If you are anything like me you are probably currently inundated with conkers! We have had great fun collecting them at various places throughout Ryedale. Every time we spot a horse chestnut tree, we have to have a quick look! Good for leaf recognition!
So we have been doing lots of crafts, games and a bit of fun maths with conkers over the last week!
1. Play the traditional game of conkers we all remember from our childhood!
2. Make a conker snake or caterpillar. As well as been great fun these are also a great way of helping children with their number bonds to 10 as they can move the conkers up 
and down on the string.
Either skewer or drill a hole in the conkers, children can then use their fine motor skills threading the conkers on the string or pipe cleaners. One thing to note conkers are hard to stick things to so I would recommend the eyes that have peel back stickers or super glue. To make our caterpillar, we used pipe cleaners and then cut them to make the legs.
3. Practice counting with conkers.
Counting by using the conkers as the Numicon.
Henry’s homework was to practise number bonds of ten so we used conkers!
Sort the conkers into a line from the smallest to largest, practising counting in 2s and 5s.
They both had great fun with the conkers and didn’t realise it had an underlying maths focus!
4. Paint with conkers. This is a bit like marble painting but with conkers! We got a baking tray put a sheet of paper in the bottom squirted different colours of paint in the tray and rolled the conkers around to make pretty conker pictures!
5. Conker games. Why not add a bit of fun into some traditional games with the use of conkers. e.g. Conker & Spoon race, Conker Boules, place an object like a large stone and see who can get their conker the closest.
6. Conker puppet family. Act out one of your favourite stories with conker puppets.
7. Conker decorating. In the case of my two, decorating conkers was like decorating eggs at Easter – see how much glitter they can get on the conkers and themselves!!! There are lots of ways to decorate conkers and suitable for all ages, you could also try conker printing with flat conkers.
8. Fend off spiders. Its the time of year when spiders make an appearance, apparently placing conkers around the house on window sills keeps the spiders away.
9. Conker jewellery. Drill holes in the conkers and you can make a necklace or bracelet.
10. Make conker animals. Let your child’s imagination run wild, get out the craft box, play dough (see recipe) or use other autumnal materials like acorns, leaves sticks and make your favourite conker animal.
We had great fun doing lots of different activities with our conkers, hope you enjoy some of them as well!
