# Do kids still play with yo yos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735 "2009-11-24T03:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/1 "2009-11-24T03:13:46Z")
Yo yos were very popular for a few years when I was a kid. During the 70s and early 80s they weren’t uncommon to see in public or on tv. I was writing a note to someone today. I stopped short of making a yo yo reference for fear I would sound even more uncool than normal. I haven’t seen a yo yo in years. Do kids still play with yo yos or are they a thing of the past? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/2 "2009-11-24T03:24:26Z")
I’m a teacher. Thing of the past, with minor anecdotal incidences being the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/3 "2009-11-24T03:46:52Z")
I know that they made a brief comeback in the late 90’s when I was in middle school but I don’t think I’ve seen more than a few isolated incidents since then. Then again, I know I saw some yo-yos at Toys R Us a few months ago so someone must still be buying them. (Maybe it’s just terribly uncool and clueless parents strapped for gift ideas.) ---
**Author:** ![Harry1945](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Harry1945](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry1945)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/4 "2009-11-24T04:33:17Z")
I do. 'Course, I’m not a kid. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/5 "2009-11-24T05:13:30Z")
don’t know if it’s cool, but they still hold nation and worldwide contests for it. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World\_Yo-Yo\_Contest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Yo-Yo_Contest) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/6 "2009-11-24T05:47:57Z")
Unless Wii has come out with an electronic version of the Yo Yo; then no, my kids do not play with Yo Yos. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/7 "2009-11-24T06:12:08Z")
I know several young kids who love their yo-yo’s, and a couple who have put a lot of time into learning great tricks. One little 7yo I know was in the church talent show with his. However, I live in the town that hosts the [National Yo-yo Contest and Museum](http://www.nationalyoyo.org/), and so I probably see many more yo-yo enthusiasts than most folks do. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/8 "2009-11-24T06:55:15Z")
Kids love yo-yos still but they won’t buy them. If a kid sees a yo-yo he won’t buy it but if you put a bunch of yo-yos in a classroom full of kids and give them away free, all the kids will take it and play with them ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/9 "2009-11-24T10:21:57Z")
I remember the Duncan Yo-Yo commercials when I was a kid, there seemed to be a Yo-Yo season when the commercials would appear and then disappear like clockwork once a year. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/10 "2009-11-24T12:15:01Z")
I don’t know that they are widely sought out and requested, but my experience is that if you put kids in contact with them, they’ll play with them. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/11 "2009-11-24T13:55:23Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I know several young kids who love their yo-yo’s, and a couple who have put a lot of time into learning great tricks. One little 7yo I know was in the church talent show with his. Hmm… I didn’t learn how until I was in middle school. I wonder if I could teach Fang how to yo-yo. He’s six. I think we may have a project for Thanksgiving break. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/12 "2009-11-24T14:51:18Z")
When my son was in 5th grade (2 years ago) he had the exact same experience as Bart Simpson. A group of rollerskating yo-yo experts did an assembly at his school. For a few weeks after that he carried a yo yo constantly and tried to teach himself tricks. Also like Bart, “it was hard so I quit.” ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/13 "2009-11-24T15:13:03Z")
They need to do another revival, as someone up thread has said there was one in the mid-1990s. Everyone I know had a yoyo for a couple of weeks when we were all about 13 or 14. Then they all disappeared again. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/14 "2009-11-24T16:36:28Z")
My kids are 7 and 5, each have a yo-yo (I forget from where), but I see them often playing with it. They’re also both better than I at it (in that they can get the yo yo to go up and down, something I can’t even do) but no “tricks”. Although, keeping in mind that they’re only 7 and 5, I don’t think this was the age of “kids” you were looking for (I’m guessing roughly twice their age?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/15 "2009-11-24T18:08:09Z")
The commentary for the Simpsons episode about yo-yos mentioned that apparently Duncan, being aware of the faddish nature of the yo-yo’s appeal, promotes their product in multi-year cycles. The problem of course is that the classic Duncan yo-yo is a piece of crap. Someone on The Dope mentioned years ago that they were still using molds that had long since warped. But Duncan bought out Pro-Yo, so now it’s the Duncan name on a lot of those nice rim-weighted ball-bearing transaxle yo-yos. These days, there is an active mod community for yo-yos, and there are sites that specialize in selling the parts to customize your yo-yo. If you look on YouTube you’ll see that there are young people out there who are fantastic with the things, though most of them seem to be from Japan. Japan out-nerds the U.S. in so many obsessive hobbies. They may not enjoy the popularity or mindspace that they once did, but if you are into yo-yos, it’s an exciting time to be alive. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/16 "2009-11-24T18:47:23Z")
Timely thread, for me, at least. My kid (almost seven) has been turning the house upside down looking for his lost yo-yo for the last two days. It’s just a tin piece of crap he got out of a yard sale free box; I’m going to get him a better one for his birthday. So I know one kid who does. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/17 "2009-11-24T18:55:57Z")
Mine try. They usually end up getting frustrated and swing them around looking to clobber the other. These are crappy gift bag yo-yos they get at parties, though. I should get them something proper that actually works. As a yo-yo. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/18 "2009-11-24T19:11:55Z")
> [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](#): > > Timely thread, for me, at least. My kid (almost seven) has been turning the house upside down looking for his lost yo-yo for the last two days. It’s just a tin piece of crap he got out of a yard sale free box; I’m going to get him a better one for his birthday. So I know one kid who does. Mine were fighting over one last night…playing with it I didn’t notice, but since one person has to play with it for the other to want it…I suspect that at least one of them was playing with the yo yo. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-kids-still-play-with-yo-yos/518735/19 "2009-11-25T01:46:53Z")
Mine do. I also have one in my desk at work.