Are you a bridge player who wants to inspire their kids to play the game – or play more of it?

One of the great things about the game is how it gets passed from one generation to the next. If you know someone, teach someone. As an adult, I realize how much I could have benefited from the game if someone had taught me a couple of years earlier.

Here are a couple of tips for catching a young card player’s interest.

From Trading Cards to Traditional Decks

Have you recognized an interest in trading card games or MMORPGs? Encourage it.

While games like Pokemon and World of Warcraft appear far away from the format of bridge, these pastimes are interlinked.

A natural interest in any of these might very well mean a natural knack for bridge.

Take a look at some of the games available at Le Bridgeur

Find “The Right Bridge Book”

Everyone has their own version of The Right Bridge Book.

It’s usually the first book about bridge they read where everything clicked into place. Sometimes, it’s not the first bridge book you ever read, but might be the second or third.

Can you remember which book “did the trick” for you?

When teaching kids, it’s important to find the definitive bridge book that explains the concepts of the game at the right pace. It’s safe to say that this is a different book for everyone.

Depending on their age, there are many great bridge instruction books catering to kids out there, and thousands of generally great manuals on starting bridge.

Explore the world’s largest collection of eBooks on Contract bridge, at Master Point Press’s EBooksBridge

Start Off Easy

Overwhelming a new player with all the information you’ve built up over years or decades of playing is the quickest potential way to make sure someone loses interest in continuing.

It’s a better idea to start off easy.

Start with one convention before reminding a new student of everything else out there. Start with smaller, simpler forms of bridge (like Just Declare) before introducing them to Advanced Declarer play.

Pace their teaching, or risk losing a bridge player’s interest right there just because it’s potentially overwhelming.

The ACBL Learn-to-Play-Bridge

The ACBL Learn-to-Play-Bridge trainer is powered by BBO and available online for free.

It’s an effortless way to teach anyone the game, and what makes it great is the interactive, guiding aspect of the software.

It’s easier to learn by doing. The in-browser trainer allows new players to do just that – and it’s a lot better for teaching bridge than throwing a kid into the deep end of a club tournament for the first time.

Find a Bridge Tutor

Here’s the answer to a common parenting conundrum: It’s not that kids won’t listen to good advice; it’s that kids won’t listen to the same good advice when it’s coming from their parents.

Trying to teach your kids bridge without success so far?

Try getting a bridge tutor.

Teachers can be tracked down through the ACBL – and there are plenty of online bridge lessons if they prefer learning at their own pace instead.