Someday I'll Be a Queen - Toolbox (Playing Chess with Children)

This toolbox full of tips and games accompanies the picture book, Someday I'll Be a Queen, which incorporates all the rules of chess. Teachers, parents, grandparents, and chess coaches learn how to build it up step by step. 

The message is, have fun! Enjoy the book and the game together. Take your time. Don't go through the book all at once but learn piece to piece after which you rehearse the chess piece.

I work with small groups of 6 to 8 children for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time. With the four-year-olds, I explain about the king and after that, we play four different games. During the last game, before they learn to move the rook, I put a car on the chess board. Every toddler knows not to stand in the street when a car approaches. So they have to move their king to safety each time. Actually, they are already lifting check without realizing it.

The hardest thing for experienced and trained chess players is to apply the game in such a way that you think at the toddler's level. Make it very simple. Don't overwhelm them with too many rules at once. Tackle it playfully using the language of their environment.