Chess tournaments have been very popular during down-time at the summer camps where I’ve worked.
Nevertheless, the limited amount of chessboards available at the camps were always a problem. There were very few of them and sometimes incomplete (Carlitos don’t eat that pawn! …too late).
I made this Animals Chess hoping to give those “chessful” kids, counselors and parents a cheap but cool solution to easily print and build a chess set.
Chess gives a good work out to the mind, it is very entertaining and it is great for bonding quietly with kids ?.
Have fun!
(Video) How to build a Paper Animal Chess
** Spanish subtitles available **
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Get your PDF Chess from the Download link at the bottom of this page.
- Cut out the pieces and Chessboard.
- To put together the pieces:
- Bend your cut-outs where you see the vertical lines.
- Glue and paste the flap on the right that has the 3 dots (Want a faster yet less appealing method? Instead of a gluestick or other glue, you can use tape).
- To put together the board:
- Layout together the 4 pieces of the board in the right position using the stone border as a guide.
- Flip your 4-pieces layout so you can tape them nicely from behind. Either using little bits of tape or doing 2 long stripes like big “+” sign.
You’re ready to play chess!
Design story:
Pieces comparison:
Pawn – Monkey: Because they are tiny and big in number.
Rook – Elephant: So the kids can relate its’ weight with the heaviness of a solid tower.
Knight – Zebra: So the kids can easily make the relation with the traditional Knight (horse-shaped) chess piece.
Bishop – Snake: The design was based on a Black Mamba because of the way it moves, and also because I’m a fan of Tarantino’s Kill Bill ?.
King – Lion: By popular demand (I wonder why!).
Queen – Giraffe: This was the second choice by popular demand, but I thought it was better than a female Lioness to show the kids that there is no problem at all with mixing races in couples.
