Tic-Tac-Toe is a classic kids game that has been around for thousands of years, originating in ancient Egypt. This classic game is often referred to as an educational game for young kids because it teaches them and understanding of predictability, problem solving, hand-eye coordination, turn taking, and strategizing.  Although once they play it enough times and have a true understanding of the strategy, they soon realize that it is a game where no one wins.
I use to love playing this game with my daughter Emma when she was younger. Seeing the excitement on her face when she thought “this time, I’m going to win”  but sadly didn’t lol. She got bored of it really quickly and then we moved on to checkers after that.   But one afternoon I was trying to figure out a craft to do with a piece of wood from an old tree truck that we had cut down. I thought it might be cute to make a Tic-Tac-Toe board and to see if Emma wanted to help, so we had a nice little reminder of one of the first games we use to play together.  Plus, it was a great way to make something out of an old tree from our property.

Well, as it turns out, Emma wasn’t that excited to make a Tic-Tac-Toe board with me so I decided to do it myself.

Here is how to make the Tic-Tac-Toe board:

• Paul cut a piece of the tree trunk about 4 inches thick. I took an electric sander with 150 grit paper and sanded the top of what would be the grid surface, until it was smooth. I then took painters masking tape and taped off where I wanted the grid positioned and painted the grid lines with black acrylic paint.
• Once the back paint was dry, I removed the masking tape and then varnished the surface and sides of the tree trunk with a water based clear varnish.
• Once the varnish dried, I decided to show Emma in hopes that it would inspire her to want to help create the game pieces. Well, it worked. Momma got her wish and Emma was finally excited to help. We wanted to do something fun with the game pieces, so Emma and I looked up ideas on Pinterest. Instead of just the traditional X’s and O’s, we decided on ladybugs and bumble bees.
• we went to the dollar store and purchased, a bag of smooth river rocks, yellow, red and white paint. We then turned 5 rocks into ladybugs and 5 rocks into bumble bees. I can’t tell you how much fun we had doing it and talking about how we use to play the game together.We placed the game board on a small side table in our outdoor sitting lounge. Every now and then we find ourselves wanting to play a game or telling someone who sees the board the story behind it. It’s moment like these that mean the most to me, I hope Emma will look back at these crafts we do together and smile and perhaps want to do them with her kids.

I hope this inspires you to be creative in your home- enjoy!