Play therapists and educational psychologists endorse the use of fidget toys. They see the following benefits to allowing some children to fidget:
- they can also reduce anxiety and stress,
- enhance dexterity,
- improve coordination and fine motor skills
- assist in the development of muscles of small hands
- and sharpen their focus
- They can be especially helpful for children who have special needs, sensory processing differences, ADD, or ADHD.
And, that’s just to name a few.
From what I can see, the fidget toys that sell tend to be:
- small enough to fit into a pencil case
- static toys that will stay in the child’s hands (ie not bouncy balls or flying gliders or similar toys)
- toys that don’t make noise to distract other children
- sensory in nature, particularly touch sensations.
Not every child needs to bring fidget toys to school and for some, bringing them would be an added distraction to learning, so before considering buying some of these sensory toys to send into school, maybe check with your child’s teacher or someone in the profession.
Here’s are my top 10 fidget toys for school.
I stock these gorgeous pastel coloured fluffy keyrings. You can attach these to a zip on a school bag or pencil case.
These soft cubes are filled with powder and the are perfect for squeezing and pulling. They each come with a different expression.
These fit nicely on fingers and your child can pull on the arms, fingers and snout
These little toys have wiry limbs that hold the shape they have been bent into. They have fun faces to encourage imagination. As I write this, I only have the pink ones in stock.
These pens have a fluffy top and in the middle of the fluff, is a plastic heart that lights up when the nib is pressed down.
These creatures can be pulled and squished. They stick to surfaces and once they have lost their stick, they just need to be washed to work again. Available in four different creatures but sold individually
These lovely wooden toys have a button underneath to press. The top part (Fairy) is held together with elastic so when the button is pressed, the elastic tightens and the fairy moves.
Often smelling something will help a child calm down. I stock lots of scented stationery including gel pens, markers, highlighters, stickers and these erasers.
These bananas are filled with orbes and are really satisfying to squeeze! I also stock a similar pineapple too and soft sea creatures filled with orbies.
10. Stretchy Carrot
These carrots feel great when you stretch and squish them. If you like this but aren’t fond of the fruit theme, I stock a really fun, sensory yeti!
I hope that your child is enjoying school. If you have a child that needs fidget toys to get along in school, I’d love to hear what other toys have worked for them, as I feel my range is quite small but I’m not sure what else to add and I’d love some parent’s and teacher’s opinions. If the teacher doesn’t mind more noisy fidget toys or ones that move, the following toys might also work for your child:
But maybe double check with your child’s teacher before sending any of these in.
If you haven’t already stocked up on some fun stationery for your child, check out this blog post or, if you are looking for specific toys for children with special needs, you’ll find them here.
Thanks for reading and supporting my small, Irish business,
xx Suzie
