Are Your Mainah’ Children Fans of Fidget Cubes or Spinners? Do They Belong At School?

These little doo-hickeys are fidget spinners, there are also fidget blocks. These little toys are intended to engage kids who are fidgety and may become calmer with tactile entertainment.

Originally, these were meant to be therapeutic for people with anxiety, autism or ADHD, but they have caught on faster than bottle flipping, and now every flipping kid at school owns one.

Stores are selling out, and some schools are finding that the fidget gadgets are causing too much distraction.

My daughter's school in South Portland has banned them from the lunchroom, and different teachers have different rules about in-class use. When my daughter was in first grade, her teacher gave the kids sugarless gum to chew to help them concentrate. I lost my mind! There is so much wrong with that! Do I start with kids developing an oral fixation that could evolve into other things down the road, like smoking or chew, or what repetitive unnecessary chewing does to a developing mouth and jaw, or telling them that they can't possibly learn to concentrate on their own without a crutch of some sort?!

What happened to impulse control and learning the discipline of concentration as a part of maturing?

Here I go sounding old, but...when I was a kid, gum and toys were not allowed at school. We had to pay attention to the teacher!

I think these gizmos are great for playing with at home, but I feel like unless they are truly providing a therapy to a child, they should be left there.

That said, if after homework is done, your kids want to have some fun with a spinner, here are some cool tricks:

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