Tic Tac Toe with a sibling, or against Hoot the owl

Most of us learned noughts and crosses on the last page of a notebook during a boring period at school. We didn't realise it at the time, but we were learning something important: think one move ahead.

KidsZone brings that old game to a clean, colourful board that small children can use on their own. The Tic Tac Toe screen is exactly what you'd expect, a big purple 3 × 3 grid, and a simple instruction: take turns, get three in a row to win.

Two ways to play

The two buttons at the top give you a choice:

• Two players for siblings, cousins, or a parent and child sharing one phone
• Play with Hoot for playing against the computer, with Hoot the owl as the opponent

The two-player mode is the one I'd start with. Sitting side by side, taking turns, is half the fun. It also teaches turn-taking and losing gracefully, which are life skills in their own right.

Playing against Hoot is good for when your child wants to practise alone. And because the game starts at an easy level, young players actually get to win sometimes.

Why winning sometimes matters

A child who loses every time gives up. A child who wins now and then starts asking a much better question: "How did I win?"

That question is the beginning of strategy. Why does the middle square help? What happens if I block the other row? Can I set up two lines at once? These are the same thinking habits children later use for maths word problems, chess, and even planning an essay.

The score bar at the bottom keeps track of X wins, O wins and draws. Older children get very interested in the draws, because they slowly figure out that a game played perfectly by both sides always ends in a draw. That's a genuinely interesting idea for a seven-year-old to discover on their own.

A few tips for parents

• Play the first few games with your child and think out loud: "I'm putting my O here so you can't make a line."
• Let them beat you occasionally, but not every time. They can tell.
• Once they're good, ask them to explain their move before they make it.

Ten minutes of this before dinner is time well spent.

If your child gets hooked on thinking games, the Think & Remember section has nineteen more waiting, from mazes to mini sudoku.

Board games and simple strategy games also have a social benefit that's easy to forget. A child who has learned to wait for their turn, accept a loss and say "good game" is better prepared for the playground. Tic Tac Toe is a tiny game, but it can teach those lessons beautifully.

Play Tic Tac Toe on KidsZone.