Conkers, a traditional English playground game
CONKERS During the months of September and October, a favourite playground game is conkers. But... What is a conker??
A conker is a seed of a Horse chestnut tree Aesculus Hippocastanum ●
Species: Hippocastanaceae
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Type: Deciduous
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Height: Up to 80' (25m)
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Fruit: “conkers” or
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horse chestnuts (inedible chestnuts)
Where do conkers come from? The young shoots of the horse chestnut are large sticky buds. These open in May into large leaves each with five to seven fingers.
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Dozens of tiny flowers in large spikes, In the shape of a pyramid
The flowers are pink or white and they bloom in May
The green outer casing of the seed will turn brown and crack open with the conkers inside
IN THE AUTUMN, the spiky green fruits appear containing the shiny brown "conkers".
FRUIT
SEEDS OR CONKERS
Conkers is also the name of a game played between two people at a time ●
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How to prepare your conker for playing. Choose a good conker, firm and symmetrical. Make a hole through the middle of your conker Thread a piece of string about 50 cm long through the hole and tie a knot at the end.
How to play CONKERS Each player has a conker hanging on its string. ●
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Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker Let your conker hang down from the string. Your opponent chooses the height and waits your conker is held perfectly still He's got three goes If the string tangles, the first player to call “strings” gets an extra shot If a player drops his/her conker, or it's knocked out of his hand the other player can shout “STAMPS” and jump on it.
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But if the owner first shout “NO STAMPS” then the conker, hopefully, remains intact
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The game goes in turns until one of the two conkers is completely destroyed.
SCORING ●
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ONE-ER is the winner conker between two fresh conkers If the conker beats another three one-ers, it becomes a FOURER If the same conker beats a FIVEER conker, our seed would become a TEN-ER
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A GOOD CONKER CAN GO FOR SEVERAL SEASONS OR EVEN BE PASSED FROM PARENTS TO SONS AND DAUGHERS
How to make your conker harder (considered cheating) ●
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Soak your conker in vinegar
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Use an old conker from previous years
Bake your conker in the oven for 25 minutes When you find your first conker of the season you should cast the spell 'ODDLYODDLY ONKER MY FRIST CONKER'
Conkers is a game played between two people at a time ●
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Prepare your conker for playing 1.Choose the best conker. The best conkers to play are uncracked, firm and symmetrical, and they sink in water. Discard the ones that float in water. 2. Make a hole through the middle of your conker, from the top to the bottom 3. Thread a strong string of about 50cm long, through the hole and tie a knot at one end, so it doesn't pull through. How to play conkers (Two players: the strikcer, the holder) Each player has a conker hanging on its string Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker The holder lets the conker hang down from the string wrapped round his/her hand The conker is held at the heignt your opponent chooses and is held perfectly still. The stricker wraps his/her conker string round his/her hand. He/she takes his/her conker in the other hand and draws it back for the strike, and tries to hit his opponent conker. If the stricker misses hitting his/her opponents conker, they have two goes If the strings tangle, the first player to call 'STRINGS' gets an extra shot. If a player hits the opponents conker making it completes a whole circle after being hit, 'round the world' gets an extra shot If a player drops his conker, or it's knoked out of his hand the other player can shout 'STAMPS' and jump on it. But if the owner first cries 'NO STAMPS' the conker remains intact. The game goes on in turns until one or the other of the two conkers is completely destroyed. ScoringA victorious conker assumes the score of all its victims. In a contest between two fresh conkers, the winner would have the score of 1, and is called the 'one-er' If the one-er then beats another three one-ers, it becomes a four-er But if the four-er conker beats a five-er conker (because it has beatten four fresh conkers), our four-er then becomes a ten-er (4+5+1=10) How to make your conkers harder. Soak your conker in vinegar. Bake your conker in the oven Use an old conker from previous years.
Did you know? ●
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The United Kingdom is the only country in the world where the game of conkers is traditionally played with horse chestnuts in autumn Horse chestnut trees were first introduced in England in the late 16th century from Eastern Europe
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Conkers are not edible for humans.
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Conkers are edible for deer, cattle and horses
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Extracts from horse chestnuts are used in medicine to treat malaria, diarrhea, varicose veins and other diseases
Daniela Martínez Somoza Cep Salustiano Rey Eiras A Pobra do Caramiñal. Curso 2011-2012
from the page http://woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/conkers.html Videos to watch: 'Bonkers for Conkers' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knLhVVeAX18 'How to win at conkers' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cQ-eZOWgvI&feature=related 'the game of conkers' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lpuvblzpoo&feature=related http://youtu.be/6Lpuvblzpoo