page_title: Yo-yo
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Yo-yo / History
context_page_description: A yo-yo is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is played by holding the free end of the string known as the handle, allowing gravity to spin the yo-yo and unwind the string. The player then allows the yo-yo to wind itself back to the player's hand, exploiting its spin. This is often called "yo-yoing".
  In the simplest play, the string is intended to be wound on the spool by hand; The yo-yo is thrown downwards, hits the end of the string then winds up the string toward the hand, and finally the yo-yo is grabbed, ready to be thrown again. One of the most basic tricks is called the sleeper, where the yo-yo spins at the end of the string for a noticeable amount of time before returning to the hand.
context_section_description: A Greek vase painting from 440 BC shows a boy playing with a yo-yo (see right). Greek records from the period describe toys made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta (fired clay). The terra cotta disks were used to ceremonially offer the toys of youth to certain gods when a child came of age—discs of other materials were used for actual play.
caption: A 1791 illustration of a woman playing with an early version of the yo-yo, which was then called a "bandalore"
exif: {}