The Covelico Blog

By Debbie, Covelico founder · degree-qualified in nutrition & dietetics and human movement studies, with 15+ years supporting active, healthy habits in kids and teens · 5 min read · Best for ages 8+ and teens

If you went to school in the '90s, you remember the circle. A handful of kids, one small woven bag, and an unspoken rule that everyone was welcome as long as they didn't use their hands.

Thirty years later, the circle is back — and this time it's Gen Z keeping the bag in the air.

What's actually happening

In mid-2026, hacky sack went from forgotten to full-blown trend, seemingly overnight. It started around high schools in the northeastern US, spread through TikTok and Instagram, and within weeks had jumped to schools and college campuses across the country. Students are forming lunchtime circles, starting tongue-in-cheek "varsity hacky sack" accounts, and posting weekly school-vs-school rankings. Sporting goods stores in trend hotspots have been selling out of footbags entirely.

The New York Times and Boston Globe have both covered it. When the paper of record writes a trend piece about a beanbag, something is genuinely going on.

Why now?

The short answer: kids and teens are tired of their phones, and footbag is the perfect antidote.

Look at what else Gen Z has revived — vinyl records, film cameras, wired headphones, thrifting. There's a clear pattern: real, physical, slightly retro things that don't live behind a screen. Hacky sack fits perfectly, and it adds something those other revivals don't: other people, in person, moving.

A footbag circle works because:

Anyone can join. There are no teams, no tryouts, no gear beyond the bag itself. A beginner and a kid who can do stalls and flips stand in the same circle. The only real rule — keep the bag off the ground, no hands — takes five seconds to learn.

It's genuinely social. You physically cannot play hacky sack while looking at a phone. A circle forces eye contact, laughter, and the shared groan when someone shanks an easy pass. That's exactly the face-to-face connection researchers keep telling us teens are missing.

Progress is visible and shareable. Ironically, the screen-free game spread because of screens — trick videos are perfect short-form content. First there's just keeping the bag up. Then consecutive kicks. Then a stall on top of the foot. Every new skill is a small, filmable win, which is exactly how skateboarding culture has worked for decades.

It fits in a pocket. No court, no net, no bag of equipment. A footbag goes to school, the park, the beach, the campsite.

Is it actually good for kids and teens?

We're a movement brand, so we'll keep this honest rather than overblown. Kicking a footbag won't replace sport or training. What it does build, reliably, is:

• Foot-eye coordination and balance — every kick is a single-leg balance moment, repeated hundreds of times without anyone calling it practice
• Bilateral skill — good circle players use both feet, which most sports never demand
• Low-pressure activity for non-sporty kids — no score, no bench, no getting cut. For teens who've opted out of organized sport, a footbag circle is often the most movement they've chosen to do in years

That last one matters most. The kids and teens picking this up aren't only the athletes — that's the whole point of the trend.

How to get started (or get your teen started)

1. Use a proper footbag, not a stress ball. A real footbag is small, slightly under-filled, and designed to stall — to sit briefly on your foot instead of pinging off it. That dead, controllable response is what makes learning possible. If you are buying one, the specs that matter are roughly 2.25 inches across, around 1.6 ounces, and a dual-layered cover that survives concrete. Anything bouncy, oversized, or tightly packed will send beginners chasing it across the yard until they quit.

2. Learn one skill at a time. Start with a simple inside kick: drop the bag from waist height and kick it back up to your hands with the inside of your foot. Then two kicks. Then swap feet. That's genuinely it — everything else builds from there.

3. Follow a progression. We've put together a free printable 9-step trick tracker that takes you from first kick to circle-ready, one skill at a time. Grab it on our Learn Footbag Tricks page — stick it on the fridge and tick off each trick as it lands.

4. Find (or start) a circle. Two people is enough. The unofficial rules of any circle: no hands, no apologies for bad kicks, and always pass to the new person.

The bag matters more than you'd think

Plenty of teens are joining this trend with whatever they can find — a rolled-up sock, a bean bag from a cornhole set, a stress ball. It works for a day, then the frustration kicks in, because those things either bounce unpredictably or fall apart.

A purpose-made footbag removes the biggest beginner barrier: a bag that won't cooperate. It is the difference between three kicks on day one and none.

Want the free trick tracker? The Covelico Club sends the 9-step footbag progression plus printable movement resources across our whole range. It's free, and it's how we help families and teens keep screen-free play going long after the trend cycle moves on. Join free here.

Because here's our honest prediction: TikTok will move on. The circle won't. It survived the '70s, the '90s, and it'll survive 2026 — one kick at a time.

FAQ

Why is hacky sack popular again? Hacky sack surged back in 2026 after footbag circles at US high schools went viral on TikTok and Instagram. The deeper driver is a broader Gen Z shift toward screen-free, in-person activities — the same pattern behind the revival of vinyl records and film cameras.

Is hacky sack the same as footbag? Essentially, yes. "Footbag" is the generic name for the sport and the bag; "Hacky Sack" began as a brand name in the 1970s and became the everyday term, the way "Band-Aid" did for bandages.

How many people do you need to play hacky sack? One. Solo footbag — keeping the bag up and learning tricks — is how most players build skills. Circles typically run from two to six players, but there's no upper limit.

Is hacky sack hard to learn? The basics take minutes; consistency takes a couple of weeks of casual practice. Most beginners can string together three to five kicks within their first few sessions, especially with a soft, stall-friendly footbag rather than a bouncy ball.

What age can kids start hacky sack? Around eight is realistic. The single-leg balance and timing are genuinely hard before then — younger kids do better starting with juggling scarves or balls, where the catch is with the hands.

About Covelico: Covelico makes screen-free, active-play toys and PE equipment for kids aged 3 to 12 — ring toss and bean bag sets, hopscotch rings, movement and yoga dice, movement cards, juggling sets, play scarves and ribbon rings. Covelico is made for families, teachers, PE specialists, occupational therapists, and homeschoolers who want kids moving instead of on screens.

Keep reading: Best Juggling Balls for Beginners · Screen-Free Summer: 25 Ways to Keep Kids Moving