For some reason Chess is a game I just DON’T GET! When Chess House came up as a review opportunity on the Crew I thought it would be a great fit for our family! It has been for me and my boys and we have already learned so much!
We were asked to review Chess House’s Starter Chess Learning Kit. The kit comes with:
- A full chess set with a vinyl mat
- Elliott’s Chess School #1 PAWN Level DVD
- Storage bag (in black or green)
When we first got the game, my family and I were most impressed with the quality of the set. The pieces are sturdy and feel like they are made to last. I am sure you know that in a family of 6 children this is a big deal! I especially liked the bag it came in. This will make it very easy to take with us on trips, to the library or to grandma’s house!
The instructional DVD is for beginners and recommended for children ages 6-12. I have been using it, the last few weeks, with my children ages 6, 9 and 10. The DVD was very age appropriate, even for my 6-year-old. They especially LOVED the activities in the booklet provided! These activities made the lessons much more inclusive for my 6-year-old and made the lessons much more practical!
As we used the DVD to learn and improve our skills we watched it 3 times a week, 1-2 sections at a time. We spent most of our time doing the activities in the booklet. We would make tournaments out of these. I would also have the boys take turns. Two would play and whoever wins played his other brother. My older boys were able to go through the activities at a faster pace than my 6-year-old.
The DVD is 49 minutes in length, divided up into 10 short sections which include:
Each section is about 5-10 minutes in length. The sections are complemented by activities in a booklet that comes with the set. This booklet is what made this program a success with our boys, ESPECIALLY my 6-year-old. The activities in this booklet helped the boys practice what they learned in each section. It also made the different parts of the game of chess more digestible and easier to understand.
One of the first activities was my 6-year-old’s favorite. This activity involved setting up just the pawns. Each player moves the pawns as taught in the DVD and whoever gets one of their pawns to the other side first, wins.
This was simple enough for my 6-year-old, who usually gets overwhelmed when trying to play a regular game. It also helped him to focus and solidify his understanding of pawns, how they move and how they capture other pieces.
In each section they learned about the piece featured, it’s value, how they move and how they captured. Each section also taught some strategies! My older boys loved this and enjoyed using them on their dad! Their favorite was learning how to “castle the king”!
We are having fun learning more about Chess. We look forward to spending the next few weeks going through the rest of the activities provided! You can teach your children Chess, too.
Visit Chess House’s website to purchase your Starter Chess Learning Kit for the sale price of $39.99!
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Nice review! Glad it worked out.
Thanks! This one was fun and completely worth it 🙂