Fidget Toys Help With Learning
You might be thinking what exactly is a fidget toy? If you are like me and you have a very dynamic job where you don’t sit on one spot for very long, then a few times per year you are required to attend lectures and conferences where you need to sit still, it can certainly be a challenge! Or you might be in that conference and you’ll see adults doing all sorts of fidgeting things to keep their attention that could be pacing, chewing gum, tapping their fingers, chewing on the ends of pens or straws, bouncing their knees, standing in the back of the room or shifting their body position frequently while in their chairs. It’s absolutely normal and natural to do these kinds of things to stay focused.
So what if you are a child at school, and life hasn’t yet taught you about all the “normal” and “acceptable” ways to fidget. So at school maybe you chew on your collar or shirt sleeve, impulsively leave your seat, fall out of your chair, rock back in a chair, doodle, bite your finger nails, have a hard time sitting with your class during morning meeting on the floor. To some people these ways of trying to focus attention are perceived as annoying, and sometimes attention getting behaviors. So as more teachers and educators recognize that these are warning signs that a child is trying to pay attention, fidget toys have become a mainstay in many classrooms. Many people have found that if kids are provided with a more appropriate way to fidget, with strict rules and regulations on what is an acceptable way to use these great toys in a classroom setting, kids can actually use these small toys to help them focus their attention on learning. Though the tricky part is, what sensory experiences I like, might be very different from what another person likes, so here are some great items that have a lot of different sensory attributes.
Aside from those hard to squeeze stress balls, here are some of my favorite fidget toys. These toys are not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The first 3 choices are from Tangle Creations. The original Tangle Jr. is a fidget with a series of interlocking pieces that can be pulled apart and put back together. It is also fun to twist and turn on it’s own, without pulling the pieces apart.
The Tangle Jr. Hairy, places a soft, hair like covering over the Tangle Jr. for added sensory awareness, but still allowing smooth twisting and turning.
This Tangle Jr. has pieces that are grooved, bumpy and textured.
Instead of having grooves and bumps, this fidget is covered in a soft, fuzzy texture.
Orbo by Popular Playthings/Plasmart –
Use your fingers to push the balls back inside the Orbo and mix them up. Then use your brain and finger strength to match the colors back up again! Though when the balls click into place, they are kind of loud, so best to not use this toy in real quiet situations.
These different colored, wax covered strings of yarn can be cut, squished, twisted, squeezed and molded. One Wikki Stix can be easily placed in your child’s pocket or wrapped around the end of a pencil so they can fidget with it very indiscreetly. They are non-toxic and do not contain latex or other allergens. Pictured here are Super Wikki Stix, but these can be purchased in a variety of sizes.
Tangle Creations, PlaSmart and Wikki Stix provided free samples to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.