I don’t remember much of a fuss about card decks while growing up. But like I’d imagine other bridge players can say, we had a couple of Bicycle card decks around the house.

With my aunt visiting, we’d play versions of Snap and Go Fish. While my parents weren’t looking, we’d sneak in Poker or Tetris.

Somewhere, my father taught me the basics of chess and checkers.

I’m writing about bridge today, so I think it went well from there (at least so far).

If you play bridge, it’s a fair assumption that you are enthusiastic about the game. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? It’s also a fair assumption that you might want to share this enthusiasm with others.

Even within a bridge-playing household, getting kids introduced to cards is a common conundrum. A love for cards is natural, but an enthusiasm for specific games has to be taught with a suitable approach.

The first steps

The trick to teaching younger players anything is remember what learning was like. What were your top frustrations as a new bridge player? What was easier to learn versus more challenging? What can you say you wish you’d known first?

If you want kids to stick with bridge as an interest, don’t overwhelm.

It’s the same way with teaching younger players guitar, chess, or any other skill. Don’t scare the living daylights out of them with theory. Don’t make it feel like homework. Just don’t.

There are excellent resources aimed at teaching first-time players. Start with ones that you might wish you had as a first-time bridgeur. While it might be tempting to give them your own first bridge book, remember that there are updated resources – and even an ACBL Learn-to-Play-Bridge program.

Oh, and one more thing: Favour adaptability over pressure. When teaching guitar to others, some days just didn’t work (and other days I’d see magical abilities from the same). Use the good days, and don’t press for hard-learning during difficult ones.

Encouraging kids to play

Encouraging younger players (and even children) to pick up a fresh skill shouldn’t be difficult. For parents who already play cards or board games, the advantage is accessibility – but even for those who don’t, it can be turned into a simpler task.

Bridge culture

Bridge isn’t just trumps, tricks, and conventions.

The world of bridge is buzzing with events, individual players, other newcomers, and active message boards. There are bridge jokes, bridge puns, bridge puzzles… Bridge is a lot of things at once.

Teaching bridge isn’t just about theory. Explore the elaborate history and current culture of the game, too. It can make many elements of the game easier and more exciting to learn.

Simplified versions

Simplified versions of bridge are gaining speed as an easier, faster way to teach.

Varieties like Just Declare, HOOL, Bumblepuppy Bridge, and MiniBridge are some worthy names. When teaching, elements like complex conventions are omitted in favour of getting to know trick-taking games.

Are they worthwhile?

I believe thousands of players being introduced to bridge would say yes.

Do you have any advice for bridge-playing households who would like to encourage their younger family members or friends to play?