STORYTIME CHESS BOARD GAME

My 4-year-old actually asks to play this, which I never expected. The character pieces each have their own backstory, so she remembers how the knight moves because of the little horse story, not because I drilled her. We've played almost every night this week.

The little story cards turned the pawn into a character my daughter genuinely cares about, so she asks to play instead of me bribing her. Three weeks in and she's already beating me at the basic captures.

My five-year-old actually remembers how every piece moves now, thanks to the silly stories that go with them. I was skeptical about teaching chess at three, but this has her begging to play every night.