Summertime Chess is All the Rage!

We know this year has been tough with a capital T! Trying to balance your child's safety with their mental and educational well-being is no small task and has led to some challenging moments over the last year and a half.

The debate over staying home or letting your family socialize with friends is challenging and looks different for every family. Parents worldwide have struggled to make the right choices for their children amid this global pandemic, and we know the difficult decisions are far from over.

Parents, we see you, we honor your experience, and we want to help!

The world is slowly but surely opening up. Summer camps, after-school activities, and playgroups are starting to form, but with that comes a certain level of anxiety. How can we safely create an exciting educational space for children and their peers to play and grow?

Chess at Three has the answer for you. Outdoor group lessons are the ideal safe summer activity for your family!

Here at Chess at Three, we have always given our clients the luxury of traveling to them and providing parents and students with personal, in-home attention. At any given time we have a dedicated corps of certified tutors bouncing around the city, telling engaging stories, and sharing their love of chess with a younger generation.

In addition, our Upper East Side Chess Club has always been a popular option with parents looking for group classes and a more school-like approach to their chess lessons.

This summer, we are thrilled to reopen our chess club doors to our students and teachers! Summer Morning Chess Camps will run every weekday from June through August, with a limit of four students and one teacher per class. Masks are required!

Sign up for a day, a week, or whatever fits your schedule best! From 9:30am–12pm, your child will explore and play chess in a welcoming, stimulating environment, learn through imaginative stories, and engage in fun, creative activities such as arts and crafts.

But we know some of you are still uncertain about your kids being in an indoor group setting with children from other households. We understand and honor that!

A Chess at Three outdoor group lesson is the perfect way to meet in the middle! With an outdoor group lesson, you and your chess tutor will work together to create the ideal time, setting, and class size for your family's needs.

Want to plan a weekly chess date by the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park? Perfect idea! Dreaming of your kiddos lounging and playing chess on High Line deck chairs? Love it! Ready for a family walk across the river and a chess lesson overlooking Brooklyn Bridge Park's cityscape? The sky's the limit!

Our outdoor group lessons are the perfect way to keep your children and their peers entertained and engaged while still staying outdoors and feeling safe!

But why chess, you ask? We have the answers!

We can all agree that pandemic brain fog is a genuine struggle these days. Brain cells need daily stimulation and challenging exercises to function at the highest possible level.

Without our typical social and work activities, not to mention daily travel and routine tasks, our brains have all become a bit undernourished. Games are ideal for strengthening cognitive and social skills, and chess is a fantastic option for a rigorous mental workout.

Did you know chess develops and challenges both the right and left sides of your brain equally? If we are going to work that brain, we better exercise both sides, right? The left, more analytical side of the brain, is always looking for the next logical move. The right, more creative side, seeks out patterns and new possibilities. Chess at Three brings it all together!

By communicating the rules of chess through creative storytelling, our lessons encourage both generative and analytical thinking!

Chess at Three takes this one step further by incorporating creativity into the game! Our engaging stories and fun characters help children learn the rules and relate to the game, all while listening to a magical tale.

This year has been stressful for both parents and children. Even in the best of situations, children often internalize changes to their day-to-day and carry that anxiety into life.

"Experiencing pandemic life, even for those who are financially stable and comfortable in their homes, is exposing people to microdoses of unpredictable stress all the time," said Tina Franklin, a neuroscientist at Georgia Tech.

We are all living with daily stress, which contributes to changes in the brain. Areas that control learning, executive function, and memory are all inhibited by some of the life changes we have been forced to make.

According to Dr. Mitch Prinstein, a mental health professional and UNC professor, the brain reacts to a lack of social interaction in the same way it might experience illness or physical pain. Simply put, kids need to engage in positive social interactions with peers.

So no matter the setting, a weekly Chess at Three group lesson for your child and their peers is ideal for minimizing stress and creating a fun, engaging, socially active learning space. What a win!