Conker’s are an amazing natural resource, the possibilities are endless. These are some Conker activities we have set up and loved playing with recently.
What to do with Conkers
Before I dive into our most recent activities I wanted to note that our invitations to play don’t have to be time consuming or complex as much as Ayla has loved the conker eye, conker counting activities and the sensory play she has also enjoyed using them in her play kitchen to make all manner of interesting dishes for us to eat.
Conker’s as a Sensory Base
Throw the conkers into a tray with scoops, bowls and tubs for them to fill, empty, pour and shake the conkers.
Conker Activities For Mathematics
I go into more detail with some numeracy related activities below, however, Conkers offer a fab opportunity to talk about amounts such as more or less, as well as exploring all of the different sizes.
Can your child give you the correct amount of Conkers you’ve asked for? or maybe you can use the Conkers to create a shape in the floor.
Literacy Conker Activities
Pop some paper into the bottom of a food storage tub and squeeze in some paint. Pop a few Conkers into the tub and secure the lid. Shake, tip and roll the tub and explore what different marks the Conkers leave behind.
Draw lines on a piece of paper, work with your child to lay the Conkers on top of the lines and talk about all the different marks you can see.
STEM Conker Activities
Create a ramp and explore how the Conkers roll down them! Allow them to test their ideas as you change the height of the ramp as well as the size and shape of the Conker to see what ones move the fastest.
Step By Step Conker Activities
Conker Activities – Addition.
Resources
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Toilet Roll Tubes
- Cello Tape
- Hot Glue Gun
- Whiteboard Marker
The Set Up
Use the cardboard to create something similar to the image above. Using the hot glue gun to secure everything in place, before gluing the toilet roll tubes do a few practice runs with the Conkers to ensure the Conker’s fall into the box without missing. Tape a square of cello tape above each toilet roll tube, fill the bottom with Conker’s and you are ready to play. Use the whiteboard marker to write a number onto the cello tape once your little one has worked out the answer you can rub it out and start again.
Activities Like This Are Good For;
Promoting an understanding of addition in a playful way.
Encouraging cognitive development with the sensory element of the set up.
Boosting counting skills as you explore the numbers and count the Conker’s together.
Supporting problem solving as your child works through the sum to find the correct answer.
Conker Counting Activity With Chickpeas
Resources
- Tray
- Dry Chickpeas
- Conker’s
- Numbers
Set Up this Conker activity
Pour the dry chickpeas into the tray, place the numbers and Conker’s to one side. As you add numbers into the tray encourage your child to put the correct number of Conker’s into the tray. Ayla pretended she was making me a birthday cake!
Activities like this are good for;
Promoting number recognition as you look at the different numbers and match the correct amount of Conker’s.
Supporting cognitive development by exploring the sensory tray.
Boosting knowledge of numbers as you count the Conker’s together.
Halloween Conker Ideas
Pattern Practice With Conker Eyes
Resources
- 15 Conker’s
- White Paint
- Paintbrush
- Coloured Pens
- Cardboard
- Toilet Roll Tube
- Scissors
- Hot Glue Gun
The Set Up
Use the white paint to paint a circle onto each Conker and place them to one side while they dry. Once they are dry use the coloured pens to the details of the eyes onto each Conker. I did three of each colour.
Meanwhile use the scissors to cut the toilet roll tube into 9 slices and use the hot glue gun to glue them in place like in the picture above. Take the the left over cardboard and create the pattern cards with the same coloured pens you used to add the detail to the Conker eyes.
Activities Like This Are Good For;
Supporting an understanding of patterns as you match the Conker eyes to the pattern on the card.
Promoting colour recognition as you talk about all the different colours you can see.
Encouraging problem solving as they work out where each Conker needs to go.
Boosting hand-eye coordination as they place the Conker’s into the correct section.