'Each, Peach, Pear, Plum': Preschool I Spy Activity for the Book
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Each, Peach, Pear, Plum is a delightful interactive book for young children.

It is simply written in rhyme, uses snippets of nursery rhymes, and has wonderful illustrations which allow children to spy something on each page.

This book can be used on its own followed by an activity or it can be used when you are having a theme about nursery rhymes, working on hearing rhyming words, or even when studying the letter P. This “I Spy” activity will get you started.

Read the Book

Gather your students close around you so that they can all see the pages. They will want to spy at each illustration to find the hidden object. Some pages have just a partial object, like Old Mother Hubbard, so the students have to think while looking!

Then read it again, and this time focus on the rhyming words. You may also want to have your children recite some of the nursery rhymes that are mentioned.

You will want to keep the book at easy access so that the children can go through it on their own.

Let’s Play I Spy!

Preparation:

Read the following riddles to yourself before the lesson. Decide if any need edited for your particular setting. For example, you may not have tile on the floor or a ceiling fan. If that’s the case, either think of another rhyming clue or omit the riddle. Have objects in mind ahead of time for each riddle.

I Spy:

Following along with the format of the book—the rhyming words and the inclusion of nursery rhyme characters—the students will listen to each of the following riddles. They not only have to think of a word that rhymes but also if it makes sense in the riddle. You may want to call on individual students, play as two teams, or have the whole class call out the answers randomly.

  • Hickory Dickory Dock

  • I spy a green _________ (block).

  • Mother Hubbard’s cupboard was bare.

  • I spy a little tan________(chair).

  • Bzzz Bzzz Can you see?

  • I spy the letter________ (B).

  • Cinderella’s foot fit in the shoe

  • I spy something the color ________(blue).

  • Jack fell down and broke his crown.

  • I spy a crayon that’s the color _________(brown).

  • Shoo, Fly! Don’t bother me.

  • Outside I could spy a __________(tree).

  • Down at the station, early in the morning

  • See the little puffer-billies all in a row.

  • On your foot I spy a _____(toe).

  • Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

  • I spy a bouncy _________(ball).

  • To market, to market to buy a fat pig

  • I spy something very_________(big).

  • Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye.

  • Two of these are on my face. Tell me what I spy_____(an eye).

  • There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile.

  • On the floor, I spy a ________(tile).

  • Pat-a-cake, Pat-a cake, baker’s man

  • Look, I spy a ceiling __________(fan).

  • Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

  • I’ve been to London to look at the queen.

  • I spy something the color_________ (green).

  • Star Light, Star Bright

  • I spy a switch to turn on the ______(light).

Janet Ahlberg provides a fun lesson while working on several skills. You will hear lots of nursery rhymes, listen for rhyming words, and do some thinking skills all while playing a fun I Spy game. I Spy a good time for all!

References

  • Ahlberg, Janet. Each Peach Pear Plum. Puffin, 1986.

    Ideas and activities come from the author’s twenty-five years of teaching experience.