Foreign Language Tic Tac Toe Games

A Vocabulary Activity for Learning French, Spanish, ESL and More

Jan 25, 2008

"Tic tac toe, three in a row!" Encourage children to practice foreign language vocabulary and communication skills with these interactive variations on the classic game.

Children of all ages will be motivated by a game of tic tac toe in French, Spanish, ESL, or any other language. Instead of a blank grid, use vocabulary pictures, verbs, letters, numbers, or questions in each square. Your students will need to speak in order to place an X or O in a box. Beginners might just provide a single-word answer, while more advanced students can use the word in a sentence, describe it using only the target language, or answer higher-level questions. Be sure to teach game-playing expressions, too, such as:

Team Game

Create a large tic-tac-toe grid on the board. Draw or attach visuals in each square of the grid. Divide the class into X's and O's. Choose players from each team to identify or describe the picture of their choice. If successful, they tape an X or O over that square.

Team Game with Beanbags

Create a tic tac toe grid on the floor with masking tape and laminated pictures. Divide the class into two teams. Instead of X's and O's, give each team different colored bean bags. After identifying or describing the picture, students must be able to toss the beanbag on the correct square. Adding the element of the toss makes the game more active and the outcome less predictable.

Team Game with Human X's and O's

Like the beanbag version of the game, create a large grid on the floor. Players from each team hold a large X or O and physically stand in the square they identify.

Partner Activity with Paper and Pencil

Prepare a picture tic tac toe grid for two players to share. First, call out or describe items on the grid while the players race to point to it on the paper. Once the students have done this listening comprehension practice, they may play the game with their partner by writing an X or O over the picture they identify. If you want your students to play more than one game, prepare a handout with several grids, or try the next version with manipulatives.

Partner Activity with Manipulatives

Prepare a classroom set of tic tac toe games in plastic freezer bags. Each freezer bag should contain ten bingo chips, poker chips, or bottle caps-five of one color and five of another. Whenever you want a communicative, hands-on partner activity, simply insert a small picture tic-tac-toe grid in each bag and distribute one game to each set of partners. Change the grid according to your lesson.

Play with words in a fun game of foreign language tic tac toe. Your students will love it.

The copyright of the article Foreign Language Tic Tac Toe Games in Language Study is owned by Diane Farrug. Permission to republish Foreign Language Tic Tac Toe Games in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.