❎ Challenge Tic-Tac-Toe
Classic tic-tac-toe with a catch: to claim a square, your team must pass a challenge first. Trivia, charades, riddles and memory tasks keep everyone involved, and the middle square always has the hardest one.
What you need
Equipment: A large board or poster paper, a marker. Draw a big 3x3 grid on a board or poster paper and number the squares 1 to 9. Prepare five challenge types with a few examples each: trivia, charades, categories, riddles and memory. Split into two teams, X and O.
How to play Challenge Tic-Tac-Toe
- Flip a coin to see which team goes first.
- The team picks an empty square and calls out its number.
- Pick a challenge type at random and read out a specific challenge.
- The team chooses one player (or answers together, depending on the challenge) and has 60 seconds.
- Passed the challenge? Mark the team's X or O in the square.
- Failed? The square stays empty and the turn passes to the other team.
- The other team may try to steal a square the first team failed, but with a new challenge.
- The middle square (5) always gets the hardest challenge.
Scoring and wrapping up
Scoring: A full line across, down or diagonally wins the game. No line? The team with more squares wins. Every square also counts as one point toward a tally for the day.
To finish: Win by a line or by the most squares. Finish with a quick revenge round that uses only hard challenges.
By age
- Ages 7-9: easy challenges, and let the whole team help.
- Ages 10 and up: use all five challenge types and a stricter 30-second timer.
Variations
- Big group: draw a 4x4 grid and play with four in a row to win.
- Capy twist: one square hides a secret double challenge. Pass it and you claim the square next to it as well.
Tips for the adult in charge
- Mix easy and hard challenges, and keep the hardest for the middle square.
- Rotate who represents the team so everyone gets a turn.
🖨️ Printable challenge cards
Cut out the cards, sort them by type, and draw one each time a team picks a square.
- Trivia: What is the largest planet in our solar system? | Jupiter
- Trivia: How many legs does a spider have? | Eight
- Trivia: What do you call a baby kangaroo? | A joey
- Trivia: Which ocean is the biggest? | The Pacific
- Charades: Brushing your teeth in a hurry
- Charades: A penguin on ice skates
- Charades: Building a sandcastle
- Charades: A chef flipping pancakes
- Category: Name five fruits in 15 seconds
- Category: Name five things that are round
- Category: Name five animals that live in the sea
- Category: Name five things you find in a kitchen
- Riddle: What has hands but cannot clap? | A clock
- Riddle: What gets wetter the more it dries? | A towel
- Riddle: What has to be broken before you can use it? | An egg
- Riddle: What has many keys but cannot open a door? | A piano
- Memory: Repeat this list: cat, cloud, spoon, drum, apple
- Memory: Repeat this number: 7 3 9 1 4
- Memory: Look at the room for 10 seconds, close your eyes and name 6 things
- Memory: Repeat this clap rhythm after the adult
Questions and answers
How do you make tic-tac-toe a team game?
Draw a big grid on the board and make each square cost a challenge, like a trivia question or a quick charade. Teams take turns choosing squares and earning them.
What challenges work for Challenge Tic-Tac-Toe?
Short ones that take under a minute: a trivia question, acting out a word, naming five things in a category, solving a riddle or repeating a sequence from memory.