may need to decide beforehand what to do about items that are no longer visible (the field with the cows is a mile back - usually permitted but the person choosing the object has to say "I can't see it any more" and "I can see it now"). Sometimes items within the car are excluded.
Spanish-speaking countries have a slight variation of the game. Instead of declaring the letter in a single phrase, Latin American countries play the following dialogue:
The person then names the color of the object picked up. Another variation, more faithful to the original, has the person choosing a letter instead of a color.
In Spain there's another version:
"Veo, Veo" (I see, I see) "¿Qué ves?" (What do you see?) "Una cosita" (A little thing) "¿Por qué letrita?" (What little letter does it begin with?) "Empieza con la letra... ¡B!" (It begins with... B!)
In Germany, the phrase is closer to the English one: Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst, und das ist.... Translated, it reads "I see something that you don't see, and that is..."
In the Netherlands this game is known as "Ik zie, ik zie, wat jij niet ziet en het is..." which translates to: "I see, I see, something that you don't see, and it is..." After this sentence, often a hint is given, which is mostly a color. The object referred to, is almost always in sight. It is almost the same as the German version.
In Italy there are two games similar to "I Spy": the first is "Lupo Mangiatutto" ("Wolf who eats everything"), in which a players has the role of the "Wolf" and states the beginning letter, while the others have to run around and touch something beginning with that letter; if someone gets caught from the "Wolf" before, he/she becomes the new wolf.
The second game is called "Strega Comanda Colore" ("Witch, tell us the color") and is similar to "Lupo Mangiatutto": a player is the witch and the others ask him/her to state a colour, then they run around looking for something of that colour to touch. Sometimes the witch states the beginning letter instead of the colour.
In French, the closest variant of the game is "J'ai dans ma tête quelque chose qui commence par..." ("Inside my head there's something starting with [the letter] ..."). Another more limited and harder variation on those lexical fluency games is "Que mets-tu dans mon corbeillon?" ("What can you put into my little basket?") where the players must suggest word ending with the syllable [jɔ̃].