Conkers (or horse chestnuts if you're not British), are great to go hunting for on an Autumn walk. Filling your pockets until they are bursting and looking for the biggest and shiny one you can is lots of fun. There are also lots of activities you can do with them once back home.
Glossy conkers just waiting to be played with
Why not try these two preschool challenges that are great for developing fine motor skills and counting. My son started with the first game with the tongs and then we moved onto to the maths challenge.
Time: 15 minutes
Age: Under 5's
Level: Easy
Materials
Pick Up
This is a simple game but very engaging for little ones. Simple try to pick up the conkers and transfer to a container. Use just one hand and see how many you can get in. The opening and closing of the tongs and the concentration involved is great for developing the small hand muscles in advance of learning to write.
Maths Challenge
Once you've mastered using the tongs, lay out a number of containers and try a maths challenge. We started by putting one conker in the first pot, two in the second and so on.
If that's too easy, then try adding and subtracting conkers to read a number goal.
Categories
#Under 5s
#Games
#Natural Materials
#Fine Motor Skills
#Easy
