Hoop (toy)

Girl with aro (Renoir).

A hoop is a toy in the shape of a circle that children use to play, for example rolling it with a stick trying not to make it fall, or spinning it around the body (hula hoop).

Around the world they have always played with hoops, spinning, swinging and shooting them. Traditional materials for hoops have included vine shoots and herbs. Hoops were invented in Egypt around 3,000 years ago.

The rings that are manufactured specifically as toys, objects initially designed for other uses are reused. Only one wheel is required, which can be metal, wood, vine, etc., but the most widely used is the rim or frame of car tires that, after being discarded, are generally used to make pots, take advantage of the rubber for other uses, such as shoemaking, etc.

Games with hoops

• Resistance component. In this game the winner is the player who manages to keep more time standing the hoop by spinning the stick. If possible, this test was performed in open field, resulting in the winner that reached the most distance without the ring falling.
• The track. A circular track is drawn in the courtyard or in the garden. The winner will be the one who gives the greatest number of returns to it in a given time or the one that employs less number of minutes to give a certain number of returns in a previously fixed time.
• Crazy ring. Win the game that manages to stay longer within a circle of two meters of diameter by turning the ring without it coming out.
• General career. All players stand in parallel and move towards a distant goal at least a hundred meters. It will be a winner who first reaches it.
• Ring War. It can be done in a courtyard or garden if they are large but it is preferable to run the game in open field so that two sides can be placed at a distance not less than 300 or 400 meters. At a given signal, the two sides that should have the same number of players are left in found addresses. Each player must ensure that his or her ring reaches the opposite target without hitting another. If a team gets to their goal without losing a ring, win the game. If both arrive in identical circumstances, the departure is repeated. A ring is out of combat if it falls to the ground by shock or bad direction from its owner. When the two sides lose the rings win the game, the band that has lost a smaller number of rings.

External links for children

• Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category Aro.