If you have been browsing the internet regularly, you must have known the name “fidget spinner” by now. You must be curious to know what exactly it is and why everyone is so excited about it? In fact, a fidget spinner is a type of toy that has a ball bearing in the middle. The spinner can be rotated by holding the center of this bearing. Spinning it gives a fun feeling in the hand, and this feeling is where all the craziness begins!
What is a fidget spinner?
Fidget spinner is a popular toy of 2017. Although it was discovered around 1993. It is becoming popular with young children to old people as well. According to Amazon’s 2017 report, it was one of their top 20 best-selling toys. What is the reason for the popularity of this toy? Let’s find out.
A fidget spinner is a toy that helps reduce stress and improve concentration. The toy is marketed in such a way that it is helping many people who suffer from stress or lack of concentration to overcome this problem. It is also claimed that it helps to calm a person who is restless or suffering from various mental diseases. For example, ADHD and autism.
However, it has not yet been scientifically proven how effective it is for patients with ADHD and autism!
Invention of Fidget Spinner:
A chemical engineer named Catherine Hettinger was initially credited as its inventor. Newspapers like The Guardian, The New York Times, and the New York Post also featured. Because Catherine Hettinger filed a patent for a spinning toy in 1993. Later it was issued in his name. But he did not renew it later due to not getting any business sponsor. He actually didn’t have a renewal fee at that time. And when the patent expires, any company can independently manufacture and market the product.
The spinner designed by Hettinger was as pictured above. The design of the spinner that is gaining popularity today is not like this though.
How to create?
It can be made of different metals. For example, brush, stainless steel, copper, titanium, plastic etc.
How Fidget Spinner Works:
But it is not like YO-Yo or other such toys. You need to use some hand pressure to turn it. It usually looks like a two- or three-sided disk with a round center. Keeping that center finger on top of the head, it has to be rotated, and the balance of the fingers has to be kept right. It can also be placed on a table or any floor of this type. Each spinner’s arms have a slightly heavier weight on the head to maintain balance while spinning. According to those who have played it, its rotation creates a pleasant sensory sensation in the brain. As a result, if you play it when you are under a lot of stress or stress, you will feel much less stress. Because it grabs your attention and keeps you busy.
Advantages of Fidget Spinner:
- For children with autism or similar disorders, doctors often use Kush balls or similar toys to get the patient’s attention. In that case now fidget spinner can be said to have many functions.
- It can be a good short time relief for those who are very busy at work. Playing with this spinner for a while in between work helps them feel a little less stressful.
- It also works well for children who are prone to anger or depression.
- One of the strongly claimed benefits of fidget spinners is increased focus. Not much is known about the origin of this idea. But it can be guessed by the action of the spinner. As it is capable of attracting attention, it may help to increase the ability to focus in a particular direction. However, this has not yet been scientifically proven. Rather, there are some scientifically proven ways to increase focus. For example, meditation.
Fidget Spinner Disadvantages:
Some of the disadvantages of fidget spinners have also come up in various discussions and statistics. As such, it became so popular among children and teenagers that most of the children and teenagers used to carry it in their classrooms. Many people started buying and selling it. According to some school teachers in America, the over attraction to fidget spinners is disrupting children’s learning. And as a result many schools have banned fidget spinners from being brought to school.
According to a survey report, about 32% of the 200 largest schools in America have banned it.
When it became very popular in 2017, its marketing strategy in various magazines and electronic media claimed that it was very beneficial for patients suffering from ADHD and autism. Because there is no scientific evidence for this claim so far.
Unknown facts about fidget spinners:
Fidget spinners were initially marketed as a toy to reduce anxiety in people with ADHD or autism. Now it is said that it can help anyone to reduce stress and control attention. But scientists believe that this toy distracts people’s attention. They claim that the noise the spinner makes and the way it spins, all while holding it distracts people from their real work. In fact, there are several toys or devices that help ADHD and autism patients improve their attention. To operate them requires relatively more muscle power, whereas the fidget spinner can be operated by only lightly using three fingers of the hand. Although the effects of fidget spinners have not been thoroughly tested, there are reports of positive effects on several people. As there are plenty of arguments for and against, we won’t know the true implications of this until more research is done.
Even in early 2017, there was no headache among the public about this toy. It is thought to have gained significant popularity after an incident in which it was banned in a UK school classroom. Since then, fidget spinners have exploded, and hundreds of people have started uploading videos to YouTube teaching how to operate them, even competing to see who can spin the spinner the fastest. The funniest aspect of this new trend is that nowadays people are turning everything from household items to daily use into fidget spinners, including smartphone watches.
Benefits or lack of benefits, if we ignore all the hype, fidget spinners are just like any other common childhood toy. It spins, makes funny noises, and annoys school teachers─basically the definition of fun/fun for kids and teenagers. Although this small collectible toy may be quite harmless, there is the potential for accidents such as small children accidentally dislodging the ball bearings and swallowing them. Also, despite the rapid improvement in efficiency and quality of modern fidget spinners, dangerous levels of lead have been found in some poor quality spinners. So proper precautions should be taken in its use.
Maybe in a few months this spinner-craze will be old, or maybe its popularity will remain as high as it is now. You may have different ideas or opinions about it, but we believe that it is a toy, and should be treated as a toy. Poor quality spinners can cause poisoning and harm; So it is better to buy your fidget spinner from a trusted marketplace. At the end of the day, this cool toy is just a fun thing, so instead of going into scientific reasoning, try to do fun tricks with it and have fun.
