I collected these lovely conkers yesterday and was wondering what to do with them. English children seem to be doing only one thing with them, and that’s playing conkers. I had never heard of this game until I moved to England. Instead we used to make things with them.
All you need is a good supply of conkers (Kastanien) and some used matches (with the burned, or unused, head snapped off), something to make holes in the conkers (a thick needle or tiny screwdriver) and then get started. There are endless ideas.
If you google ‘basteln mit Kastanien’ and click on the ‘images’ link, you’ll see lots of pictures of what German children or adults have made.
This is a screenshot of my search result:
Or check out some of the German websites, that ‘basteln mit Kastanien’ search gives you. That way you can also improve your German 😀
Here is a Youtube video which shows you how to make a little conker man (Kastanienmänchen) and a caterpillar (Raupe)
What will you do with your next harvest of conkers?
What will I do with mine?
I’ll probably spread them around the house as spiders apparently don’t like them ❗

I do want some conkers to keep away some of those deadly spiders that seem to be invading us.
I used to enjoy making things like this, especially for Christmas. I miss that.
There is nothing stopping you from making things again, although, I have to admit, my conkers will also be spider deterrents – I just hope it works ….
I played conkers in Durham this weekend
I hope, you won! I’ve never played it – maybe I’m missing out!
I think making things out of conkers is more productive than bashing the hell out of them in a British conkers game … anyway I think the Health & Safety Police have stopped children from playing conkers in school playgrounds now!
Some schools yes, but not H&S, see https://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/september.htm
And anyway, I bet that hasn’t stopped any kids playing outside school!