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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Plants & Child’s Play: Conkers Season!


In the United Kingdom, fall brings down the horse chestnuts and brings out the conkers competitors. Many thanks to James Wandersee and Renee Clary for coaching us in this fine, knuckle-busting form of human-plant entertainment.


image

Common horse-chestnut fruits with seeds inside

Photo: Wiki

By James H. Wandersee and Renee M. Clary

EarthScholars™ Research Group



Even today, not all children’s games require expensive video gaming systems, software, vivid color displays, and ample electrical outlets. Nor do all require entry fees, prior medical examinations, proper shoes, safety gear, game-specific equipment, purpose-built facilities, and adults who serve as referees.

Given that half the world — about three billion people — lives on less than $2 a day, it’s comforting to know that, even today, not all child’s play requires an outlay of money. Conkers is such a game, and now is the brisk and hearty time of the year to play it.

imageUK Children playing conkers on the school playground

Photo: Playwell

Thanks to a rather ubiquitous plant introduced to the British Isles from the Balkans in the 1500s, this popular autumnal playground game, first played in 1848, remains accessible and free to all children. It’s an egalitarian game, and we also like that playing it seasonally incites children to identify and become familiar with a particular plant, observing its reproductive cycle and paying attention to the genetic variation in its fruits.  We think this is especially important because botanical education research has shown that young children typically do not even consider trees to be plants—assigning them instead to a separate and distinct category of life forms!

Conkers’ pendulum-like “jousting contests” require just two players—not big teams. These competitions take place outdoors—where these living plants grow and the air is fresh. Conker season spans the months of September and October in the UK.

All that any British child requires to participate is access to a Common Horse-Chestnut tree, Aesculus hippocastanum, and its “nuts.” Botanically, conkers are not true nuts, but seeds encased within a capsule that eventually splits open. Finding one’s “game weapon” is usually not a major obstacle because these majestic trees (reaching a height of up to 115 feet when mature) have been planted along streets and roadsides, as well as in parks and near public buildings. UK foresters report that are nearly 500,000 such trees are currently growing in Britain. 

imageCommon horse-chestnut tree

(Aesculus hippocastanum)

Photo: Rogue Turtle



Once the Horse-Chestnut tree displays its white or pink “Roman candle-like” flowers in late April to early May, it is pollinated by insects. After that, it sets fruit and produces the 1- to 1.5-inch diameter globe-shaped “nuts” resembling beautifully polished wood, each encased in a green, spiny husk that splits open when it ripens. It’s this “nut” that is the focus of the game of conkers.

To compete at conkers, would-be players must (a) harvest several sturdy-looking horse-chestnuts by searching the ground beneath such a tree or dislodging some from the tree branches; (b) select the potentially most durable conker (e.g., uniform color, symmetrical, crack-free); (c) drill or poke a hole through the “nut’s” center, and (d) thread a knotted ~12-inch-long piece of string (or shoelace) through the “nut.” The bottom knot prevents the conker from escaping the string. At least 8” of string or shoelace must be present between ones’ knuckle and one’s “nut”—this prevents “short-stringing” and maintains a basic level of difficulty. (It is also customary to exclaim, “Oddly, oddly onker, my first conker!” to insure good luck upon discovery of one’s first conker of the season.)

Children may attempt various hardening treatments in pursuit of fielding the hardest conker possible for play. Traditional pre-drilling approaches include (a) curing the “nut” by carrying it around in one’s pants pocket for a month, (b) boiling it in vinegar,  (c) baking it in a low temperature kitchen oven, or (d) brushing it with numerous coats of varnish. In the game’s standard home density test, the hardest fighting conkers will sink to the bottom of a pail of water, while the worst ones will float.

Combatants stand and face each other, separated by about 1 yard’s distance. The child playing the role of “receiver” dangles his/her “nut” motionless, by grasping the far end of the string. The “striker” swings his/her conker overhand in an attempt to hit and crack-open the receiver’s “nut.” There are many other arcane rules and traditions involved. Players take turns playing the two roles until one player’s conker is victorious.  Bruised knuckles are a frequent game injury!

imageGiant conker replica on display

at the international games in Ashton, Northamptonshire, 2006

Photo: World Conker Championships

Conkers are assigned battle values that depend upon the number of victories they have had and the number of victories that the conkers they vanquished had. By the end of the season, it is possible for someone to boast, for example, an undefeated “seventy-oner” conker, and decide to retire it from further competition—perhaps displaying it prominently in one’s room at home.

Conkers is a game played in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—not only by children, but by men and women as well. There are pockets of play in other countries as well. For example, the French Conkers Federation was formed 15 years ago and it declares a champion. However, the World Conkers Championships are always held in the town of Ashton, Northamptonshire, England on the second Sunday in October.

Before the annual games, about 2,000 conkers of the required 1.25-inch width are collected, drilled, and strung for the competitors’ use by Ashton Conker Club officials. This prevents any individual attempts to harden one’s playing conker. In 2006, nearly 500 contestants from 19 different countries took part in the 42nd annual event, cheered on by 4,700 spectators as over 1,000 conkers were smashed to smithereens. There are men’s, women’s, team, and junior categories of competition.

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A junior conkers victor receives his gold cup

Photo: World Conkers Championships

Will you be present at Ashton on October 14th, 2007, from 10:30 a.m. till 3 p.m.?  We hope so…at least in spirit! After all, it is, unwittingly, the world’s biggest celebration of the fecundity of the Horse-Chestnut tree. Plus, it is good, old-fashioned outdoor fun.

To become interested in plants and open to learning more about them, we think children need more childhood experiences outdoors with plants. These can and should include sociocultural experiences—much like this one—as well as horticultural and botanical ones. There is even a song for the children to sing—in homage to the venerable Aesculus hippocastanum tree. If you wish to hear a children’s choir sing about the joys of conkers, use this link furnished by OOTAM, Britain’s leading independent publisher of music for preschool and elementary education. 


Posted by Julie on 10/02 at 01:33 PM
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