Step 1: Meet the Pieces · about 25 min
The Queen and the King
Goal: Kids can move the queen (rook + bishop) and the king (one square any way).
You need: One board per pair · Queens, kings and pawns
1 · Teach it (15 min)
Read these out loud, or put them in your own words. Show each board on screen or set it up on a demo board.
1.“The queen is the strongest piece. She moves like a rook and a bishop put together: straight or slanted, as far as she wants.”
👉 Hold up a queen.
2.“The king is the most important piece. If your king gets trapped, you lose! But he moves slowly: just one square in any direction.”
👉 Hold up a king.
3.“At the start, the queen goes on her own color: the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark square. The king goes next to her.”
- Moving the queen like a knight.
- Moving the king two squares (outside of castling, taught later).
2 · Play it: Queen vs. Pawns (10 min)
Set up: White: a queen on d1. Black: all eight pawns on their starting squares.
- White moves first. Take turns.
- The queen wins by capturing every pawn.
- The pawns win if one reaches the other side, or if they capture the queen.
- Swap sides and play again.
🎮 Kids with an iPad can also play this against the computer in student mode.
🎮 Also on the iPad: King Tag (Your king chases the pawns, one step at a time. Catch both pawns before one reaches your side of the board!)
3 · Practice and pass check
On iPads, kids open Student → Step 1 → The Queen and the King. On paper, print the worksheet. A kid passes by getting 3 of 4 on the pass check. The pass code for this lesson is S1-L4-NT.
Practice (4) with answers
1.Draw a dot on every square the highlighted piece can move to.
Answer: 27 squares
2.Draw a dot on every square the highlighted piece can move to.
Answer: 8 squares
3.Draw the fastest path to the ★ (moving only this piece). How many moves?
Moves: 3 moves
4.Capture a pawn with the queen. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Qxg6
Pass check (4) with answers
1.Draw a dot on every square the highlighted piece can move to.
Answer: 19 squares
2.Draw a dot on every square the highlighted piece can move to.
Answer: 3 squares
3.Which piece is the strongest?
- ♚King
- ✓♛Queen
- ♜Rook
4.Capture a pawn with the queen. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Qxh8
Topic order based on: Chess for Children, Part 1 (topic order). All wording is original.