REMEMBER the good old days, when children said please and thank you, and respected their elders?

Avril Lethbridge does, and she has launched a card game to ensure old-fashioned good manners are not forgotten by today’s children.

The grandmother of four, from Summertown, said she hit upon the idea for Nice Bear, Naughty Bear, The Good Manners Card Game, as an inexpensive way for parents to instil a sense of consideration and respect in their offspring.

She said: “I was on the bus one day and an older lady got on. Nobody stood up for her so I had to stand up – and I’m 77.”

Mrs Lethbridge said it was not the only thing that made her decide to create the game, but an example of how manners had deteriorated.

She said: “We have become a very greedy society these days, taking everything for granted. There’s nothing extraordinary about manners, it just makes the world a nicer place when people remember them.

“Teaching a child to say please and thank you gives them a better start in life.

“People will always re-member someone with good manners.”

The 16-card game features Good Bear characters, and Bad Bear characters, each featuring a catchy rhyme which helps the young player remember their manners.

Polite hints are printed on each of the cards, such as ‘Thank you takes no time to say, but it can help in every way’, or ‘Please is such a magic word, Make certain it’s always heard’.

Tips on how not to behave are demonstrated by Bad Bear, who tells players, ‘No-one likes a messy bear, With mud and muck stuck in his hair’ and ‘It really is an ugly pose, to stick your fingers up your nose.’ Nice Bear Naughty Bear involves selecting a card and acting out the character on it, without using the words printed on it. It can also be used for more traditional games, such as Snap.

Mrs Lethbridge said 400 sets of the cards had already been snapped up by a number of nurseries and primary schools as well as young parents across the country who have used the cards as an incentive.

She added: “I know of one mother who uses the cards according to her son’s actions. For example, she will award him a good bear for good behaviour and bad for bad. The challenge at the end of the week is to have all the nice bears.

“I hope that these cards will help children realise that having good manners means treating others with kindness, consideration and respect.”

She is now working on a project to teach children the importance of good table manners.

l The card game costs £5.99, and is available from nicebearnaughtybear.com awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk