Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Hacky sack is the latest trend, but its increased popularity is causing a shortage Numerous purveyors are reporting an abrupt explosion in popularity of the peak '90s toy known as the hacky sack after recent viral social media videos, triggering shortages. National Hacky sack is the latest trend, but its increased popularity is causing a shortage May 24, 20268:54 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday By Deena Prichep Hacky sack is the latest trend, but its increased popularity is causing a shortage Listen · 3:50 3:50 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5822633-e1/nx-s1-9783396" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Numerous purveyors are reporting an abrupt explosion in popularity of the peak '90s toy known as the hacky sack after recent viral social media videos, triggering shortages. Sponsor Message
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In the '80s and '90s, you could find young people kicking hacky sack bean bags around college quads or outdoor festivals. Well, guess what? Lately, they've been re-discovered by Gen Z in a big way. From Oregon, birthplace of the modern hacky sack, Deena Prichep reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF HACKY SACK THUDDING)
DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE: The footbag lovers of Portland - aka FLOP - meet up at an elementary school every Saturday morning. There are a couple dozen people split into a few circles.
UNIDENTIFIED FOOTBAG PLAYER #1: See if you can get it from there.
UNIDENTIFIED FOOTBAG PLAYER #2: Look at you.
UNIDENTIFIED FOOTBAG PLAYER #1: That was perfect.
PRICHEP: This group has been meeting for about 20 years. There are international champions and Guinness World Record holders doing toe kicks and clipper stalls.
(CHEERING)
PRICHEP: And then there's eighth grader Killian Morton (ph), who's a bit newer to the sport.
KILLIAN MORTON: Yeah, probably two weeks, maybe a month.
PRICHEP: It's hard to say exactly why so many kids started kicking hacky sacks a few weeks ago. Some speculate it was a trend from East Coast prep schools or a hacky sack cameo in the movie "Project Hail Mary," or just the natural result of kids looking for something to do when the schools ban cellphones.
MORTON: It's just like, out of nowhere on one random Monday, everyone just had one and was kicking them in the hallways.
PRICHEP: From Colorado to Kansas City, middle and high school teachers report groups of kids playing hacky sack before sports games and in the hallway between classes. Kids are also uploading TikToks and reels with their moves, which then spread to more schools, just like Killian's.
MORTON: It's kind of crazy how quickly they picked it all up 'cause they're, like, doing tricks and stuff.
PRICHEP: And kids are doing this everywhere. According to the latest Google Trends report, searches for hacky sack went up over 5,000% in the past month. TikTok reports a 7,000% increase in year-to-date searches over the last year. And they say this trend only just started at the end of last month.
STEPHANIE SALA: We just can't get enough. And as soon as we get them in and post to Instagram, we're sold out.
PRICHEP: Stephanie Sala owns the Five Little Monkeys toy stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and says they're selling a couple hundred sacks a day. Greyson Herdman, who runs the online shop World Footbag, says they're selling out everywhere.
GREYSON HERDMAN: A shipment that would usually have lasted us half a year has sold out in two weeks.
PRICHEP: Herdman says footbags need to have the right weight and flexibility for a good hack. And they have to stand up to being kicked. So even the cheaper hacky sacks are usually handmade, either crocheted in Guatemala or handsewn in Pakistan or the U.S., which means it's not that easy to just ramp up production.
HERDMAN: Usually, we do, like, around a dozen daily sales on our website. And it was doing, like, a sale a minute before it crashed. The footbag has made the generational shift.
PRICHEP: And at this Saturday meetup, you can see why. People are outside in the sunshine pulling some amazing moves, encouraging each other and just having fun. Fourteen-year-old Brennan Reim has been kicking for well over a year. For a while, he was the only kid at circles like these and is beyond psyched that it's finally caught on with other teenagers.
BRENNAN REIM: I've been trying to, like, pass out bags and stuff. And it just finally clicked for them. And they just all started, like, simultaneously doing it.
PRICHEP: These newbies are still working their way up to fancier moves. But they're putting their own spin on it. Tricia George (ph), who has been kicking for over 40 years, has been delighted to have her Instagram suddenly followed by the new generation. But she's equally excited to follow them.
TRICIA GEORGE: I mean, the things they're doing with their bodies. They catch it, they lay down, they roll on top of each other and they pick it up. And they throw it from the roof.
PRICHEP: Because as long as you're having fun and not using your hands, there isn't really a wrong way to hacky sack, as long as you can find one.
For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep.
(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD HOUGHTEN'S "NEW MEXICO") Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1169:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(321)},321:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1141),c(116),c(95),c(52),c(491),c(240),c(102),c(104),c(1142),c(144),c(1143),c(239),c(48),c(1144)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1169,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();