Summer of Rubik’s Cubes and Yoyos
Today, I wanted to write about a welcome, if unexpected, key aspect of our summer vacation. Namely, Rubik’s cubes and yoyos. Joss fell into a yoyo tricks rabbit hole on YouTube, which was quickly followed by a Rubik’s cube trail. And I had no idea I’d be learning so much about both myself this summer!
Rubik’s Cubes
Although these new-to-us hobbies were inspired by YouTube, I love that they’re both screen-free activities. The experience can be enhanced through YouTube, as Joss has quickly become somewhat of an expert on the different types of cubes, special patterns, etc. (At least, an expert compared to me!)
I got him his first cube at Target, and he learned to solve it pretty quickly in a couple weeks, thanks to a 10-minute video by YouTube creator J Perm. I’ve followed the video several times and managed to solve the cube that way. However, I’m still working on memorizing the patterns. Nonetheless, I never expected to solve a Rubik’s cube, period, so it’s been a nice little boost for both of us!
His next “cube” was a fidget-style, QiYi 1x3x3 Spinner S Windmill from speedcubeshop.com. I think he mostly just liked saying the full name. It’s a much simpler cube to solve, but the fidget element is nice.
We quickly realized the Target cube was not up to par for more serious cubers. So when Joss and his father found a speed cube at Books-a-Million in Tulsa Hills, that came home as well. It came with a 2×2 cube, too, which was another nice challenge.
From here, there are so many types of cubes. Joss made himself a points system for working toward new Rubik’s cubes. Once he can solve a cube in a certain amount of time, he can get points towards the next cube.
Competitions
Unsurprisingly, I suppose, there are a lot of Rubik’s Cube tournaments out there. Competitors can choose from many different categories to compete in. There are three tournaments in Oklahoma happening between the end of June and the first week in August. The Southern Championship is happening in OKC August 2-4, so I’m thinking about taking a Sunday day trip to OKC so Joss can see what it’s all about! We’ll see though.
Learn more at
Documentary
A couple people have recommended to me or Joss the 2020 documentary, “The Speed Cubers.” You can watch it on Netflix. The brief description on Netflix is, “This documentary captures the extraordinary twists and turns in the journeys of Rubik’s Cube-solving champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs.” We watched it over the weekend, and it was a heartwarming film. And at just 40 minutes, is an easy watch.
Afterwards, we looked up how to get faster at cubing. Joss has memorized the beginner’s sequence. However, to get competitive, you need to go beyond the basics. We looked up tutorials on one method, and I could not comprehend it. But we’ll see if we can figure those out.
Yoyos
I thought Joss might take to the yoyo more quickly than to the Rubik’s cube. However, the yoyo requires a lot of repetitive practice in order to learn new tricks, which can be frustrating. But he’s still practicing and learning.
As with Rubik’s cubes, there are way more types of yoyos out there than you may be aware of. Joss could give you a rundown.
We ordered the One YoYo from YoYo Factory. It was just $13, and they’re a company Joss recommended after his YouTube research. It’s made for beginners but seems to work smoothly, so I’d recommend it as a good place to start. Definitely a step up from the free yoyos I remember from childhood.
We also downloaded the YoYoTricks app. It’s connected to the @yotricks YouTube channel, and both seem like good resources for learning beginning yoyo tricks. The videos are pretty clear. The app is nice because it puts the videos in sequential order, so they get more difficult as you go along, and you can check off a box once you’ve learned a trick.
Again, yoyo-ing is a great opportunity to learn persistence and patience! Good luck!
3D Printing
As a bonus, a third hobby we may start delving into is 3D printing. We took a 3D printing orientation at Central Library’s Maker Space, where they walked us through the steps and let us print out a small object for free. After orientation, it’s 10 cents per gram, I believe. It’s pretty easy to find and download 3D print-able models, but of course, they have programs where you can customize them or even build your own. That will take more work.
Joss was very happy with his 3D “Temmie,” which I inexpertly painted. The library can print in black or white, unless you bring your own material.
And thankfully, most of the software they use for this is free online (Tinkercad), so once you know how to do it, you should be able to do just about everything from the comfort of home. But the Maker Space has a lot of great stuff available for you to use, all you need is a library card and to take an orientation class. You can do engraving, Cricut, etc.
What new hobbies are you exploring this summer?
