The cello ( CHEL-oh; plural celli or cellos) or violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh; Italian pronunciation: [vjolonˈtʃɛllo]) is a bowed (and occasionally plucked) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef, with tenor clef and treble clef used for higher-range passages.
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".
A water balloon or water bomb is a latex rubber balloon filled with water. Water balloons are used in a summer pastime of cooling off through water balloon wars. Water balloons are also popular for celebrations, including celebrating Holi and Carnival in India, Nepal, and several other countries.
The diabolo is a juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle and two cups or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo. This object is spun using a string attached to two hand sticks. A large variety of tricks are possible with the diabolo, including tosses, and various types of interaction with the sticks, string, and various parts of the user's body. Multiple diabolos can be spun on a single string.
Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky sack, Wham-O Bird Ornithopter & Boogie Board.
The kendama is a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle (ken), a pair of cups (sarado), and a ball (tama) that are all connected together by a string. On one end of the ken is a cup, while the other end of ken is narrowed down, forming a spike (kensaki) that fits into the hole (ana) of the tama. The kendama is the Japanese version of the classic cup-and-ball game, and is also a variant of the French cup-and-ball game bilboquet. Kendama can be held in different grips, and the tricks and combinations that can be done are limitless. The principle of these toys is the same: catching one object with another, where both are joined by a string.
Astrojax, invented in 1986 by Larry Shaw, is a toy consisting of three balls on a string. One ball is fixed at each end of the string, and the center ball is free to slide along the string between the two end balls. Inside each ball is a metal weight. The metal weight lowers the moment of inertia of the center ball so it can rotate rapidly in response to torques applied by the string. This prevents the string from snagging or tangling around the center ball.
Bop It toys are a line of audio games. By following a series of commands issued through voice recordings produced by a speaker by the toy, which has multiple inputs including pressable buttons, pull handles, twisting cranks, spinnable wheels, flickable switches – the player progresses and the pace of the game increases.
Steve Brown is an award-winning competitive yo-yo player, competition judge, yo-yo designer, and yoyo blogger currently based out of North Olmsted, Ohio. He is currently the editor for YoYoNews.com and a co-producer of the Triple Crown of YoYo events. In 2001, the National Yo-Yo League named him as one of eight National Yo-Yo masters. He has designed multiple yo-yos, including the "Cherry Bomb" for Team Losi. While employed by Duncan Toys Company as marketing and promotions coordinator, Brown invented and patented freehand yo-yo play where instead of being attached to the finger, the string is actually attached to a counterweight, and designed a line of yo-yos for the new style. He also authored a book called Duncan Yo-Yo Trick Book while employed by the company.
The Slip ’N Slide is a toy manufactured by Wham-O, first introduced in 1961 after being invented by Robert Carrier. Carrier was inspired by his son sliding on wet, painted concrete. Carrier used his job as an upholsterer to obtain a long strip of Naugahyde, to which he sewed a tube to pass a hose into, and punctured the tube intermittently to allow water to spurt out. Carrier sold his invention to Wham-O, which replaced Naugahyde with plastic to cut down on production costs.
Object manipulation is a form of dexterity play or performance in which one or more people physically interact with one or more objects. Many object manipulation skills are recognised circus skills. Other object manipulation skills are linked to sport, magic, and everyday objects or practices. Many object manipulation skills use special props made for that purpose: examples include the varied circus props such as balls, clubs, hoops, rings, poi, staff, and devil sticks; magic props such as cards and coins; sports equipment such as nunchaku and footballs. Any other object can also be used for manipulation skills. Object manipulation with ordinary items may be considered to be object manipulation when the object is used out of its socially acknowledged context and used differently from its original purpose.
Yo-kai Watch is a mixed-media franchise of role-playing video games and toys, created and developed by Level-5. The first game in the series was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. 3 main sequels and several spinoffs, on both Nintendo and mobile platforms, have been released. In December 2019, they expanded to PlayStation with the release of Yo-kai Watch 4++.
A pullstring, pullcord, or pullchain is a string, cord, or chain wound on a spring-loaded spindle that engages a mechanism when it is pulled. It is most commonly used in toys and motorized equipment. More generally and commonly, a pullstring can be any type of string, cord, rope, or chain, attached to an object in some way used to pull or mechanically manipulate part of it.
An Eskimo yo-yo or Alaska yo-yo is a traditional two-balled skill toy played and performed by the Eskimo-speaking Alaska Natives, such as Inupiat, Siberian Yupik, and Yup'ik. It resembles fur-covered bolas and yo-yo. It is regarded as one of the most simple, yet most complex, cultural artifacts/toys in the world. The Eskimo yo-yo involves simultaneously swinging two sealskin balls suspended on caribou sinew strings in opposite directions with one hand. It is popular with Alaskans and tourists alike. This traditional toy is two unequal lengths of twine, joined together, with hand-made leather objects at the ends of the twine.
String is a long flexible structure made from fibers twisted together into a single strand, or from multiple such strands which are in turn twisted together. String is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects. It is also used as a material to make things, such as textiles, and in arts and crafts. String is a simple tool, and its use by humans is known to have been developed tens of thousands of years ago. In Mesoamerica, for example, string was invented some 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, and was made by twisting plant fibers together. String may also be a component in other tools, and in devices as diverse as weapons, musical instruments, and toys.
Begleri is a small skill toy consisting of one or more beads at either end of a short string or fine chain. It can be flipped and twirled around the fingers to perform tricks. The begleri originated in Greece, and was originally derived from the komboloi, which serves the function of worry beads, and are often flipped around to pass the time or keep the hands busy. While komboloia have beads forming a closed circle, begleri beads are threaded on an open strand, usually in a symmetrical formation, with equal weighting at either end. Begleria come in many forms, consisting of semi-precious stone or metal beads. They can be similar in form to the percussion instrument kashaka, but are much smaller in size.
Larry D. Nichols, born 1939 in the United States, is a puzzle designer. He grew up in Xenia, Ohio, and studied chemistry at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, before moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Graduate School. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including 'The Nichols Cube Puzzle' (1974), patent US365520. He has lived with his wife Karen in Arlington, Massachusetts since 1959.
A fidget spinner is a toy that consists of a ball bearing in the center of a multi-lobed flat structure made from metal or plastic designed to spin along its axis with very little effort. Fidget spinners became trending toys in 2017, although similar devices had been invented as early as 1993.
