Playdough activity ideas
Adding theme,
focus and loose media to dough.
Horse chestnut conker dough
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Late September and early October are the harvesting
months for conkers, for many this is a most memorable part of the autumnal
calender and used alongside dough they provide a focus for children's
play and support fine motor scissor cutting skills. Combine green and
brown dough with the nuts and enable modelling, moulding, shaping and
enclosing activities. Create your own conker encased spiky shells with
snips to the outer surface of formed dough balls. Cut open to reveal
if there are any nuts hidden inside ...
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To help risk assess this activity please consider the following
Is a choke tube needed to test the size of conkers
- on amazon.co.uk
Are parents concerned about the possibility of
conkers being used in the setting
Will staff be deployed to monitor or participate
in an activity
Are a specific number of conkers needed for an
activity - count them out for play and in again for storage
Wipe with an anti-bac solution before play to
remove bacteria and mould spores
A few facts about conkers
Some are small enough to be choking
hazards
See why they're considered toxic / poisonous
- John Robertson's the poison garden.co.uk
The saponins
/ poison that conkers, leaves and other plants contain also our wash
clothes
By boiling conkers the saponin chemical is extracted
The HSE doesn't require that googles to be worn
when playing with them - conker
health & safety
The word chestnut and a spiky shell appearance
can cause confusion between conker nuts and edible sweet chestnuts - google image search
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