3D Tic Tac Toe

This a fun little project you can make with your kids, it doesn't take a lot of skill and produces a game that helps children to develop their thinking to encompass 3 dimensions.

It plays out like conventional tic-tac-toe except you can get three in a row on the vertical axis as well, there are quite a lot of diagonal options you can use.

My Son helped build this game.

• Thin MDF Sheet
• 20mm x 20mm
• Wood Glue
• Permanent Marker
• Wood Stain
• Spray paint (two colours)
• Hole Saw
• Saw
• Drill
• Tape Measure

Use a saw to cut out three squares from a piece of MDF sheet. You also need to cut four posts from the 20mmx20mm timber and saw the three notches into each of the posts.

Now sand all the parts down so all the edges are smooth.

Most of the cuts are easy to make with a hand saw and within the abilities of a child, though you will need to be a little more precise with the slots.

The easiest way to make the game counters is to use a hole saw to cut out the circles from a piece of MDF. However, you need to remove the centre drill bit from the hole saw first.

Since you are not using centre drill you need to be a little more careful to hold the wood still while using the hole saw to cut out the counters.

Once you have cut out enough counters you will need to sand down all the edges.

We used some decking oil to stain the MDF board, it's a lot easier to do this before the parts are assembled. This is a good activity for kids to help with, just give them a set up disposable gloves to keep them clean.

Once the stain is dry use a ruler and permanent marker to draw on the playing grid.

Now use two different colours of spray paint to colour the counters, once one side is dry flip them over and spray the other side as well.

The playing table is pretty easy to assemble, just use a small amount of wood glue on each of the joints and snap everything together. You may need to clamp this while the glue drys, or you can even use some tape to hold the supports in place.

Once everything is dry you can start playing.