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  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Line of Four

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Game

You will need a sheet of squared paper or 'grid' paper. If you don't have any, just rule some lines down some lined writing paper to form squares. One hundred squares (10 by 10) makes a good size game board, but you can use a smaller of larger grid if you prefer.

Two players, using two different colours, take turns to mark a 'cross-road' on the grid.
The aim is to make a line of four, across, down or diagonally.
Each 'cross-road' can only be used once.
Try to block the other player's path.
Each time you make a line-of-four draw a line through it so it can be counted as a point.
When all the 'cross-roads' have been used, the player with the most points wins.

In the example below, each player has had 10 turns so far. The green player has already scored 2 points, and the red player has only one point.


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Two Stones

This game is known as Pong hau k'i in China and Ou-moul-ko-no in Korea. Find a friend to play or try the interactive version online.

Sz'kwa

This Chinese game for two players is a simple version of Wei ch'i or Go. Each player has 20 distinctive pieces - try coins, pebbles, shells. You could try marking the board out in wet sand.

Poker Bingo

A game played with a standard pack of cards.

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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