Conkers!

Autumn has come around again, and it's time for 'Conkers'! This is a game that has been around for generations and is very simple and satisfying to play. 

First of all, unless you are lucky enough to have a horse-chestnut tree in your garden, a walk in the woodlands is essential. So on a crisp morning off we go hunting in the woods.

You'll often find the biggest and best chestnuts are the ones still in the shells.

If you do find one, standing on it is usually enough to open it and you can peel it back to uncover the shiny treasure inside.

We usually fill a bag or basket as there are lots of other things you can do with them, as we will show you later.

When you get home, the first thing to do is to bore a hole through the fresh chestnut or conker. Please make sure an adult does this bit! It needs to be a fresh one as a seasoned one would be very difficult.

Then if you have an old shoe-lace, or if not, a piece of string, about half a metre long, on a darning needle, you can thread it through. Again, best if an adult does this bit.

Tie a knot at one end and wrap about half of the string around your hand, with the conker hanging at the end.

The idea of the game is to smash as many conkers as possible. Your opponent holds out his piece of string on which he has his conker. To get a good hard hit, hold the string in your strong hand and pull it out tight, holding the conker between two fingers. Take aim, then take a shot at hitting it off your opponents conker.

You can take turns, or allow three tries each before swapping over, playing until one of them is smashed or disintegrates. If you manage to smash his with your own then your chestnut is called a conker (conqueror). Although over the years, all chestnuts have become known as conkers!

Traditionally, there were little rhymes you would say, for example, if you want to get the first hit when you see your friend with his conker you would say,

"Hick, hack,first crack!"

or

"Obbly, obbly, onker, my first conker!"

You would also give your winning conker a name which depended on how many other conkers it had destroyed. For example a 'Twoer', or a 'Fiver' adding them up as you beat each one. And a real winner would often be held over until the following year, when it was well seasoned and would beat all, hands down!

One Two Three Do You Want To Play With Me?

Also known as 'GRANNY'S FOOTSTEPS'.


This is one of those games to play anywhere, at the drop of a hat, when you're out and about and you don't have any props. It can be played with any number of children and is one of those that is as much fun with three as with ten.

How To Play:



Choose a player to be Grandmother and then the rest of the children stand in a line a few metres behind her/him.



Granny turns her back and says quietly to his/herself 'One two three do you want to play with me'? While behind her the others have to make their way to her as quickly and quietly as possible.



Granny can turn around at any moment, although the rhyme gives the other players enough time to get moving, and when she does the players must freeze. Anyone caught moving must go back to the beginning.



The first player to reach Granny then becomes Granny for the next round.



A game like this is great for filling time or lightening the mood or just when a good run around is required!

Is that a rhododendron?

When visiting your local park, or even better public garden see if they have a guide to the flora and fauna. You can play a kind of bingo (first to spot all on page 6 wins) or just get the children to tick off each specimen they see. It works with one child as well as a group, and is educational!!When I was a child there was the weekly 'nature walk' which doesn't seem to be done anymore, I remember being given a sheet with pictures of hawthorn, elderflower etc to find and identify in the countryside. I loved the challenge and my children do too!

Enviromental Art!

Sometimes there is just enough time in the day for a short walk, and if you're like me a nice stroll in the local wood is just enough. Its a nice way to "get in a bit of air" as my grandfather would have said!

I am so aware of the lack of daily exercise my children get - compared to my own childhood which consisted of long walks to school, fast spurts of chasing at playtime, and long afternoons of running, cycling or skipping... compared with todays sedentary inclinations of our children (faster traffic and fear playing a part in that)...

So when you're on a short walk why not set them a task, increase the activity in a fun way. One brilliant way to do this, and to encourage them to use their imagination and creativity is to set them the task to create art within the environment.

Give them a start by suggesting a theme, maybe a spiral or a star, and watch them run along collecting bits and pieces, as you stroll leisurely by...

This can be done by a solitary child or by a group and can be called upon at the drop of a hat when needed!

Enjoy!