I think it’s called this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_figure
I almost forgot about it until I saw it in some anime then it triggered my memories. I remember when I was a kid, my mom played that string thingy with me… she said kids of her days played that because there weren’t much games/toys to play with…
I don’t remember if this was a gendered thing tho… I kinda felt like it was something that is more “for girls”… or maybe because it was mom that played it with me… idk…
Now I mostly don’t remember how it works anymore…
Yes I remember this but we used elastic bands instead of strings. Simply because we had them more readily accessible at school. I’ve also seen it done with string or yarn.
And yes usually girls would be the ones playing with that but not too exclusively.