

By playing the game, your child will start thinking about where the other player may be planning to place their next move, and how to solve the problem of if their space on the grid was taken. One way is by developing your child’s problem-solving skills. Whilst tic tac toe is a very simple game, it can benefit your child in many ways. How does playing tic tac toe benefit my child? It is also a nostalgic game for adults and is universally played all over the world. Historically, the person who is ‘X’ will go first, but if you are using one of our cool character boards, we will let you flip a coin for who goes first! The tic tac toe templates can be used from ages 3 and up. The person who gets three of their shapes in a row either across, down, or diagonally, will be the winner. There is no cap on turns you can take to get three in a row, but once the board is full you will either win, lose or draw.

The player devises a strategy to be able to get three shapes in a row, which will declare that player the winner. This game is still popular in modern times and is regularly played in classrooms, school playgrounds, and, at home. Tic Tac Toe is possibly one of the oldest games devised, dating all of the way back to 1300 BC. The game itself helps to teach children strategy, by planning their next move to get three shapes in a row. You could compare this to playing darts blindfolded! Although that probably isn’t recommended…! Tic tac toe also used to be played in another format, where people would shut their eyes, throw a pencil at a number marked on the grid, and total up their scores. The game has even been found on roofing tiles! If you are lucky enough to ever visit Rome, there are lots of tic tac toe sketches around to be found, as it was played so regularly. Instead of being able to write a shape, such as an ‘X’, or an ‘O’, it was played by only having three pebbles and having to move them around the board continually to make ‘three in a row’. This translates to ‘three pebbles at a time’. Did you know that the origins of ‘tic tac toe’ can be traced all of the way back to the times of ancient Egypt? That’s right! The original name for tic tac toe is actually ‘terni lapilli’.
