Conker Person

A creative conker craft activity. Simple but so effective - these conker people are easy to make.

Introduction

* Muddy Faces actively promotes child-led outdoor play & learning. We recognise and believe in the curiosity that children have and their drive to explore and discover. We hope that you will bear this in mind when considering more prescribed activities like this one – often much more creative ideas will occur if resources are simply provided and children are given the time and space to explore independently.

Head out on a conker hunt…

What you'll need

conkers
conker clamp
connecting sticks
palm drill/softwood hand drill

This activity has been provided by

Useful items from our shop

Item available from our shop

Environmental Considerations

Consider the environmental impact of preparing, carrying out & completing this activity. Could this impact be reduced? Specific considerations for this activity could include:

collect conkers that have fallen onto the pavement & would end up being crushed in the road
don’t forget to collect up the little and misshapen ones that often get ignored
if collecting from a more natural areas please follow our foraging guidelines

Health & Safety Considerations

Follow your usual operating procedures and carry out appropriate risk benefit assessments.
Some considerations particular to this activity include:

tool use
choking hazard

Step #1

For each conker person, select 3 large conkers and 4 small ones.

Step #2 Use a softwood hand drill to make holes in the 4 small conkers

Make sure the drilled hole is the right size for the cocktail sticks – too big and they will fall out.
A 2 mm bore creates the perfect-sized hole for a cocktail stick.
A conker clamp is useful to help prevent the conker slipping around, but not essential.

See our drilling conkers activity if you need help.

If the conkers are soft you may be able to push the cocktail sticks in without the need for a drill, or use a thin bradawl or similar to make the holes.

Although we didn’t try it, you could use a malleable substance such as bluetack or glue to help the sticks stay in place.

Step #3 Make the lower body section

Drill 2 holes into one of the large conkers in the direction you want the legs sticking out, and one hole on the opposite side of the body to attach the torso.

Attach the bum and feet together with cocktail sticks.

Step #4 Make the upper body, arms & head

Drill one large conker all the way through – this is for the upper body.

On this conker drill 2 angled holes on the side for the arms.

Use cocktail sticks to attach the hands to the upper body. We snapped the cocktail sticks to make them shorter for the arms than the legs.

Drill the last large conker for the head (do not go all the way through). Attach it to the upper body, making sure the cocktail stick goes all the way through and out the bottom.

Step #5 Put it all together

Connect the upper body to the lower body and you have a conker person!

Step #6

Play (gently)!

Take it Further:

use chalk or acrylic pens to decorate/personalise your conker people/creature/sculpture
take your conker people on an adventure, or play hide and seek with them
try making some conker animals
use acorns as an alternative to conkers

Disclaimer: Muddy Faces cannot take any responsibility for accidents or damage that occurs as a result of following this activity.You are responsible for making sure the activity is conducted safely.