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Pick up a toy top and give it a spin! We have a Take & Make penny spinner craft for you too!
Today is International Top Spinning Day! It celebrates the joy and wonder that spinning tops bring to the world. Have you ever spun a top? If not, today is a good day to try!
Pick up a spin top and penny spinner craft after 9:15am on Wednesday, October 14. Available near the Youth Services Reference Desk, while supplies last.
According to archaeologists, spinning tops are the oldest toys in the world. The oldest spinning top ever found dates back over 6,000 years! Throughout history, tops were made from a variety of materials. Usually, people carved them from wood. Indigenous tribes made spinning tops from fruits and nuts. Modern tops are made from metal, glass, or plastic.
Tops may come in different sizes and shapes. However, they all defy gravity in the exact same way. A spinning top gets held upright by angular momentum. Some tops can spin for over 50 minutes! Tops are popular all over the world. Spinning tops across the globe include:
Dreidels – Jewish communities use these four-sided tops during Hanukkah.
Japanese spinning tops – known as Koma, they have been a traditional toy in Japan for thousands of years.
Gasing – found in Malaysia and Indonesia, they paint the tops with unique decorations.
Trompo – popular in Latin America, trompo championships are held throughout the region.
Kreisel – this kind of top is made in Germany, a country that produces high-quality wooden toys, including the spinning top.
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GAMES
Tops are fun to play with just on your own! Once you've learned how to spin your top, here are a few games to try:
Bowling
The game of bowling receives a unique spin when a top replaces the ball. Use whatever you can find around the house in place of bowling pins. See if you can spin your top in the direction of the pins and knock some down.
Hit the Target
Draw and color a circle target on a large piece of paper or use sidewalk chalk to draw a target on the sidewalk. Always start the launch from the same spot. The closer you land to the center of the painted target, the more points you get.
Start a Battle or Challenge
Launch your tops into a box lid or enclosed area and battle against other tops. See whose top can take the most hits and stay spinning the longest. You can use a timer to add more excitement to the challenge. Prefer not to battle? Launch your top at the same time as someone else and see which ones spins the longest.
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Take a look at these amazing string top spinners! A group of men in Taoyuan, Taiwan, have taught this very old toy some new tricks—or at least ones we’ve never even imagined, much less seen. Kuma Films captured a demonstration by these middle-age and older men known as the “Spintop Snipers”. Watch them land spinning tops on plates, hands, and even a head!
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AGE GROUP: | Elementary |
EVENT TYPE: | Arts & Crafts |
