Introducing chess to kids

It is summer vacation and at the end of this month we get visit from family. My nephew and niece are coming, and I would like to introduce them to chess. How do I best do this? My niece is 5 year old, very bright and learn fast. She is also competitive and cannot stand to lose in any games. I will off course let her win the first times, anything else is disaster, but how does one introduce and teach chess to kids? I do not want to mess this up and make them lose interest in chess.

I introduced my son to chess one piece at a time. Started off with just 8 pawns each and nothing else, not even kings. Told him the basic functions and how to take, and made a fun little mini game out of it. Then I introduced a new piece the next time and so on. It worked pretty good

That is good tip. Thank you.

This is simply. Kids are curious, put a board where they'll see it and be there to answer so questions. Don't urge them towards a game, you'll only waste your time if he or she is impatient to go somewhere else. If interest is shown, introduc them to one half of the board and leave the other for them. Recognising patterns in chess is important, assess how they are able to figure that the pieces are symmetric to each other. Obviously, the knight will be your biggest problem. To get them used to their movement, take the game off the board, and ask them to move like the knight on any tiled floor – don't be afraid to make it fun. Implement the same tactic should you discover struggles with other pieces. Rules are not the first thing you teach kids when they know how they move, basic tactics then rules can be sifted in. The other way round confuses them before they have a grasp on the game. That's all I have.