- Check the space and the kit.
- Get your child's attention first.
- Show it from two sides.
- Say one thing only.
- End on one that works.
Put the phone down where you can see it. Tap Next with your thumb, or use the arrow keys.
Is the space marked?
- Set the board with a white square at the bottom right of each player
- Queen on her own colour
A board; a whole game.
Three minutes to get warm.
Easy jogging on the spot, then arms and legs. How to warm up well is explained at workonfitness.com.
- Shake hands and say "good luck".
- Touch a piece, and show that you must now move it if it can move.
- Say "I adjust" and straighten a piece on its square without moving it.
- At the end, shake hands and say "good game".
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- Shake hands before the game.
- Move with one hand.
- To straighten a piece, say "I adjust" first, only on your turn.
- Touch your own piece meaning to move it: you must move it if it can.
- Touch an opponent's piece meaning to take it: you must take it if you can.
- Shake hands and say "good game" after, win or lose.
How much: 1 game
Decide first, then touch
Manners prize
The rules
Each broken rule costs a point; the fewest points wins.
- Play a normal game
- Each time a manners rule is broken, the other player calls it and a point is added
- Count the points at the end
Fair play: A grown-up's slips count double.
- Points
- 1 point for each broken rule; the lowest total is best.
- Fouls
- 1 point each: touching a piece and then moving a different one; straightening a piece without saying "I adjust"; no handshake at the start or the end
- Win
- The fewer points wins the manners prize, whoever won the game.
Child
Grown-up
- 3
- 1
- 0
A whole game with 0 touch-move slips and a handshake at both ends.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
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