3D tic tac toe

I used to use this game with high school students to help teach strategic thinking.  It also helped geometry students to start thinking in 3 dimensions.

I have taught this to children as young as 4 years old.  It is fun to watch a 16-year-old finally beat one of those 4-year-olds.  It only took 10 or 12 tries.  I love to watch a child teach the game to a great grandparent.

The cover picture shows 2 different winning arrangements--one for ‘X’ that is diagonally down; the other for ‘O’ that is straight down.  I use this set up to demonstrate the difference between ordinary (flat) tic tac toe and the 3D version.  Some people find it easier than others to ‘see’ the third dimension.

I printed 14 O's and only 13 X's.  This is because I wanted everything to fit inside the cover.  To make the game portable, I flip it over so the cover becomes a box and the game board becomes the lid.  When we play O always goes first and we switch pieces with each game so everyone gets a chance to go first.  You could choose to print 14 of each piece but you risk losing one piece.   

This would make a great teacher gift for the teacher to keep in his/her classroom.  Have your child learn to play first and then the child gets to teach the teacher how to play.