Temari is a toy which existed since the Edo period; in the beginning, it was made by merely winding threads around a ball, but since around the end of the 16th century, beautiful threads were geometrically wound around a spherical body, which was more elastic because of the zenmai cotton (cotton made of flowering fern) used.
手鞠とは、当初は、芯に糸を巻いただけの物であったが、16世紀末頃より、芯にぜんまい綿などを巻き弾性の高い球体を作り、それを美しい糸で幾何学的に巻いて作られた江戸時代からの玩具。