What You’ll Need

• chalk or masking tape
• 20 six-inch paper plates
• marker
• stapler

What to Do

1. Use chalk or masking tape to make a tic-tac-toe grid on the floor (indoors) or the ground (outdoors).
2. Decorate five plates with X’s and five with O’s.
3. Staple each decorated plate to a plain plate to make disks.

To Play:
Stand two feet away from the tic-tac-toe grid. Take turns tossing the disks, one at a time. The first person to get three disks in a row wins that round. Play until you are out of energy!

A trivia note:
When a tic-tac-toe game is a tie, it’s often called a “cat’s game,” but no one is quite sure why. Some think this refers to a cat that chases its tail but never wins. Can you think of any other explanations for this phrase?

Extend the Fun

For younger kids:  Strategy doesn’t come naturally to little ones, so give them an extra turn at Giant Tic-Tac-Toe or practice on a smaller scale with a paper game of tic-tac-toe. Even if a child is too young to participate in an actual game, she can practice drawing X’s and O’s or bending chenille sticks (aka pipe cleaners) into those shapes.

For older kids: Raise the stakes! Make more disks and enlarge the game board into a 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 grid to increase the challenge. Who will be the first to get four or five in a row?