I often try to find ways to adapt one game or activity to fit the learning needs of students of different ages. Especially during these last winter months, it's nice to have something different to try when you need a quick break from the ordinary routine.

There are some fun variations you can try with tic-tac-toe to make it a unique learning tool. Visit www.bellesprintables.com and click on "free templates" to create your own tic-tac-toe boards. You can also make a durable board by gluing a square of felt on cardboard and then gluing a ric-rac or ribbon grid on the felt. Put Velcro tabs or felt squares on the back of homemade tic-tac-toe tokens. (Velcro tabs help make this a great traveling game.) For easy homemade tokens, laminate 5 paper circles of two different colors each. You might also decorate the tokens by stamping two different images or adhering two different stickers to the top of the tokens. You can also use buttons or small candies as tokens.

Enjoy!

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Pre-School Tic-Tac-Toe

Write letters from your pre-k child's name, or random letters, numbers or shapes that he needs to in the boxes of the tic-tac-toe grid. After playing tic-tac-toe, ask the child to name each letter, number or shape as tokens are removed. Even if your child doesn't understand the tic-tac-toe game concept, he can still learn to take turns and then identify letters, numbers or shapes in a way that doesn't feel like learning.

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Math Adventure Tic-Tac-Toe

Randomly write numbers in the boxes of the tic-tac-toe grid. After playing a regular game of tic-tac-toe, each player removes his tokens and adds up the numbers underneath each of his tokens. The player with the highest score is a winner, too! You can program the grid randomly, or use numbers in a family (2's, 5's, 10's etc.) Older children can be challenged to multiply their scores. If you're working on reading longer numbers, program the grid with numbers such as 2,567,492, and simply have the players read each number under their tokens. The possibilities are limitless, and you can use this basic idea with most any math concept you're studying.

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Word Jumble Tic-Tac-Toe

Program a tic-tac-toe board with frequently used consonants (avoid x and q in particular). After playing a regular game of tic-tac-toe, challenge players to write as many words as they can using any combination of vowels and the consonants that appear under their tokens. Set a timer for one minute (or determine a longer time if needed). The player with the most real words when the time's up is a winner, too!

Copyright Sherry Fiscella 2008