We have the most amazing oak tree in our back yard. (Seriously, it is amazing!) It is the “central meeting point” for the kids in our neighborhood (well OK, if I am being honest the kids only love the tree because we have a mean tree swing hanging from it). Anyway, the other evening my oldest son and I were sitting on the hill under our tree and we started talking about fun things I did as a kid. I began to tell him the story of how my grandma and I used to go for walks in the neighborhood and collect bags and bags and bags of acorns. So I grabbed my sons hand and said “Hey! Let’s do it too!” So off we went collecting acorns (ones with the top, ones without, ones half chewed by the squirrel, etc) and we had quite the fun conversation along the way as well. After about a half a bag full he stopped and looked at me and said “what do we do now mama?” I thought “oh yay! I get to teach him how to have acorn races just like my grandma and I did!”
Here’s what you will need:
a little free time
a plastic bag/or reusable if you are eco-friendly
handfuls of acorns
conversation
a wall or a garage door
I took him down the hill to our garage and proceeded to close the door. I then explained that we would take turns rolling our acorns, or tossing them, towards the garage door. I told him the object was to see who could get the closest to the garage door without touching it. I have to admit I got a little choked up playing with him. I just recently lost my grandma (in July) and it felt so good to pass on a fun and free game I used to play. So, I encourage you to go on a nature walk with your kids, grab a bag, collect acorns and have a fun acorn race at your home.
Try it out with your kid(s) and let us know who won the race.
What a fun simple game. We don’t have oak trees but maybe we could do it with pine cones.
When I was a golf caddy we did this with quarters. Winner took all of the other players’ quarters that were played during that round!
Now I see how the game was invented. Very cool.