Anne Gardner's Educational Resources

Tic Tac Toe with Numbers, Letters or Sight Words

I just love Tic Tac Toe!  There can be so much to a game - the planning, the strategy and even reinforcement of academic skills.

I like to use half of a foam carton from a pack of 18 eggs.    

We select appealing objects to play with.  For some kids, that might mean Legos or Unifix cubes.  Pom Poms are always a great choice too! 

Kids play until they understand the game well.  Then it's time to add another element!

To work with letters, partners each choose a color.  Select the letters you want each child to focus on. Depending on the letters you select, this works well for kids who are learning their first few letters and also for kids who need reinforcement with a few letters they find tricky.       

This works well with numbers too! 

My favorite way to use this game is to reinforce knowledge of sight words.  Just tape the words your kids are working with onto colored tiles or unifix cubes and they're ready to go!   

To add some writing, have kids record the words they use for each game.       

I love simple, classic games that can be used in many different ways.  That makes Tic Tac Toe an all-time favorite for me!

Thanks for taking a look.  I hope you find these ideas helpful.  If you have favorite games that work throughout the year, I'd love to hear about them.  Anne