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Battleships

This paper version of the classic board game is just as much fun, and a lot more portable.
By: Trish Kuffner, author of The Children's Busy Book

Battleships


Materials

  • One pencil per player
  • Four sheets of paper

Directions

  1. On each sheet of paper draw a grid ten columns by ten rows.
  2. Across the top of the grid, label the columns with the letters A through J, one letter per column.
  3. Down the left side of the grid, label the rows with the numbers one through ten, one number per row.
  4. This game requires two players.
  5. Each uses two grids-one to mark her own battleships and one to record her guesses as she searches for her opponent's battleships.
  6. Each player positions eight battleships (one ship five squares long, two ships each four squares long, three ships each three squares long, and two ships each two squares long) on a grid by marking squares.
  7. Each player should make sure her opponent can't see her grid.
  8. Before playing, decide whether a battleship can be sunk by one hit or must be hit in each space to be sunk.
  9. One player starts the game by guessing a location where she thinks one of her opponent's battleships may be (for example, D-five). If the opponent has a ship at that location, the opponent says, "Hit." If no ship is there, the opponent says, "Miss."
  10. A player records her guess on her second grid by marking the location with an H (hit) or M (miss).
  11. The players take turns guessing in this way.
  12. The first player to sink all her opponent's battleships wins.

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