Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Garden
    • What to Plant Now
    • Garden Jobs this Month
    • Grow Your Own
    • Gardening with Children
    • Garden Tips
    • Garden Design
    • Houseplants
    • In Season Now
    • Birth Month Flowers
  • Interiors
    • Interior Design Tips
    • Living Room
    • Kitchen & Dining
    • Bedroom
    • Bathroom
    • Family Home
    • Product Showcase
    • Food
  • Exploring
    • Exploring Nature
    • Days Out
    • Travel
  • Craft
  • Reviews
  • Giveaways

Nature craft: making natural noughts and crosses

August 17, 2016 by Catherine 3 Comments

nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials

I always look forward to the kids being at home more in the school holidays, and this year I’m absolutely loving the extra time it’s giving us for crafting.  There’s a four and a half year age gap between my kids, and I find nature crafts one of the best ways to get them inspired and absorbed by the same activity.

We’re having our bathroom re-fitted at the moment, and we’ve been a bit tied to the house while the workmen do their stuff.  So we thought we’d try a nature craft in our garden to keep things simple, and had a go at making noughts and crosses – or tic tac toe – from natural materials.

First of all, we had a chat about what we might use.  We worked out that we’d need some straight things to make the grid and the crosses, and some round things to make the noughts – so lots of discussion followed about shapes in nature.  We also talked about how many of each we’d need, and how we might make the grid stay together.  We ended up doing quite a bit of maths actually!

Next, the kids went on a hunt around the garden to see what they could find that was straight or round.  Sticks and twigs were the obvious choice for the straights, but found lots of options for the noughts – including the flower heads from the garlic I’ve just harvested!

nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials

Once we had our materials assembled, it was all hands on deck to tie the grid and crosses together with string, and we were done.  What do you think of our natural noughts and crosses?

nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials

Obviously, once you’ve made your game you can then play with it, so I had a cuppa in the sunshine and watched the kids play their first tournament.

nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials
nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials
nature craft - how to make noughts and crosses from natural materials

This noughts and crosses nature craft is perfect for when you really want to get outside with the kids, but don’t have much time to prepare.  We slotted it into half an hour, and now we have a great outdoor game that the kids can play over and over again.  Do you think you’ll be giving it a try?

Pin for later:

How to make a noughts and crosses set with materials found in nature - a simple, at-home nature game for kids that really gets imaginations firing!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print

Related

Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Children, craft, Family, Family Fun, games, Garden, naturally crafty, Nature, Nature Craft, Outdoors

« 4. Taking the Big Boost Challenge with Baby Bio
Naturally Crafty #9 – a Nature Craft Linky »

Comments

  1. RachelSwirl says

    August 19, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    What a lovely idea!

    Reply
  2. Heather says

    September 27, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    We love this game, and this is an amazing way to play outside!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 29, 2016 at 1:35 pm

      It’s a favourite in our house too, we play it when we’re out and about and need to keep the kids busy. This is the first time we’ve tried making our own version though and it was lots of fun.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, I’m Catherine. Welcome to Growing Family, a top UK home & garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

Subscribe

Get blog posts to your inbox

Instagram

Pinterest

VuelioTop10Badge2020
CandideTop10Badge2019

HIBS100 Index of Home and Interior Blogs
HIBS100
BRAMBLECREST GARDEN FURNITURE

Connect

Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
Learn More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

winter nature craft sowing winter salad seeds
faux fur blanket with coffee cup

AMAZON ASSOCIATE

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright Growing Family 2015. Design by Stacey Corrin.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.