Once you’ve got the basic mechanics of MiniBridge across to your child, there’s no reason to rush on to teaching all the features of the game. This early stage is a good time to teach some basic card play techniques, mainly techniques for declarer, though some useful defensive points can also be taught really early on.

The most basic technique is cashing winners. You will be surprised how many mistakes can be made just in cashing “cold” tricks. For example, holding AQJ109 opposite K2, most beginners will cash the ace first, then the king, and only then discover that they are in the wrong hand to cash the remaining winners. Or with AK43 opposite QJ doubleton, they may well decide to play out the ace and king, crashing the queen and jack. You will need to give plenty of practice in getting this right. Perhaps start by seeing how the play works with a single suit of cards on the table, then build the suit holdings into whole hands with traps like these built into them. The general rule that should become apparent is, of course, that you should cash the high cards in the shorter holding first. Get your child to picture a short boy holding a very big card – he could topple over, so he needs to get rid of the big card! The daft picture may help with remembering the rule.

As you develop these plays, your child will start to appreciate the value of holding a long suit. With normal breaks, AQJ43 opposite K2 is just as good as AQJ109. And if you are lucky and find an even split of the remaining cards, even AQ543 opposite K2 will also produce five tricks - the length of the longer holding. And AKQ543 opposite a singleton 2 may produce six tricks. This is fun! Once you’ve played a few hands, you might like to have a go at this quiz and see how many your child can get right.

The next most common problem to be sorted out with learners is their fear of losing the lead. It is a universal trait amongst beginners of any age – they want to play all their high cards at the first opportunity. So you need to show them a deal something like this

As a final thought for this lesson, you could produce a hand with a holding of AK874 in a dummy with no other winners opposite 653 in hand and set a target of making 4 tricks in the suit. You may need to spell out the problem by playing out the hand first. It’s much better if your child can work out the solution, rather than you telling them, so why not leave it as a problem to be figured out before you are ready for the next lesson?