When fidget tools became mainstream, a lot of people saw them as gimmicky toys, but they have been shown to help students, including those with autism.
As adults, we’re often guilty of clicking our pen or tapping things on our desk so it is perhaps not too surprising that fidget tools and toys are helpful to children in the classroom!
1 - The Fidget Cube
The fidget cube is a great fidget toy for a student to have, they are small enough to fit in a pocket or a pencil case and they have a variety of sensory inputs, things that spin, click and roll. This is a great one for the classroom as while there is one noise clicker (the light switch clicker) it’s not much louder than a pen lid and there are a few options on the cube that are completely silent, so won’t distract other students.
2 - Fidget Chair Bands
Keeping some children sat at their desks can be tough, they want to move around and release the excess energy they have. This is where chair bands come into play, they wrap around the chair legs, letting the students bounce their legs off it, fiddle with it with their feet, and get out any nervous or excess energy while they are sitting down doing their work.
This is a great fidget tool for those with ADHD or other sensory needs, a fun way to keep on task while still fidgeting and moving. As these fit the bottom of the chairs and they are quiet, these don't provide a distraction to fellow students.
3 - Liquid Bubble Toys
This is a different style of fidget toy, rather than its main focus being sensory play with the hands, it is more of a soothing, relaxing fidget tool to sit on the desk. This can be placed on the desk and used as a timer or just as a relaxing aide on the desk, as something to focus on to help the student calm down or relax.
4 - Squeeze Beans Pods Fidget Toy
Squeezy bean pods are a great fidget tool for the classroom if you want a completely silent toy. They are a keyring, meaning they can be attached to a lanyard or a pencil case to ensure that they don't get lost. Squeezing things to deal with stress or anxiety helps a lot of people to relieve the stress, hence stress balls being around for so long! This is a modern cute interpretation of that, which is perfect for the classroom.
5 - Fidget Spinner
Fidget spinners saw a huge explosion in popularity a couple of years ago, going from a special educational needs tool to a toy that appeared everywhere. While some schools have banned these from the classroom as they see them as too distracting, this is something I think is still worthy of a place on this list, as it can be used in homeschool settings or with sensible rules about where to use it. Fidget spinners used carefully can be a great burst of light and motion stimulus for those with neurodiversity and children with ADHD have been found to find them helpful to provide stress relief.
6 - Kneaded Eraser
A lot of children like slime, for that putty-like sensory input, however in a classroom that is not always the most practical and there can be worries about the stickiness and if it gets spilled or put on something. A kneaded eraser is a great way to solve this, it can be easily kneaded giving that resistance and putty-like texture without the mess of slime, but also has a dual purpose of being an actual eraser! So is useful in the classroom and is small enough that it can be put in a pencil case.
7 - Fidget Pens
Fidget pens are a great fidget tool for older students that don't want their fidget toys to look out of place in the classroom. These look and function exactly like a normal pen, but have a metal rolling ball to play with embedded into the pen, as well as clickers and something to spin. A great fidget toy for students and adults that want a subtle way to fidget.
8 - Push Pop Bubble Boards
Push popper boards are designed to replicate the fun and relaxing feeling of popping bubble wrap. They can help keep hands busy and using them is very relaxing and can help children that need that tactile input to concentrate.
They can also be used for group work by using them to play little games similar to checkers or noughts and crosses. They are easily washed and can be put in the dishwasher making them a good fidget toy to take to school, as they can be easily cleaned no matter how dirty they get.
9 - Rubik Cube
Rubik's cube is a blast from the past! Having hit its most mainstream popularity in the 80s. Nevertheless, despite being around for a while, it is still a classic fidget tool to use for the classroom, it can be used for students that just need to fidget with their hands, it silently twists and turns in a satisfying way, or it can be used to try and solve it too, which can help when you're dealing with boredom or someone who has finished their work early.
10 - Fidget Bracelets
Like the fidget pen, this is a great choice, if you want something that looks a bit more subtle and is easier for the student to carry around, they can put it on their wrist and forget about it until they need to use it.
Fidget bracelets toys come in a variety of options from zipper-style ones, popping ones, and spikey sensory ones.
I hope you enjoyed our run-through of the top ten fidget toys and tools for the classroom. We're an autistic-run company so we have used all of these types of fidget tools ourselves. But if these aren't the type of sensory inputs you are looking for, have a browse around and see what else you can find to suit you or your student or child. You can even try making your own, with things like adding flour to a balloon as a stress ball.
