Classic game of Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe is a variation on the classic children’s game in which a dose of physical activity is added to make it even better.

Form small groups of 4 to 8 people. Lay or draw one large Tic-Tac-Toe hatch on the ground approx 15-20 metres in front of each group.

Ideally, lay these hatches at least 15 to 20 metres away from your groups. Finally, clearly assign a particular hatch to each small group.

Divide each small group into two smaller teams to represent the teams of Noughts and Crosses. Assign and distribute a set of four coloured items – red and green, for example – to each group, to allow each team to identify with one of the colours to represent their mark.

When ready, instruct a representative from each team to race towards their hatch to place one of their coloured items inside their preferred square. It’s a race, so the first person to arrive earns the right to place their mark on whatever square they choose within their assigned hatch.

Having placed their item, each person races back to their group, and once they have crossed the designated line (behind which the rest of their team awaits,) each team may send out their next representative to lay their second mark. The members of each team continue to take turns to lay their marks on the hatch.

The game continues until one team becomes the first to lay three items of the same colour in a straight line (in any direction.)

If there is a tie…

Most of the time, this round of energetic Noughts and Crosses will be over within the minute. However, on occasions, the two teams will reach a stalemate in which all eight marks will have been placed within the hatch without a winning result, ie no three items of the same colour in a row.

When a draw occurs, each team – taking turns – may pick up and move any one of their (own) coloured items and place it inside the only empty square on the hatch in an effort to align three of their items in a row. This shifting of marks (in addition to the regular running backwards and forwards) continues until a result is declared.

If, after a further minute of play, no winner has been declared, start over.

Continue playing for several rounds.

The topics of this publication: distension, integration, interactions, disinhibition, energize