Where to collect conkers in York and 10 ideas to get creative with them

Autumn is finally upon us, and now is a great time to get out & about collecting autumnal treasures.

Here are some tips from York Mumblers on the best locations to collect bags full of conkers in York.

“University of York”

“We always get loads on Rawcliffe Ings, following the cycle track towards Skelton”

“My daughter brought loads back from the Designer Outlet”

“Library play area, Clifton”

“St Wilfrids Road Strensall”

“Hob Moor, Acomb”

“West Bank Park, Acomb road entrance”

“We’ve just come back with loads and there’s loads more along Tadcaster Road”

Now you are the proud owner of 4 million or so conkers what are you going to do with them all? Check out our 10 ideas below to keep you and your children busy.

1. Play the traditional game of conkers – with a conker threaded onto a piece of string, take it in turns to hit each other’s conker, until there is one conker left.

2. Keep spiders away – apparently, conkers release a chemical that spiders seem to hate. Place plenty of conkers in a bowl and it might just stop some spiders from setting up home, in your home.

3. Conker paint rolling – a really simple (ok slightly messy) craft, great for young children. Simply line a tray with paper, squeeze in a few blobs of paint, add your conkers and get rolling! Hope that no conkers escape onto the floor.

4. Conker caterpillars – making the holes is a bit tricky, but the rest is child’s play. Use a metal skewer to make holes in all the conkers and get your children to thread a pipe cleaner through the holes. Make a loop at the end to make sure they don’t fall off and finally stick on some eyes!

5. Make a Conker Puppet Family – make a cute family then put on a show! Simply stick conkers to lolly pop sticks, draw on some faces and then decorate away. Stick on some hair using wool and use old scraps of fabric to make their outfits.

6. Sharpies & Conkers – make a nice autumnal display. Just draw different patterns on conkers using a white sharpie – the contrast in colours really stands out.

7. Create an autumn wreath – got a full bag of autumn treasures? Cut a ring out of some sturdy cardboard. Using PVA glue stick leaves, conkers, acorns & pine cones around hour circle. Leave overnight to dry and then add a loop using string or ribbon and hang it up.

8. Conker maths – practise counting with conkers. Or sort them out into a line from smallest to largest.

9. Make some eyeballs – get ready for Halloween by painting on the conkers and turning them into eyeballs!

10. Make an autumn collage – lay out your best treasures and either stick it to a large piece of paper or take a photo and print it out.