101 Ways To Use a

Hula Hoop Ann Boe, M.S.

Assistant Professor of Physical Education

Rockford University

Hula Hoop History

• Ranges from 500 B.C. to 21st Century

• 14th Century popular in Great Britain

• Use in Native American Hoop Dance’s for

story telling

• Hula Hoop Craze began in the 1950’s

• Named for the Native Hawaiian dance

• Popularized in the U.S.

Hula Hoop Adaptations

• Fitness

• Spatial Awareness

• Math

• Large and Fine Motor Skill Development

• Equipment Adaptations

Spatial Awareness

up

Beside Around

Through

Under

Over

Down

Hula Hoop Road Trip

Create Games

• In groups of 2 or 3 choose a hoop and 2

other piece of equipment. With these

pieces of equipment, devise a game. It

can be for teaching exercise, math,

spelling or whatever concept you wish to

teach.

• Be creative

• Have Fun

Fun Facts

• The term “Hula Hoop” came from British sailors who had seen hula dancing in the Hawaiian Islands and thought the two looked rather similar

• Japan and Indonesia banned the public use of hoops because it was not culturally acceptable to shake one’s hips in public – it was indecent!

• The original price of the hoop in 1958 was $1.98

• At the height of their popularity, Wham-O manufactured 20,000 hoops a day

More Fun Facts

• Native American hoop Dancer Tony White Cloud has a cameo appearance in Valley of the Sun, staring Lucille Ball in 1942. He toured the U.S. and Europe with Gene Autry during WWII promoting war bonds and in 1952 dance in Apache Country, staring Gene Autry.

• Billy Joel referenced the sale of the 100 millionth hula hoop by Wham-O as one of the most significant events of1959 in his song “We didn’t Start the Fire.”

• Rusia denounced the hoop as an example of the “Emptiness of American Culture.”

More Fun Facts

• Way-out Toys sold an Alvin Hula Hoop

Doll, that twirls his hula hoop and sings

“Christmas Don’t Be Late.”

• Hula Hoops are a British potato-based

snack, in the shape of short, hollow

cylinders first introduced in 1973.

• Michael Turvey of the University of

Connecticut won the 2004 IgNoble Prize in

Physics along with Ramesh

Balasurbramaniam of the University of

Ottawa for exploring and explaining the

dynamics of hula-hooping.

Citations

http://natalieplatonk12.wordpress.com/2013/06

http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/ViewLessons.asp?ID

=947#.VEEvACJSETO

http://www.hulahooping.com/history.html

http://www.teacher-vision.com/physical-education/lesson-

plan/5870.html