How to win at conkers

The ancient game of Conkers uses the seeds from a horse chestnut tree - you can have hours of fun trying to smash apart your opponent's conker, and if you follow these tips then you should be forever victorious!

To win at conkers you need to have the toughest conker. There are various simple methods for this and I have tried and tested them all but here is a good web guide to winning at conkers.

You must be careful that by making the conker harder you don't also make it more brittle and therefore more prone to cracking early! Making your conker tough is the key so here are some ideas. Bake your conker By baking your conker in the oven at a very low heat (please check with an adult before doing this) you will toughen it and this makes your conker less likely to crack under pressure! You need to leave it in the oven long enough to make it tough without making the outside wrinkly. Recycle your conker One of the best ways to get an unbeatable conker is to use ones saved from last year. They are older and therefore tougher!

**TOP TIP**

Make the hole for the string as small as possible, the bigger the hole, the less strength your conker will have!

Moisturise your conker By coating your conker with hand cream (on the quiet of course) it makes the outside more resistance to impact. Try slow baking the conker first and then coat the outside of the conker with hand cream to make the conker shell more flexible to the impacts.

Pickling conkers in vinegar Pickling conkers in vinegar is said to make them rock hard. This can however cause the inside to slowly rot and therefore I would recommend the baking method first, why not try both and have a match?

Follow these rules and you could end up playing in the World Conker Championships!.