A fidget cube is a plastic or metal handheld toy. It has fidget tools on each side, like gears, joysticks, or buttons. Fidget cubes are stimulating, distracting, and satisfying to play with. They became popular around 2017. Fidget cubes can help users take time out during stress to interact physically with the cube. This gives an opportunity for emotional release without disrupting work or daily routine. These cubes help people stay centered and relaxed in difficult situations by releasing pent-up energies and frustrations.
Fidget cubes may help users with ADHD focus. They can help kids with autism and anxiety calm down or focus. The spin side has a small, circular dial that spins as you roll your finger across it. You can change your fidget focus for different situations, changing from a noise reinforced fidget to a silent one.
The Debate on Their Effectiveness
Do fidget cubes actually help? Although marketed as helpful for children with ADHD, there’s no evidence fidget cubes help kids focus better. The fun colors, lights and sounds create an engaging trance that is addicting. Fidget spinners and cubes distract from lessons, but also from anxiety, trauma or sensory issues. The fidgeting helps keep hands busy and provides distraction or sensory stimulation for mental health issues.
Fidget cubes, however, work differently. They can be just as colorful as spinners, but they’re not as stimulating to all the senses. They allow for some fidgeting, which provides kids with the ability to control their nervous energy with fine motor movement.
According to recent studies, fidgeting may help children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by increasing their concentration. When designing Fidget Cube we were inspired by research that claims fidgeting might actually help individuals focus their attention.
We have personally found that it helps us stay focused in boring meetings and while working on projects. Fidget spinners are distracting, dangerous and most schools banned them.
Fidgets aren’t only useful for kids with ADHD; they can also be useful for those on the autism spectrum or with sensory disorders. In fact, many adults and people without disabilities can benefit from fidgeting. In addition to the improved learning benefits, fidget toys can also reduce anxiety and stress, enhance dexterity, improve coordination and fine motor skills and assist in the development of muscles of small hands.
Crowdfunding Success and Impact on Education
Last year, the creators of Fidget Cube set out to raise $15,000 to make their product a reality. They wound up raking in $6,465,690 from 154,926 backers. Fidget Cube has inevitably been followed by a number of other crowdfunding campaigns designed to appeal to the twitchy fingers of those who supported it. One was a fidget pen called Think Ink, which made more than quadruple its funding target.
But what schools that have issued bans are missing is how fidget spinners and cubes can be for students with anxiety, ADHD, and other mental health issues. Fidget spinners and fidget cubes have been popping up in anxiety groups on Facebook and touted as remedies for overwhelming worries for a while now, but it’s only fairly recently that parents have discovered their benefits for kids.
To ban the products outright may avoid any injuries or the risk of distraction, but it’s also taking a way a tool to help children deal with difficulties paying attention and feeling comfortable in class.
Do Fidget Toys Actually Work?
Fidget toys are becoming increasingly popular, especially among kids and people with ADHD or anxiety. Fidgeting can help to focus our attention. When we’re feeling restless or fidgety, it’s often because our brains are overloaded with information. Fidgeting can help to channel that excess energy into something productive, which can make it easier to stay focused on the task at hand.
In my career as a psychologist, I have the opportunity to meet and work with people of all ages and in many life circumstances. This led a man named Scott McCoskery to invent the Torqbar, a toy that served as the early version of the fidget spinner, because he wanted to focus during work-related events.
Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or someone looking for a fun way to stay focused at work, fidget toys have evolved from mere novelty items into tools that promote calmness, focus, and stress relief for people of all ages.
Simple fidgeting tools, such as textured putty or squeezy balls that allow quiet, non-distracting movement seem to be helpful. Special education professionals agree that the effectiveness of fidget toys largely depends on the needs of the child. Teachers and volunteers wonder why fidget toys work like “magic” for some kids, but not others.
Fidget toys have been found to help children with ADHD and other neurodivergent conditions focus and reduce anxiety. In short, rather than distracting children from learning, fidget toys may very well aid their progress. Fidget tools increase an individual’s ability to focus while sitting still for long periods of time.