HOW TO teach your kids great big lessons while PLAYING – grab a Hula Hoop!

 

Kids have a natural curiosity about words and ideas and THINGS.

TOYS & GAMES are no exceptions.

During fun activities, kids often don’t realize that they’re learning great big lessons and storing great big pieces of information that will stay with them in their lives and in their learning. Kids get excited about WORDS and IDEAS and THINGS. Kids get excited to know about words and ideas and things. This excitement is what makes kids think, read, write and communicate with great big confidence.

Take something as simple as the Hula Hoop. Grab one, whirl it around your waist and let the playing/learning fun begin!

WHO invented the Hula Hoop:  Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin, founders of WHAM-O toy and sporting goods company,  trademarked this ancient form of fun and exercise and named it the Hula Hoop because the movement resembles the swaying of the Hawaiian Hula dance.

WHAT is Hula Hooping:  Hula Hooping is the art and skill of swinging a large plastic ring around your waist in continuous revolutions.

WHEN was the Hula Hoop invented:  Ah… we must go back hundreds of years to find this answer.  Egyptian children had fun using large rings of dried grape vines to swing around their waists.  The ancient Greeks used similar rings/hoops as a form of exercise.  Australian children used bamboo rings to swing around their waists in physical education classes.  And it’s these Australian children who inspired Richard Knerr and Spud Melin to design a plastic hoop that would take the world by storm… or gyration, that is.

WHERE is the Hula Hoop used:  Everywhere!  The first Hula Hoops, marketed by WHAM-O in 1958, sold for just under $2.00.  25 million Hula Hoops were sold in under 4 months of its appearance.  That’s 25 million Hula Hoops, kids!

I was one of those kids back in the late 1950’s lucky enough to get one of these awesome hoops.  My friends and I spent hours upon hours practicing our Hula Hooping and making up fun competitions (while kind of impressing my brothers!). Yep, this is me!

WHY is the Hula Hoop so popular:  The Hula Hoop is just plain fun.  Simple. And anyone of any age can try it. It’s fun to try.  It takes practice and patience to master, but it’s so great to accomplish.  You can do lots of tricks with it.  You can use it just about anywhere… except near your parents’ and/or grandparents’ special breakable things!  It’s a great form of exercise because you’re moving and using so many muscles.

AND it’s fun to know that kids have used similar hoops all across the globe for hundreds of years!

HOW has the Hula Hoop remained so popular:  The Hula Hoop is one of the greatest toy fads ever, but has shed its “fad” status and found its way into dance, circus and even music festivals; and into the hearts of generations.  There’s even a *World Hoop Day – this year October 4, 2014 – dedicated to bringing dance, exercise, joy and hoop toys to underprivileged kids around our world.

The Hula Hoop brings smiles.  It’s kind of that simple.

*World Hoop Day Mission:

Our Mission

The mission of World Hoop Day is to bring joy through the importance of play to children around the world.  The benefits of playing with a hoop include having a fit, leaner body with a stronger core and leaner muscles.  Hooping improves self-confidence, inner peace, contentment and relieves depression.

Why?

The importance of play is undervalued in this technological age of information.  World Hoop Day brings cost-effective toys that double as a portable gym to remote areas of the world where resources are limited.  Additionally, we donate hoops to individuals and local and global organizations that have a direct impact on communities.  Examples include the Peace Corps and Girl Scouts of America, orphanages, rehabilitation centers and senior homes.

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Stay tuned here on Mom Generations for more HOW TO teach your kids great big lessons while PLAYING!