Easy Yo-Yo Tricks

by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.

Rock the Baby Yo-Yo Trick

Put your free hand between the yo-yo string and your body. Grab the string with your yo-yo hand.
Put your free hand between the yo-yo string and your body. Grab the string with your yo-yo hand.

Rock the Baby yo-yo trick is probably the most popular trick of all time. Best of all, it's both easy and fun to perform.

Step 1: Begin by throwing a Sleeper. Lift your yo-yo hand up until it is slightly above your head.

Step 2: Put your free hand out in front of the yo-yo string, fingers stretched apart and the palm facing your body, between the string and your body. As you do this, catch the string about one-third of the way down with the pinky and the tip of the thumb of your free hand.

Step 3: Then grab the string with your yo-yo hand several inches above the yo-yo.

In a properly constructed cradle, the yo-yo will hang neatly in the middle of the triangle string. In a properly constructed cradle, the yo-yo will hang neatly in the middle of the triangle string.
In a properly constructed cradle, the yo-yo will hang neatly in the middle of the triangle string.

Step 4: In the same motion, bring your yo-yo hand up above your free hand, forming the triangular-shaped cradle. If you've constructed a cradle correctly, the yo-yo will neatly hang in the middle of the triangle of string you've formed between your two hands.

Now "rock the baby" to sleep by swinging the spinning yo-yo back and forth in the "cradle."

Step 5: Give the yo-yo a jerk, let go of the string, and the yo-yo will snap back to your hand.

Lucky you! In the next section, you'll learn to throw a Three-Leaf Clover.

For more fun yo-yo tricks and kids activities, check out:

Yo-Yo Tip

Practice this trick with a "dead" (i.e. nonspinning) yo-yo until you can perform the movements smoothly and flawlessly. Then try it with the Sleeper. You will need to have mastered at least a six-second Sleeper before performing this trick.