Y’all know how I like to keep you up-to-date on the latest trends. What’s that you say? I don’t post about what’s trending in the world? Oops, you are right. This is as good a place as any to start.
The latest must-have toy for kids and teens doesn’t have a game console, wires, or require a power outlet. They are calling it the anti-Xbox. Thank GAWD for that.
This newest fad is a Japanese toy dating back to the 1500s. It is similar to the old-fashioned ball and cup game we used to play. It is called a kendama, and in certain parts of the U.S. (dare I say world?), they are flying off the shelf. Want to be the cool parent, grandparent, or fairy-godmother to some kid in your life? Duke it out with a fellow fairy-godmother at your nearest toy store and buy a child a kendama.
Rather than describing what this craze looks like, take a gander here:
The kendama also doubles as a fashion-statement. All the cool kids where them around their neck. Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The object is to swing the ball up into one of the cups or to have the ball land on the spike (see the hole in the ball?) Easy-peasy, right? Not so. It takes hand-eye coordination and hours of practice. This toy also comes in handy when you misplace your egg cup or need a meat mallet.
But most importantly, in this age of rampant childhood obesity and a generation of zombie-like teens transfixed to various forms of electronic devices, this toy gets kids off their rear end and moving.
We have a kendama club in Sacramento and they meet . . . get this . . . at a library! Not only are kids not epoxied to their game console, they are talking to each other in a place that houses books! Books, I tell you! You never know . . . a kid might knock a book off a library shelf with his kendama, wonder what it is, and then read it.
More good news for parents is a kendama is cheap . . . they run $1.50 for a plastic version, $13.00 for an entry-level (whatever that means) kendama, and $28 for the cherry-wood Kendama USA Pro Model.
Richard Gottlieb, a toy industry consultant and analyst in New York said, “I’d put the kendama in the same continuum as the yo-yo or hula hoop. They require skill, mastery, and coordination.” Wouldn’t you love to see that guy’s office?
What I like about the kendama is they don’t plug into the wall.
Remember, you heard about the kendama here first.
Robin Coyle 
Those things are hard!!!! My friend had one and I got frustrated very quickly! COOL VIDEO!
I wondered if you knew about these things. I went to the mall yesterday and there was a group of 5 junior high kids hanging out on benches in the middle of the mall. 3 of them were playing with kendamas It was the first time I saw the toy in person. They made it look easy but I bet it is hard!
Leave it to kids to take something very simple and find such complex ways to show it off! That’s incredible.
Scott
It must take HOURS to master those tricks. HOURS!
Lol – hours when you are young!
How come it doesn’t have a video controller? What’s a LIBRARRY?
You know . . . one of those places only old people go.
Like me ~
Finally, a trend I can follow!
You are welcome.
Very cool. I agree, almost anything to get them outside and get their noses out of their iPhones.
Seriously. Noses out of their iPhone and rear ends off the couch.
Your are so cool. I’m hoping kendama don’t get too trendy or known in Australia until after September when I have a birthday gift to find… I love to feel like I’m a cutting edge gift giver 🙂
I love to be a cool gift giver too.
Can I get two and make a pair of groovy earrings? I could start a new craze 😀
I hope you have strong earlobes!
LOL – 😀
Fascinating – the first I’ve seen or heard of a kendama 🙂
You most likely will start seeing the kendama. The craze is in pockets, but it is catching on fast.
I’ll let you know, hon. Thanks for the head’s up 🙂
Love hearing this. I have just about had it with the Ipod touches that all the kids seem to have (except mine). I really hope this takes off into a serious pasttime for kids. 🙂
According to the article I read, the kendama craze is in pockets of areas but is catching on fast. Now you know what to get your kids for their birthdays!
Very cool, well except for the pointy end.
The pointy end could take your eye out!
I bet my son would love this, I don’t know if it’s a craze over here in the UK yet, but if it isn’t, you can bet it will be soon if it’s a craze over there! My son has a lot of patience when he’s trying to master something, so I could imagine him spending hours and hours until he got this down. I can’t help noticing that it does look a little like a martial arts weapon though!
There was a big kendama competition in Germany so I imagine it will come to England soon. Buy one for your son and be one of the cool moms. I mean, mums.
Reblogged this on I'm Off My Meds Again and commented:
Love this little quirky video about the latest school yard craze. It makes me think of a magician friend I know.
So are you going to buy a kendama for your magician friend?
Probably not. He’s got more $$ than me. I’ll let him buy his own. 🙂
I wonder if it gets put in a bottom drawer once the person who owns it, masters it. Kind of like Rubik’s cube. Once it’s figured out, it’s not longer a challenge.
The article I read led me to believe that because there are so many tricks you can do/learn with a kendama kids don’t tire of them.
How interesting – amazing that it has become a craze. How does that happen?
Good question. I bet social media plays a big part in spreading the word. But how do you explain the popularity of the hula hoop and yo-yo when they were introduced?
Wow, I can’t imagine this toy on the playground. I can only see eyes punctures, neck strangulations and head concussions!
I’m sure many schools are or are considering banning them from the playground. It looks like a weapon!
And for boys, everything looks like a weapon!
I think I told you this before . . . my friend didn’t let her son play with toy guns until she saw him make a eat a gun shape out of his peanut butter sandwich. She gave up the battle.
Haha, excellent! Mine used a cheese stick for a gun…
Very cool. I see some Christmas presents on the horizon.
The kids in your life will thank you. And can thank me for giving you the idea!
Haha … these will all go to adults, and I know they will thank you!
I’d love to see your living room on Christmas morning.
What hacky sack is out?
This looks difficult….I’ll stand way over here given my magnetic ability to draw in flying roundish thingys.
Here the fad is jugging: go into a grocery store, grab some milk, go down some aisle then throw the milk jug down spilling milk everywhere…and “fall” down groaning while old ladies and other shoppers make a big fuss over the “poor” person. (Get a friend to cell video it all to post online)
Kendama looks preferable.
I wonder how many kids are walking around with goose eggs on their head from getting hit with the kendama ball while learning how to do it.
Juggling milk cartons in the grocery store? Haven’t heard of that one . . .
Haven’t heard of it, but I’m always late to notice trends! My kids would actually enjoy this. What’s better for two budding perfectionists?!? As an example: my dead son, nearly 8, saw his neighbor friend’s pogo stick, heard her high record number of jumps, and proceeded to pogo up and down till he’d exceeded her record by about 1,000. I’m not kidding. He bounced for about ten minutes straight. It’s all fun and games, right? His birthday is coming up…pogo stick and kendama, I guess!!
DEAR son, not dead son. Wow that was a bad typo!!!
I’m so glad you clarified that!
Ugh, I couldn’t believe that mistake after I went back and read it. My little boy has a cold but he is very much alive and well!
Another good reason WordPress should let us correct typos in comments! So glad to hear your son isn’t dead. Although, bouncing on a pogo stick like that could cause some injuries!
Oh gosh, I had a shock when I read your comment! Mostly about how casually it was said! Luckily you undid it quickly with the correction. Phew, all is well. Maybe it’s a sign that you shouldn’t get him a kendama though 😉
Yeah, keep him away from pokey things and a wooden ball. And, I hope she keep him away from windows while he is learning kendama tricks!
Man, that thing looks like one wrong move and you could take out a lamp with it. I like the idea of unplugging, but it looks like an outside, therefore seasonal, toy to me.
You could take out a lamp, or your eye! Or a mugger.
We have one of these. A japanese visitor gave it to my girls years ago. It’s easier said than done to be successful, but lots of fun. I wonder how long it will take for the craze to arrive in Australia.
I have a feeling I would stink at the kendama. Waaaaaaaay too much coordination.
Carrie Rubin snatched the words right out of my mouth!
Nice to hear kids interested in something made of wood. Interesting piece. I’ll have to mention this to my daughter.
I’m gonna bet her kids have heard of the kendama.
I want one!
Now I know what to get you for your birthday!
Fantastic to see kids playing with a game that requires skill but no batteries.
Agreed. Plus, I think it is hard to master so it keeps kids off the street. However, it also keeps them away from doing homework.
hmmmm….. I am not drawn to it. If I was handed one i’d try it, but I don’t feel llike I want to run out and get one. But I am glad to see that simple stick, string and ball can have appeal in the day and age of the electronic gamer.
Oh great. There goes my idea for your Father’s Day gift.
I have a friend that would go crazy for this . . . thanks for keeping it real:-)
I hope your friend has a birthday coming up. Now you know what to get him/her.
I am soooo running up the hill (note that I’m getting off my arse) to my favorite local bookstore and insisting that they carry these! You are out in front of the curve, dahlink!
Nice getting off your arse. I’d like to try using a kendama, but I have a feeling I would stick at it. And get a black eye from the ball.
What a great toy! Love the fact that it gets kids unplugged. The video was great as it showed it was more than just a nifty gadget from a throw back period. I saw some similarities to what the skateboarders do but…no worries about fractured skulls with kendama!
Could get a fractured skull from the ball hitting your head, which would be likely in my case. It is similar to skateboarding moves . . . down, pop, up, down, pop, up . . .
Cool! But how long until someone decides an electronic version is better? 😉
Ha! There probably is an electronic version already.
we should all get one and have a contest
My money is on you for winning the contest.
anything that takes co-ordination is definitely not something where I am much of a contender
You never know! The kendama may be your thing!
maybe – but walking and talking is a stretch for me! and I do not dare chew gum!
Everything old is new again. Except me.
Shouldn’t you be spring-cleaning?
Well, I get to at least take tonight off. But then it starts. By the time we’re through, we will be the opposite of hoarders.
I need to do the same thing.
Are your boys into kendama?
No. And I’m sure they’d laugh at me if I brought it up. And in their mocking of me, the words ‘old’ and ‘ancient’ would inevitably come up, and I can’t promise they’d be referring to the toy…
When you’re done with your spring cleaning, you can take care of mine. It’s really nice in San Diego right now. 🙂
If we had weather like you’re having now, cleaning would be the last thing on my mind. It’s probably good there’s snow outside my window. Cleaning one’s house only seems natural in that climate…
I’m jealous of your weather right now because I’m suffering from the worst case of allergies in years, even with Claritin. Several friends are suffering too. I have no idea what’s in the air, but it’s really nasty. No strength for spring cleaning for sure, even though we need it.
I was at a juggling convention a few years ago and tried to master kendama. It was not happening for me. Maybe it is time to try again.
PS, Yo-yo, also not happening for me.
They have juggling conventions? Where you an attendee or doing hostage negotiations? I hear jugglers routinely take each other hostage. They need the ransom money.
I was attending. It was the Ground Hog Day Juggling festival in Atlanta. Very unique mix of people t a jugging convention. i think I was the only negotiator there though.
You’re bamboozling me. This cannot be true.
Oh yes . . . it is true. (I love the word bamboozling.)
Then yay! I’ve been a hip trendsetter for decades!
Are you a master at the kendama?
No, but I’ve noodled.