Spy Maker is an independent Life Skills challenge where students make their own three-page I Spy book. They hunt the house for things on a list, turn what they find into a tiny world on paper, photograph it, and write the rhyme that tells other kids what to look for. Once the book is published, other Alpha Anywhere students can play it.
What Your Child Does
Describe This Image. They describe a secret picture in their own words, up to 140 characters. AI draws a new picture from their words, and a 75% match or better opens the next step. They can change their words and try again.
Spy First. They play one I Spy book another student made, so they know what a good page feels like from the finding side.
Hunt. For each page, they search the house against a list, like "something round" or "small brown things." They type what they found and what it could become, then take one photo of everything laid out together.
Build the page. They build a little world on a sheet of paper from what they found, cover the whole sheet, and photograph it from straight above. Pages one and two come with a place to build. Page three is theirs to invent.
Rhyme and hide. They write the I Spy rhyme that names the hidden things, then tap where each one is in their photo.
Publish. They name the book and confirm it's their own work. A guide reviews the book. Once it passes, it goes on the Bookshelf for other students to play, and your child writes a short captain's log about what they made.
The One Rule
Everything in the book comes from your house, and everything the rhyme names is really in the photo. No AI pictures, no photos of a room, and no copying someone else's page.
The limits are the point. When a shoelace has to become a river, your child has to look at it in a new way.
The Skills It Builds
Spy Maker is a Creativity challenge. Students practice working inside tight rules and letting those rules push them toward ideas they'd never have had otherwise.
🌟The skill they show: "I can take tough rules and turn them into something cool."
What You Need
A computer or tablet, plus a camera for the photos.
Paper, at least letter size. One sheet for each page.
Things from around the house. Nothing to buy.
A few sittings, at your child's own pace. Work saves as they go, and a day between the hunt and the build is fine.
How You Can Help
Be a hunt helper, not the builder. Help find things if they ask. The world, the hiding, and the rhyme belong to your child.
Be the first player. Try to find the things on their page. Whatever you spot in ten seconds, they can hide better.
If they want to quit, ask which part feels stuck: the hunt, the building, or the rhyme. Let them pick one small thing to change, and please don't fix the page for them.
Rewards
Your child earns Stardust and Creativity points in Spy Maker. Redoing a step never costs anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does my child type or describe?
A description of the secret picture (up to 140 characters), what they found on each hunt row and what it could become, the rhyme for each page, what each hidden thing really is, the book's name, and short answers in the captain's log.
Does the rhyme have to rhyme?
No. Rhyming is a bonus. Naming the hidden things is what counts.
What if Describe This Image is hard?
That's expected. They can edit their words and try again, up to a set number of tries a day, and the tries reset the next day.
Who sees my child's book?
A guide reviews every book first. Once it's approved, students playing Spy Maker can see its pages, rhymes, title and author name on the Bookshelf. The hunt photos stay behind the scenes.
What if the book comes back?
The guide leaves a note on the page that needs a fix. Your child fixes it and sends the book back.
Can siblings make one book together?
No. Each child makes their own book. They can play each other's once both are published.
What if they get stuck?
Each step says what opens next, and Alphie can help. Alphie nudges with a question. He never writes the rhyme or picks the words for them.
Need help? Talk to Alphie, our smart AI assistant, in the Parent Portal. If he can't sort it out, he'll connect you with our team.