hula hoop

Video of a woman hula hooping in Times Square, New York A hoop busker balancing a guitar and hula hoop at the Pike Place Market in Seattle A new circus hula hoop performer using glow stick and LED technologies A boy hula hooping using his neck in Lusaka A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. Hoops can also be used for hoop rolling, wheeled along the ground like a wheel with careful execution and practice. They have been used by children and adults since at least 500 BC. The modern hula hoop was inspired by Australian bamboo hoops. Joan Anderson witnessed Australian children playing with bamboo hoops while driving past in an automobile, naming it "hula hoop" after the Hawaiian hula dance and introducing it to the Wham-O toy company, who popularized the plastic version in 1958 and helped it become a fad.

Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately 70 centimetres (28 in) in diameter, while those for adults measure around 100 centimetres (39 in). Traditional materials for hula hoops include willow, rattan (a flexible and strong vine), grapevines and stiff grasses. Commercial hoops are usually made of plastic tubing.