Play Christmas three-in-a-row with stars and circles

A page with nine spaces is enough for a short Christmas game while you wait at home. Play three-in-a-row with stars and circles, or use crosses if drawing stars feels fiddly. The two players need different shapes they can recognise without relying on different coloured pencils.

Draw nine clear spaces

Draw two vertical lines and two horizontal lines so the grid has three rows and three columns. Leave each space large enough for a clear mark. One player chooses stars and the other chooses circles. If you use crosses instead, agree on that before the first turn.

Choose who starts. Each turn, put one of your marks in an empty space. A mark already drawn stays where it is. You cannot cover the other person’s mark, move your own or use two spaces at once. Take turns until someone wins or the grid fills up.

Look for three marks in one line

The first player with three of their own marks in a straight line wins. The line can run across a row, down a column or along either of the grid’s two long diagonals. Three marks scattered around the page do not count as a line.

Check after every turn. When a line is complete, point to its three spaces and stop that game immediately. You do not need to fill the remaining spaces. If all nine spaces are used and neither player has a line, the game is a draw. A draw is a finished result, not a reason to erase a mark and keep changing the same grid.

Start a fresh grid for another game

For a second game, draw a new grid and let the other person start. Keep the same shapes so you do not have to relearn whose mark is whose. You can stop after two games, without adding a score for the afternoon.

If a child is new to the game, try one demonstration together before playing separate sides. Point out an empty space and ask what would happen if a mark went there. Explain the possible line rather than making a surprise extra rule after the move. Once the turns feel clear, let each player choose their own space. A simple star-and-circle grid is the whole activity; Christmas decorations around its edges can wait until the game is over.