A string figure is a pattern formed by weaving string around one's fingers, or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may be created and altered as a game or as part of a story. String figures were widely studied by anthropologists from the 1880s through around 1900, as they appear to have arisen independently as an entertainment pastime in many societies. Many figures were collected and described from Pacific Islanders, Inuit and other Native Americans. One exhaustive study of this material culture is String Figures and How to Make Them (ISBN 048620152X) by Caroline Furness Jayne .

A great deal of additional information on string figures and on going efforts to collect them worldwide and their often unique methods of construction is available in the publications of the International String Figure Association (ISFA). And on their web site: http://www.isfa.org

The most popular and well known string game appears to be cat's cradle.