Traditional toys are making a comeback across Shropshire, writes Ben Bentley.

Sumnima Pun with a hula-hoop.

Practice makes perfect. With nothing more technological than two wooden sticks joined by a length of string, 14-year-old Deborah Lilico tosses her DayGlo diabolo some 15 feet into the air.

For what seems like an eternity, it hangs in the blue sky before Sir Isaac Newton’s law of gravity kicks in and it’s down to Deborah to catch it on the string.

“Yesss!” says Deborah with delight. “I’m good at throwing it at other people – not so good at tricks.

“My brother can do ‘magic knots’ where you do a spider’s web thing with the string then launch the diabolo.

“And he can do ‘suicides’ where the diabolo is on the string and you let go of one stick and it spins round the stick. That’s really impressive.”

Deborah and her friends from Adcote School in Little Ness are part of a new craze for old toys, with youngsters across the country turning to games favoured by our forebears.

Fads come and go, but here is proof positive that the old ones are the best.

It is break time at Adcote on a day shortly before the school summer break, and as well as the diabolo – a double cone-shaped object that spins on the string between two sticks – the playground throngs to the sound of skipping games to nursery rhymes, children showing off their yo-yo skills and youngsters wiggling their hips to keep their hula hoops spinning.

Hopscotch – a game that requires only chalk, imagination and co-ordination – is in full flow in the corner of the school yard. And it’s only because it’s a girls’ school that card-swapping activities aren’t on show.

“That’s a boy thing,” says teacher Ginny Daley. “My 16-year-old son is obsessed with Pokemon, but he’s at Shrewsbury School.”

If there is an air of nostalgia about these latest crazes, then that’s partly because they hark back to an era when children made their own fun, spending very little other than a bit of energy and imagination.

We saw these principles in action during the winter when a flurry of snow triggered a rush to the slopes of Shropshire and caused a sledge shortage at toy shops.

And games of conkers are as popular now as they ever were – even if some schools insist on either banning them or making children wear goggles to play.

But it’s diabolo, a game that dates back to the 19th century, that has caused a run on stocks at some county shops.

Jonathan Parker from Write Here! Kite Now! on High Street in Shrewsbury says: “We’ve just had a rush on them and we’ve had to order some more.

“I thought there had been a craze for a while but it’s starting up again. Each year there is a new craze, and this year it’s diabolo.

“A lot of kids do it aged 10 or 11, but they start young and go into their 20s and 30s.”

Sets are cheap too. One of the best sellers for beginners is the Mr Babache Millennium diabolo at £6.99.

Jonathan adds: “Yes it’s wood and string, but there are more advance diabolos.”

Indeed there are. Beginners are advised to start on wooden sticks but for the ambitious gamer there are energy sticks, made of polycarbonate with cushioned rubber handles which offer an edge to the improving diabolist.

Apparently, the polycarbonate gives some “whip”, so it’s easier to get the diabolo spinning, and the “string through the end” feature opens up potential for a whole range of tricks.

Manager John Hall adds: “We do sell a lot of diabolo sets when it comes to this time of year – it’s an outdoor thing unless you fancy breaking your parents’ fine porcelain.”

And perhaps that’s the key to it – the great outdoors. Here is a great way to keep fit and have fun at the same time.

Schools like Adcote also say that playing games together has stopped squabbling in the school yard as children draw on their social skills to take part.

Yo-yos are reeling from their own success.

John Hall adds: “They are back in a big way – someone came in the other day wanting a particular type of yo-yo from the USA that was £70 or £80 – it has bearings in it and some sort of clutch. I’ve been trying to find who distributes them.”

And remember in the good old days before the Nintendo Wii made everyone virtual experts in pastime crazes, when a gust of wind would bring people out in a fit of kite-flying?

Happily, with the Wii unable to replicate a gust of wind, the real deal is still popular today.

Write Here! Kite Now! sells kites of all types, from stunt models to traditional box kites on a single piece of string.

At Adcote School the playing of traditional games will continue when the new terms starts next month, as it will in playgrounds across the country.

Pupil Caitlin Haddon, 9, is trying her hand at poi – a game that involves twirling balls on a pieces of rope and which, like diabolo, is a circus skill that requires practice and persistence.

“I can do the two-beat weave,” she says, proceeding to spin her instruments impressively.

“I’ve been doing it since December. It’s quite hard but it’s really fun – I could be doing it all day.

“It is better than going on a Nintendo Wii.”

There’s a debate in the yard about which trick is the best.

“You can do it with flames,” says one of Caitlin’s friends finally, “but I’ve never done it with flames.”