Color Match Tic-Tac-Toe

What You Need:

• 3 three-color paint sample strips
• Tape
• Scissors
• Medium-sized decorative punch (optional)

What You Do:

1. Visit your local hardware or paint store to pick up several 3-color paint sample strips. You will need 3 strips for each tic-tac-toe grid. Choose outdoor colors such as leafy colors (greens and golds), stem or soil colors (browns and greys), or flower colors (pink, blue, or lavender). 
2. Trim the strips as needed so that you can use them to create a grid that is more or less square. If the paint sample strips have cut-outs, use this portion of the strip. If not, use the punch to make a window in each color. This will make it easier for your young learner to match the colors.
3. Tape these strips together to create your game grids.
4. Round up your young players and head outside for some color matching fun.
5. Encourage your young learners as needed to locate colors that are three in a row. Young children may find it easier to create three-in-a-row horizontally. Encourage them to try for a vertical column. Save diagonal matching for slightly older children.
6. The first young learner to match three colors in a row wins! If this version of the game goes too quickly, challenge them to match all 9 colors.

Make multiple sets of cards suitable for different places (your yard, a local garden, a meadow) and different times of the year (winter, fall, spring). Keep these cards in the car for impromptu games at rest stops or picnic grounds. You can also create a set of cards for indoor play, matching the colors to those found in your home.