Fidget Spinners are Everywhere? Do they help?

Friends,

I am sure you have all heard about the newest fidget spinner craze. 

Advertisers claim these 'fidgets' lead to improved academic ability. From Time Magazine, a parent said, "Cat Bowen, a lifestyle writer at Romper.com, a website for millennial mothers, says that since her 9-year-old son, who's on the autism spectrum, started using a spinner, he's been more focused. Math homework that used to take him an hour to get through now takes just 40 minutes, she says."  That's a pretty powerful statement. There are at least 10 companies on Amazon that list these spinners medical interventions. Some scientific studies have found that fidgeting can, indeed, benefit young students with ADHD. Researchers suspect that movement helps kids maintain alertness during cognitive tasks. 

But, are these spinners the answer? Forbes Magazine has some ideas but NPR seems to have different ideas with teachers saying that the spinners lead to chaos. However, PBS has another angel.

I invite you to check out these links. What do you think about the fidget spinner craze? Are you seeing them in the classroom? How would you approach a student using them? And finally, are fidget spinners the same as manipulatives used in learning?

I'm looking forward to a discussion on the use of manipulatives. 

Sincerely,

Kathy Tracey
@Kathy_Tracey

Comments

Hi Kathy, I have never heard of the fidget spinner phenomenon! Am I the only one?!  I had to check out some videos to see how these things worked. The videos I found seemed to be marketing the product, so I'm not posting links here. I have heard that fidgeting can be helpful to certain individuals, but is there science behind it? I would like to know.

Let's hear what members think about this.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, Teaching & Learning CoP

Collect any number of people together, have them sit down for over 10 minutes and they will fidget. It happens with adults, it happens with kids. When one fidgets, they need to find something to play with. For some they chew their hair or their fingernails, for others they tap their feet, fingers, desks or neighbors. In other cases the pencil takes on the form of finger numb chucks dancing their way through some oriental ritual. Yes, even in Geometry classes, those rulers learned to dance with the pencils in many combinations of whirling "dangerous" configurations. 

If the topic or person is not incredibly engaging, most of us start to fidget with something. These spinners have been around for some time in one form or other, but the smooth, well balanced, shiny versions have recently been getting massed produced and marketed as an aid to inattentive people. As pointed out above, almost anything can help us with that. I have printed a number of different types of spinners on a 3d printer and you can print one for a cost of about $1.25 if you include the cost of the filament and the bearing(s). 

As for all the banning and such, I am very sour on that kind of reaction. Many of the arguments center around, "But the students will not focus on me, as the teacher, and what I prepared for them today." Sure, that is upsetting to put in hours preparing something wholesome and maybe even entertaining for learners, but as the saying goes, "You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink" I have found much mileage with these spinners in classes. In math we explore different geometries in designing models to 3d print. In science we explore revolutions properties, the physics of stress friction and so many other forces that come into play with these spinners. In history, I have had learner research for me how boredom has been dealt with in societies as far back as the learner could find data. Learners were able to discover some interesting facts about how different military forces would deal with the many waiting periods in their duties. Workplace practices were studied as well as fads like the hula hoop, yo-yo, rubrics cube and many others that people used as fidget relief. Of course much of this new discovery had to be written down to help communicate what was found to others so we get our English tie in. 

The world is full of distractions, our less current curriculum are not. Engaging the distractions and transforming them into learning explorations can be powerful and rewarding for all. It is sad to see the repression of so many possibilities, but I guess it helps to force compliance and that seems to be more important than discovery and exploration in some learning institutes. 

 

Ed, 

I love how you use these tools as a part of instruction. These are great tips and a reminder that by putting manipulatives in the student's hands, learning occurs. 

Kathy 

Research has shown that doodling does help students focus and grasp new concepts.  I equate fidgets with doodling and have no problems with them in my adult classroom.  In fact, I encourage them for some students.  That being said, I am not certain how I would deal with them in a traditional setting.  Are they being used as a toy or are they being used as an educational aid?  We have always had squish balls available to help students focus, and I believe that fidgets serve the same purpose.  Squish balls are not given to every student but are given to specific individuals to help concentration.  If I had an entire class using fidgets, it could be distracting.  I would love to hear from classroom teachers who allowed an entire class to use fidgets.

I've heard that schools are having to ban them because so many children are playing with them that it's creating chaos in the classroom. I'm not sure if they help or not, but if their use is to continue, I think it will have to be regulated somehow.

Colleagues, 

This is a very interesting discussion but I think it boils down to the difference between a fidget toy versus an instructional manipulative. In the examples above, the item becomes a part of the instruction, a hands on learning tool. I believe the problem with the fidget (specifically) is that students are not using it as a way to relieve anxiety or to focus learning. Students are focusing on the tricks and games rather than focusing on learning.

On the other hand, a manipulative can help students connect abstract ideas to more concrete knowledge. I believe in the examples shared, the fidgets and similar tools, are used as an instructional aid. 

I'd love to hear everyones thoughts about the difference between a fidget and manipulative in instruction. 

Kathy 

Kathy, I can fully understand the distraction "toy" usage could cause and I can appreciate the learning aspects of using the device as a manipulative. I question who makes that determination? It has not been my experience that adult learners naturally pick up an object to say, "Oh, I would rather learn by manipulating this cool looking object..."  I would conjecture that teachers have the power to turn almost any object into a manipulative for learning.

For some of us, that may be quite difficult, but that is why we should be thankful we have online discussion boards like LINCS to throw question out there like, "I have a learner that wishes to learn Pythagorean Theorem stuff with manipulatives. Does anyone have ideas we could try?" Of course we might have questions like, "Student have been annoying each other and myself in class with this spinner thing... has anyone come up with some way to turn those things into a productive part of learning (insert subject) ?"

We have some very talented teachers in this network and so many ideas and perspectives to hear. Many times people just lurk (read without responding) but there is always that chance that one question brings their voice out. Perhaps we should start a thread somewhere in the LINCS systems titled Problems/Suggestions or something like that in which we can share challenges we have and people can share ideas and perspectives? Then it can be a one stop shop for ideas as well as a place to safely ask for professional suggestions?

Ultimately, teachers have the power to turn any situation or object into a tool for teaching. We may need each other's help to get comfortable with this process, but it does get easier with each new success!