Complete this week's challenge to find out...
Silly names
The seeds of the horse chestnut tree have some very strange names, the most famous being conkers :O)
Some people call conkers obblyonkers, cheggies, cheesers or bucks' eyes!
What made-up name would you give them?
tell us
Collect
Conkers are are brown, shiny and grow in green, spiky cases.
Here's a guide to finding a horse chestnut tree, how many conkers can you find and collect?
horse chestnut
Make a bag to collect your conkers in :O)
conker bag
how many did you find?
Conker crafts
Have you ever tried making a pattern on the ground using conkers and their shells?
Here's a conker spiral that's been entered into our ARTventure competition :O)
conker spirals
Conker cases also make great little boats. You could have a race with your friends by dropping your conker cases in a stream and seeing which one goes the furthest :O)
What have you made with your conkers?
send us an email
Be a conker conqueror
Have you ever played conkers?
Winning conkers are usually the hardest ones. From the ones you've collected, pick the hardest, symmetrical ones with no cracks.
To test there's no damage inside, plop them in bucket of water - any damaged ones will float, but the hardest will sink to the bottom so pick these :O)
Top secret tips
There are lots of strange ways to harden your conker (but some people think this is cheating!)
These work better if you make the hole for the string first.
- bake it in the oven for a short while (but don't let it go wrinkly :O)
- soak it in vinegar
- bake it in the oven and then soak it in vinegar!
- soak it in salt water
- paint your conker with clear nail varnish
- roll it in hand cream
- freeze it overnight (then roll it in hand cream)
- keep a conker from this season and store it in a warm, dark place until next year - this gives it a whole year to harden! (No good for a tournament this weekend, but could make you a champion next year :O)
Test them out in your own tournament - what works best, natural or modified?
Do you have a secret technique, tell us!
tell us what makes a champion conker
Play
Every October the World Conker Championships are held in
Northamptonshire, England.
how to play
Certificate
Make certificates for conker champions :O)
certificate
Conker facts
The first recorded game of conkers was on the Isle of Wight in 1848.
Before horse chestnut seeds were used, the game was played with hazelnuts. And before these, snail shells!
There are lots of ideas about where the name 'conkers' comes from
- the French word 'conque' meaning conch shell
- the French word 'cogner' meaning to bump
- the word 'conquer' - the game has also been called conquerers
Do spiders love conkers?
Spiders love to get cosy in houses at this time of year ans some people say putting conkers in the corner of rooms keeps them away.
Pick a room in your house and keep a diary for a couple of days, noting when you see spiders there. Then place a few conkers in that room and make a note when you see any spiders.
spider and conker diary
The children at Roselyon School devised some experiments to see if spiders like conkers or not:
Did your experiment work? Can you come up with another experiment to test the theory that spiders don't like conkers? We'd love to hear about it :O)
tell us
Conker colouring
Look closely at the conkers you've collected and try to use the same colours on this colouring sheet :O)
conker colouring sheet
Have you got any suggestions for future challenges?
Email us at:
naturedetectives@woodlandtrust.org.uk
Gone bonkers for conkers?
Woohoo you've cleared the entrance,
now you can explore the cave :O)
Head on towards next week's adventure!