Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jim in paris]

hi all

last week i did a show for the school's christmas tree: there were 35 children aged 3 to 11.....after the act they all wanted to try the tops ; I had a dozen cometa alien ready to go...lost XXX minutes to open them , tie the button and the ring etc ....
but to my great surprise , after a while , the children could rewind their tops by themselves ///  I had never realised how much the ring (instead of a knot) can make a difference in a beginners workshop !! it's so much easier to block the string before winding....
besides these tops are of good quality plastic and no wobble at all

perfect!

looking forward to staying 10 days in Ajaccio (departure tomorrow)

jim

[ta0]

Kids will learn the pinching of the knot pretty fast with one-on-one instructions, but if you have many kids learning at the same time, the ring can definitely help.

I am not sure if you had Cometa and Alien tops, or just Alien-brand tops.

Have a great one in Ajaccio!

[Kirk]

I will for sure put a few rings in my top bag. So many really small kids at church love to throw. The 3 year olds really can't wind.  Perhaps the ring will get the 5 year olds winding by themselves.

[czyoyo]

I can see that the ring would make it easier for beginners but... for some reason I just do not like rings.
I don't know why, but for me they take away much of the pleasure of spinning a top.
Maybe its just a simplicity thing. I love a simple fixed tip top with a simple cotton string.

[Neff]

I have seen the ring help beginners, it is worth a shot if they are having problems winding.  Some beginners struggle with the ring because they are a bit clumsy with their hands and keep knocking the ring off.  Tying a loop at the end of the string is a good alternative, I think I learned that from Dale Oliver.

A ring gets in the way of regenerating (unless you are somebody like Salvador), but they can be fun for bearing play.  I made this video a while back trying to open some doors, but this is about as far as I went:

[Kirk]

OK. It works. Thanks Jim. Jocelyn (5) was winding and throwing on her own last Sunday. I still need to remind her "tire mas (pull more)" to keep the ring from falling off the crown.  You can only imagine her excitement.

[ta0]

Thanks for re-posting that video, Chris.  The way in which you go from the ring to the barrel rolls is very elegant.  I need to learn it.

OK. It works. Thanks Jim. Jocelyn (5) was winding and throwing on her own last Sunday. I still need to remind her "tire mas (pull more)" to keep the ring from falling off the crown.  You can only imagine her excitement.

Five is really young to throw tops.  Go girl!