I thought I would share a new Holiday that falls on June 6th National yo-Yo- Day #NationalYoYoDay which would make a wonderful Homeschool Resource. Children could bring Yo-Yo’s to class and learn new tricks. Count me out on this because I never learned how to work a Yo-Yo. Do you know how? Do you have any tricks you can show Charlie and I? Before you ask Charlie has played with a Yo-Yo in the past but he doesn’t know any tricks either and I’ve not sure about David either.
Reconnect with your inner child or have fun with your own kids by playing around with different yo-yos. Host a yo-yo party or the Yo-Yo Olympics for extra fun. The concept is simple a disc with a slit cut into the edges with a string wrapped around it. What could be easier? But while the idea is rather basic, learning to master playing with a yo-yo can be quite the adventure. It’s so very easy to get all tied up in knots!
Far more than just twirling a Yo-Yo up and down, a wide array of tricks can be learned and performed with a yo-yo. National Yo-Yo Day is here to show appreciation for this incredible toy and those who are new to the Yo-Yo, and those who have been learning the Yo-Yo for years, and those who have mastered it!
History of National Yo-Yo Day
Historians believe that yo-yos have been around for at least 2,000 years and were known under different names, including “quizzes “or “bandalores”. It is believed that the origin of the yo-yo got its start from the Philippines and the earliest entry of the word appears in a Filipino dictionary in the early 1860s.
In the 1920s, Pedro Flores(a man with Filipino roots began constructing yo-yos in the United States. Flores was stunned and delighted with how American youngsters and adolescents took to the Yo-Yo, so he started mass producing the product. Today, yo-yos are firmly embedded into toy culture across the globe!
National Yo-Yo Day is celebrated annually in June, and it is no coincidence that National Yo-Yo Day corresponds with the birthday of famous entrepreneur Donald Duncan Sr, who got into the yo-yo business in the 1930s and founded the Duncan Toy Company. If were going to celebrate his Birthday don’t forget to get a Cake and decorate it with Yo-Yo’s.
The first National Yo-Yo Day was founded in 1990 in Arcade, New York, by an avid yo-yo-er named Daniel Volk. Volk had been an employee for Duncan Toy Company in the 1970s, working as a demonstrator of yo-yos. Wouldn’t working as a demonstrator of Yo-Yo’s be a challenging but fun job?
How to Celebrate National Yo-Yo Day
Show some appreciation for the Yo-Yo by sharing in the fun of celebrating National Yo-Yo Day! Come up with some interesting plans of your own for National Yo-Yo Day, or participate with some of these:
Throw a Yo-Yo Themed Party
Celebrating National Yo-Yo Day may involve throwing a Yo-Yo based party, whereby all those attending must bring a completely unique yo-yo. Decorate using yo-yo themed decor, cutting out colored circles, attaching them with string and hanging them about the room. And, of course, make sure you have plenty of Cookies, Cupcakes and other snacks which can certainly be creatively made into yo-yo themes! Decorate your dinnerware with Yo-Yo’s art work. During the party, it might be fun to have a competition, a sort of a Yo-Yo Olympics, where designated events have specific yo-yo based prizes.
Learn Some New Yo-Yo Tricks
One of the best ways to celebrate National Yo-Yo Day might be to pick up that old yo-yo and learn new tricks. While a book from the library used to be the way to learn Yo-Yo tricks, today’s access to YouTube, TikTok and other video sources on the internet mean that it’s even easier to watch someone else teaching tricks with a video tutorial. Have tons of fun learning a new trick or two from a tutorial. Or, even better, grab one of your kids and teach them how to do tricks using a yo-yo. Try Walk the Dog, Split the Atom, Barrel Rolls, Halley’s Comet and so many others!
Attend a National Yo-Yo Competition
Those who are serious fans of the yo-yo might want to consider making plans to gather with a bunch of other talented yo-yo artists at the National Yo-Yo Contest. This annual competition of the National Yo-Yo League (NYYL) is typically held toward the end of June or in early July, so there’s still time to plan. The location for this event changes, but sometimes it is held in Chico, California, which is convenient because that’s also where the National Yo-Yo Museum happens to be located. Another fun activity would be to attend in celebration of National Yo-Yo Day!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
