Make an Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks

Follow the step-by-step tutorial to create your own DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Game from a wooden board and painted rock designs! Perfect to set up outdoors and play with a friend.

Wooden tic tac toe board with painted rocks on an iron table outside.

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Let's Make an Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks!
Tic-Tac-Toe, The Most Famous 2 player game!
XOXO game with rocks!?
Paint the rocks
Tic-Tac-Toe playing piece designs
Wooden tic-tac-toe board
Paint the Tic-Tac-Toe grid
The History of this simple game
Front porch game
So how do you play tic-tac-toe?
How to Win at Tic-Tac-Toe!
An Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks
Want more games and crafts?
Enjoy!
Supplies for Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks:
Make an Outdoor 2 Player Tic Tac Toe Game with Rocks

Let's Make an Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks!

Tic-tac-toe, three in a row!

Let’s make an outdoor two player tic-tac-toe game with rocks that we will paint with fun designs instead of Xs and Os.

When you’re done, take it outside and challenge your friend to a game!

Tic-Tac-Toe, The Most Famous 2 player game!

Tic-tac-toe may just be the most famous of the two player quick and fun games. It is a classic puzzle game.

Typically, we play this game with a pencil and paper, drawing our nine square grid and adding our Xs and Os.

But think of all the places that you have drawn a tic-tac-toe board- on the sidewalk, in the dirt, or on a frosted windowpane! Right?

Supplies to make tic tac toe board with painted rocks. Acrylic paint, circular slice of wood, flat rocks, and paint brushes.

During Covid, I saw a picture of people making a grid on a window with painters tape. Then they could stay socially distanced by playing the game on either side of the glass. They drew their Xs and Os with glass markers! Very clever I thought.

Of course there is online and even 3D Tic Tac Toe!

How about this grid I saw in the sky, made by jet trails! It immediately caused me to think of this game. So cool! I'd like to see the jet make Xs and Os!!

I digress yet again…

Blue sky with tree at the bottom of the frame.

XOXO game with rocks!?

So let’s do something different and Make an Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks.

You are going to need 10 smooth rocks that are at least an inch in diameter. Perhaps you have some on a driveway or in a rock garden you can use.

I didn’t have any river rock around my place so I bought a small bag at a craft store.

Paint the rocks

Paint five of the rocks one color and five of the rocks a second color with acrylic craft paints. I chose a blue and a green. You can choose whatever two colors you would like, of course.

This will be the background colors for your playing pieces so each player can easily see which set of stones is his or hers.

Person painting rock green with other rocks and supplies near by.

First paint the top side of the rock and set them down on newspaper.

Allow the paint to dry and then turn them over and paint the bottom side as well.

Note: You may need to paint two two coats of acrylic craft paint on the stones in order to get good coverage.

Hey, if you want to watch and do this whole process along with me you can watch the full length video found at this link: Make and Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game from Rocks Full Length Video Tutorial.

Person painting white flowers on a blue rock.

Tic-Tac-Toe playing piece designs

Now comes the fun part. You will paint designs on the rocks.

Of course you can choose to paint an X on one set of rocks and an O on the second set. But I thought that was just a bit too traditional. 🙂

The point is to be able to tell the two sets of stones for the players. So you could put anything on them that you want!

Think of one design for one set of stones and a second design for the second set of stones.

I chose to paint daisies on my blue rocks and silhouettes of bugs on my green rocks! Use the acrylic craft paints.

It was fun to do something different. I'm excited to see what you paint on your stones.

Note: You could also add gem stones or other decorations to your rocks if you want.

Tip: After letting the rocks dry, I did go back and paint them with a protective acrylic clearcoat. I plan to leave them outside on my front porch on a little table so we can play it this summer. So I wanted it to be protected from the weather.

Person painting a black and on a green painted rock.

Wooden tic-tac-toe board

The second thing to get ready is a playing board. We need a grid to play tic-tac-toe on with our rocks.

I had this tree trunk slab that was cut for my daughter’s wedding. We used them for table decorations. It will be good for a playing board.

You could use a board of any sort that you might have from a previous project. Or perhaps you have an old placemat that you can paint on. Be creative and think what you could use for your grid.

Note: You’re always welcome to draw your grid with chalk on your sidewalk and use your rocks there as well.

Completed painted rocks. Blue flower and green bugs.

Paint the Tic-Tac-Toe grid

Use your acrylic craft paints and paint a tic-tac-toe grid onto your background. You can draw the lines on the board with a ruler to get them straight and even if you want to.

In the pictures and video, you’ll see me paint mine on the slab of tree trunk.

You paint two vertical lines that are parallel and then two horizontal lines that are also parallel. They cross in the center.

This makes a grid that gives us nine spaces to play on!

Now let everything dry and you are ready to challenge someone to a game of tic-tac-toe.

Person painting black lines on a circular cut of wood to make tic tac toe board.

The History of this simple game

So I must admit that I've never thought about where this simple game started.

Catch this- the basic idea for this game has been traced to some tiles in Ancient Egypt! And the grid pattern in a game was also seen historically in Rome, some places in Asia and with Native Americans. This is incredible.

In English in America, we call the game tic-tac-toe. But it can also be spelled tick-tack-toe and tic-tat-toe. Also, it may be spelled without the hyphens: tic tac toe, tick tack toe, and tic tat toe.

Noughts and crosses

The British name for the game was originally called noughts ("O”) and crosses ("X") and was first seen in a printed journal in 1858. The newer name of tic-tac-toe came about in the 1900s.

Person playing tic tac toe on wooden board moving a blue flower rock.

Front porch game

Tic-tac-toe is usually a two player game and is usually played with a pencil on paper.

This unique game board is on a stump (or drawn with chalk on the sidewalk)and will be fun to keep on the front porch for the summer.

There's no need to run and find a pencil and paper. Plus can be used over and over again so you can play the best 2 out of 3, 3 out of 5 and more!

So how do you play tic-tac-toe?

A player draws a 3 x 3 grid which will make nine spaces. This grid is made with two lines that are parallel and vertical, and then two more lines that are parallel and horizontal. The lines cross in the center thus making the 3 x 3 grid. Such a simple but amazing design.

One player is a assigned the knots or "O" and the other is assigned the crosses or "X".

The two players take turns putting their respective marks (Xs or Os) in a space.

The goal is to be the first player to make a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row of their three marks.

Of course, at the same time you are trying to prevent your opponent from being the first to get a series of three marks.

When you get three in a row, you draw a line through it and typically say "Tic-tac-toe, three in a row"!

Person playing tic tac toe on wooden board moving a green bug rock.

How to Win at Tic-Tac-Toe!

There are definitely some strategies in this game, giving it a greater difficulty level.

If you’re caught unaware, your opponent can place their marks so that they can get a tic-tac-toe regardless of how you try to block them. That’s always fun when you're able to do that! It's not so much fun for the one who is receiving it and loses!

Also, sometimes you can play and no one can get a tic-tac-toe. We always called that a "cats game". I’m not sure why, but that’s what we called it. No one wins.

It is such a simple game, but it has kept millions of people entertained for hours! Including me!

An Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks

So how about if we take the game from paper and pencil to a craft project made with rocks and a stump?

The Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks that we just made is decorative and fun to bring out onto the porch to play anytime of the year, but especially on a summer evening.

It's a great way to relax and visit while playing two-player games (chess is another great one).

I challenge you to a game of Tic-tac-toe, three in a row game!

Again, if you want to watch and do this whole process along with me you can watch the full length video found at this link: Make and Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game from Rocks Full Length Video Tutorial.

How to make a homemade tic-tac-toe?

Make your own DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Game with just a few easy steps! First, create a board with a cross hatch pattern. Next, create your pieces by painting rocks in two different colors and patterns. Now all that's left is to play the game with a friend!

What are the rules for tic-tac-toe?

One player is an assigned the knots or "O" and the other is assigned the crosses or "X". The two players take turns putting their respective marks (Xs or Os) in a space. The goal is to be the first player to make a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row of their three marks!

Want more games and crafts?

If you would like other games that you can play or crafts that you can make, here are a few more ideas:

Enjoy!

If you try this craft, let me know! Go ahead and leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo with #WelcometoNanas wherever you post.

Come join the fun at https://welcometonanas.com

Supplies for Outdoor 2 Player Tic-Tac-Toe Game with Rocks:

Smooth rocks (10)
Acrylic craft paint
Protective acrylic clear coat (optional)- could be a spray as well
Paintbrushes
Decorations (optional)
Place mat or stump slice or sidewalk chalk to draw a grid on your sidewalk