What to do with this activity?

In Autumn, help your child to find a horse-chestnut tree and collect the shiny brown chestnuts (conkers) that pop out of prickly green shells. Show your child how the leaves of a horse-chestnut tree are very distinctive, forming 5-7 fingers. Collect as many conkers as you can, put them in a box and count them with your child.

Learn how to play the game of conkers. It is played by 2 people, each with a conker on a piece of string. You’ll need to put a hole in each conker. This should be done by an adult because it can be tricky. Thread some string through the conker and tie a knot.

Each player takes a turn hitting the other's conker with their own conker, until one of the conkers breaks. The player whose conker is not broken is the winner. It’s best played between children of the same age so stand back!  Check out these instructions from Wikihow for extra guidance.