• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Shop
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

teach mama logo

teach mama

helps families connect & build bridges between home & school, by amy mascott

  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

letter learning tic tac toe

home / early literacy / alphabet / letter learning tic tac toe
1.0K shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

letter learning tic tac toe | teachmama.com

Lately, Owen has been having a difficult time with the ‘W’ and ‘N’ in his name. Sometimes upside down or with too many lines, his letters need a little TLC.

In our coloring and painting lately, I’ve tried to sneak in a few reasons to write his name, but after his first mistake, he’d drop the pen, chalk, or paintbrush and go run to do something else.

It seemed like the the letters were really beginning to frustrate him.

So today before his rest, I thought we’d focus on the individual letters of his name rather than the whole name itself. And I threw it into an old favorite–tic-tac-toe.

  • Tic-Tac-Toe: I created two boards–one with four grids and one with two grids. Then I grabbed our letter cards. I didn’t need all of the letters today; I would only use the letters of his name–OWEN–and for now, uppercase letters would be fine.You can download everything here:
  • tictactoe board teachmama.com
  • tictactoe board big teachmama.com
  • alphabet cards & games teachmama.com

 

letter learning tic tac toe | teachmama.com

the boards

I printed out a few sheets of both since I wasn’t sure how well Owen would do with the smaller boxes, and I asked him to grab either markers or crayons and to get ready for a rockin’ new tic-tac-toe game.

I told him that we were going to play tic-tac-toe today but not like he remembered it. We weren’t going to use x’s or o’s–no way, Jose. We were moving up to bigger and better things–the letters of his name.

After spreading out the letter cards, we hunted for “his” letters, and we set them aside. I asked him to put the letters in order on top of the board. Then I asked which of the letters in his name was his favorite–he said, W, so I said that he could be W to start. I’d be O. And then we played.

 

letter learning tic tac toe | teachmama.coma few of our games

We played and played and played some more. And here’s how we mixed it up:

  • we’d both be the same letter but use different colors;
  • we’d turn the letter cards upside down and pick a letter to use;
  • we’d pick a letter card for each other;
  • we’d just say which letter we wanted to be.

And if one of us made a mistake–made a M for a W or backwards N (and we both did!), we just paused, said, Let’s double check that letter again, we wrote it again, and we moved on.

It’s easy to adapt tic-tac-toe for whatever you need. You could work on:

  • individual letter writing;
  • number writing;
  • sight words;
  • names–of themselves or people in their family;
  • color words;
  • word families;
  • fine motor skills–placing a sticker, stamp, or jelly bean inside the square;
  • or just simple game-strategy learning.

So that was our little bit of learning for today. We’re slowly moving back into a school-year schedule, and it’s actually kind of nice, except we still really miss Maddy during the day.

FYI: If you need letter cards, check out this previous post: sticky fingers writing.
Want a few more alphabet activities? Check out:

  • backyard alphabet hunt
  • homemade alphabet book
  • leafy letter learning
  • ABC hunt
  • on the road ABC hunt
  • lowercase ABC hunt
  • build your own bingo: uppercase and lowercase match
  • ABC cards and clothespin match
  • alphabet letter splash
  • alphabingo (play with lowercase letters)
  • alphabet letter lids
  • leafy outdoor alphabet hunt
  • build your own board game
  • clothespin letter match
  • 10 fun ways to learn theย alphabet

 

Follow us on pinterest, and check out our literacy pins:

Follow amy mascott @teachmama’s board literacy on Pinterest.

You May Also Like...

  • how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
    how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
  • how to teach kids the ABCs: 5 fun ways
    how to teach kids the ABCs: 5 fun ways
  • Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators
    Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators

About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:these shoes are made for walkin’. . .
Next Post:new for us friday–kaa-chew! news on the flu

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stimey

    September 15, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    What a great idea to use letters other than X and O. I'd never thought of that. I'm going to do this with Quinn.

    Reply
  2. Christy

    September 15, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    That is a great idea!

    Reply
  3. Morgan

    September 16, 2009 at 12:49 am

    Love this idea! Definitely going to write it down!

    Reply
  4. The Activity Mom

    September 16, 2009 at 1:01 am

    Perfect! Looks like that worked out great!

    Reply
  5. abc

    September 16, 2009 at 1:44 am

    What a great idea (as are all of yours)! Thank you!!!

    Reply
  6. Multi-tasking Mommy

    September 16, 2009 at 11:04 am

    You are too much, what a great idea! Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  7. Denise

    September 17, 2009 at 3:03 am

    Genius!

    Reply
  8. SmartPumpkin'sMom

    September 17, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    I saw your comment on ONE PINK FISH and decided to check out your blog. I am your instant follower! Good stuff! ๐Ÿ˜‰
    Great post about tic-tac-toe, we tried something similar as well.
    Don't be shy, stop by any time! :)))

    Reply
  9. Robyn

    September 19, 2009 at 1:45 am

    love
    this
    idea!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

amy mascott profile blog

join the coolest club around:

  • About
  • Contact
  • disclaimer
  • terms of use
  • privacy policy
  • Site-Map

Instagram


our books

setting the stage for rock-star readers
raise a reader

Find Us On Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Helpful Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us On Instagram

View
Open
UMD Womenโ€™s Basketball ROCKS!! โค๏ธ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ–ค๐Ÿ€

We absolutely love watching you play, @terpswbb !

We love watching you perform, @marylandcheer !

And @mightysoundofmd we love your music and your hilarious signs! ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜ณ

See you in Greenville! 

#terpsbasketball #terpswbb #umd #familyfun #marylandcheer #umdfamily
View
Open
Tomorrow is St. Patrickโ€™s Day!

Are you ready? 

https://shop.teachmama.com/

#saintpatricksfun #stpaddysforkids #familyfun #classroomactivities #teachmamashop
View
Open
This is how we use the St. Patrickโ€™s Day Brain Teaser Scavenger Hunt! ๐Ÿ€

Super easyโ€”and makes kids work a little for their golden chocolates! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Grab them here: https://shop.teachmama.com/product/st-patricks-day-scavenger-hunt-4-pack/

<< Tag a pal who needs to know about this and would LOVE to use it with kids or students! >>

#stpatricksdayfun #saintpaddysday #stpaddysforkids #stpatsfun #linkinbio
View
Open
and then there were six
๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฆ๐ŸฆŠ๐Ÿฆ„๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ

thank you @thewoobles for giving my mind, heart, and hands something fun to do during a really challenging few months. 

#crochet #thewoobles #brainbreak #teachersanitysaver #shescrafty
View
Open
With great sadness, I'm writing to share that my brother-in-law, Jeff Mascott passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier this week--at home, surrounded by family and friends. 

The family is very grateful for the community's immeasurable help, encouragement, and prayers over the past several months since Jeff's diagnosis. 

Jeff's obituary will run this weekend in the Post: 
https://www.collinsfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Jeff-Mascott?obId=27420280&fbclid=IwAR2YTRooCyaLTikfjLeqF4gM-GaB1amZI2OmVl1VtKLUOjWj3Wo4URD8lC8#/obituaryInfo
View
Open
Flowers and a basket of @traderjoes faves are salve for a tired and weepy soul. ๐ŸŒท

Thankful for great, longtime friends ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

#itshardtobeahuman #thankfulheart #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs
View
Open
Almost 30 years of friendship!! I love these smart, beautiful, strong and creative women who walked with me through my early days of teaching. 

๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

Thank you, Wilde Lake High School, for bringing us together way back when. 

๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

Missed you, jigofjoy ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

#weareteachers #andoneprincipal #wildelake #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs #wildelakehs #teachersofinstagram #celebratewewill
View
Open
Today marks the 4th time in 3 weeks that I have had to hang new Kindness Reminders Tear-off Sheets! 

Makes my heart ๐Ÿฅฐ!! 

Some kids come by every day and give one to a new person. Others take a bunch for the week. One 2nd grade girl comes by evey morning to tell me who she gave hers to the day before. 

Every little bit helps, friend. And every interaction matters!

#kindnessrocks #adoormadeforme #teachersofinstagram #makeadifference
View
Open
Best crew for one of the best @terpswbb games weโ€™ve seen all season! 

And of course super job by @marylandcheer and @mightysoundofmd too! 

#terpswbb #terpsbasketball #familyfun #marylandcheer

Copyright © 2023 · teach mama media, llc · All Rights Reserved

  • 1
1.0K shares