Teach Your Kindergarten Class To Play Chess

Kindergarten teacher Maria Adams did not know how to play chess when the 2019-20 school year started.

But after one quick introductory chess lesson, she had a classroom full of kindergartners who wanted to learn how to play.

“I knew I wanted to make a time during the school day where we could spend 30 minutes every week dedicated just for chess. ChessKid helped me to make that happen,” said Mrs. Adams.

Mrs. Adams utilized the ChessKid Classroom Planner which offers a step-by-step lesson plan with videos, workouts, and suggested activities to help kids first learn how the pieces move and then advance to basic principles and checkmating strategies.

Start With A Video

Mrs. Adams always starts the chess lesson with a ChessKid video contained in the Classroom Planner (here's some other pro-tips on how the planner takes the mystery out of teaching chess):

Let Kids Apply What Was In The Video

After the video, students would be paired across a chess board to apply the skill covered in the video or work independently on ChessKid Lessons using chromebooks.

Schedule A Practice Tournament

By December, the kindergarten students were playing in their first practice tournament.

Mrs. Adams learned how to play chess with her students. “I would recommend ChessKid to everyone who would like to learn chess, organize a club, or someone who just wants to have fun playing the game! As a kindergarten teacher, I have seen my students use this program independently and it is very easy to navigate. The students are motivated by having the option to 'level up' and ask me daily to get on ChessKid.”

The ChessKid Classroom Planner works for any grade, and can be used in-person or virtually. If you have questions about how to incorporate the ChessKid Classroom Planner for your class, contact [email protected].