In order to facilitate contact with your young public, remember that the sooner the contact is made, the sooner the inhibitions or timidity pass in front of a teacher who is perhaps not part of the school and who is not "exactly like the others". First of all, you will try to make them find out for themselves what they "need" in order to play Bridge.

You can for example write on the board:

and complete the answers as you go along :

	to be four people sitting round a square table;
	to have a pack of fifty-two cards

Next

	explain the "geographical names" of the players (which they will have seen on the wallet or board holding the cards);
	introduce the notion of a pair by introducing straight away the notion of Bridge - a team game. (Line up North-South and East-West).

Then

	talk about the dealing of the cards. Insist that they deal in a clock-wise direction
	Introduce the notions of hand and deal.
	Ask them to guess why the cards are in a wallet or board: mention quickly the principle of a pairs tournament.

Now

	go on to the objective of Bridge: what must you do in this game?
	Introduce the concept of a trick.
	Suggest a mini-exercise of mental arithmetic: "North-South make …tricks, so East-West make ...". (demand ever faster responses and ask one player in each pair).

And finally.

introduce the only rule of card games (be prepared to be very insistent on this one point): following suit

Start with a simple example on the board straight away, and strictly applying this rule, go on to the Illustration Deal

Introduce the notions of declarer (leaving until later the explanation that he is the one who plays); explain the role of dummy; make clear who has the lead.

Invite your young flock to look at the wall chart giving the order of the cards and simply explain to South that he must make as many tricks as possible telling him that he is "betting" that he will make eight tricks with his cards and his partner's: if he does it, he wins; if the opponents make more than five, they win (nothing more than that at the moment).

Leave them to play a totally free game (including who leads!) simply inviting them to separate the tricks which they have won (to make it easier to count them); simply note the result (with appropriate congratulations to the winners of the "bet" or, more likely, the defence!).

The lesson to draw from this deal is twofold:

	to guess the role of the high cards
	to insist strongly on the nature of a trick: once it is taken you don't re-open it. Illustrate on the board with the two extreme examples of a trick with A K Q J and another with 5 4 3 2.

Free deal

There will normally be a little time left: so ask them to shuffle the cards and play a deal "for real": pass quickly behind your young participants and decide which pair should play after counting the Honour points of one pair.