Noughts and Crosses with a twist

Today's game is.......

Noughts and crosses with a twist!

I learnt this game from a lady who has a ton of Maths games and ideas, Sandra Knox. I tried to find a link to her web site but couldn't, if you ever get the chance to go to a training session with her though, jump at it!

It has the same idea as normal noughts and crosses - you have the grid and the aim in to get three in a row but this is a game the whole class can play!

Start by drawing a grid on your board, the larger you make it, the more complex and longer the game. For my Receptions, I usually start with a 4x4 grid. You then label the grid, either with coordinates or with a small number in each box for the younger ones.

This is the format I use for my littlies

I use this one with older kids.. from about Year 2

I divide the class into two teams as they sit on the floor, one team is 'noughts' and the other 'crosses'. Each person in the team takes turns in saying where they would like their nought (or cross) to go, and I draw it on the board for them (great for practicing coordinates and number recognition)

Just a tip- I usually give each team a glue stick or something to pass on so that we know who's turn it is... I learnt this the hard way after getting TOTALLY confused about who was supposed to be having a turn!

Mid -game!

We play the game until the board is filled, and the winner is the team with the most lots of '3 in a row'. At the end of the game, we work as a whole class to find all the '3 in a rows'. I ask kids to tell me where on the board they can see them (using coordinates or numbers) and I circle them. We keep a tally so that we know how many each team has.

Tallying up the score... my class gets very 'enthusiastic' about this!

 

If you have older kids you can make the game more tricky by giving one point for 3 in a rows, 2 points for 4 in a rows and 3 points for 5 in a rows... it can make for a pretty complex and fun game!

So there you go, a game with heaps of Maths in it and one that I find kids love! Thanks Sandra :)