The Great Outdoors' Mystery Toy: The Reason Younger Generations Are 'Unboxing' Horse Chestnuts?

Identity: Horse chestnuts.

Age: Brought into the UK 409 years ago.

Look: The outdoor world's Labubu.

That can't be accurate. Absolutely. Go and watch a social media video of someone revealing a conker, and you’ll probably hear them call it “nature's Labubu”.

Unboxing conkers? What on Earth are you talking about? Goodness, you really are out of the loop, aren’t you? Gen Zers are taking to TikTok to record videos unpeeling conkers from their spiky capsules.

But why? Because of the feeling of amazement! When you unbox a conker, you can't predict what you’re going to get. Will it be big? Might it be flattened? What will its shine level be? It is similar to a surprise package every time!

Do Labubu dolls share those traits? No, they’re vaguely hellish-looking dolls that have become highly sought-after because they are sold in mystery boxes.

Would someone inform gen Z that they’re not using conkers correctly? Are they? How do you play with horse chestnuts, then?

Thread a lace through the center, and try to break others' nuts. Wow, really? That’s unusual.

Yes. You’ll have a much better chance of winning if you soak the conker in vinegar overnight and then bake it like a pie. Seriously?

Truly. And should you gather an excess, you can toss them in the schoolyard and all the other kids will fight each other for them. A beautiful, natural thing like a conker, and you use it as a tool for battle? A weapon that comes with a lengthy list of complex and confusing guidelines?

It’s traditional! King Charles literally just presented the global conker competition with three hundred horse chestnuts! At least gen Z is only filming them.

How are you unaware of this? Probably, because certain schools prohibited the game two decades ago, due to various health and safety fears.

The modern world never fails to amaze me. Maybe unboxing conkers just isn’t your thing. In which case, perhaps you would be more interested in some other popular gen Z trends.

Oh really? Like what? Well, there’s this thing called yarn work, and something else called clay crafting that I can explain to you.

Those hobbies are ancient! Let me guess, you boil the needles in cider and then use them to jab one another?

No! OK, relax. I thought all old-people traditions involved some type of aggression, after that horse chestnut game.

This is overwhelming. Take a breath. If you need me, I’ll be unboxing seeds for clicks.

Appropriate comment: “TikTok can’t stop filming conker reveals.”

What to avoid: “That's crazy.”