Focus on Fidgets

From pop-its to stretchy strings to handheld spinning toys, fi dget toys offer a sensory play experience that promotes calm and concentration. They’re surging to popularity on TikTok, and in toy stores around the country (see Back Open for Business, page. 16). Read on to fi nd out more about the various fi dgets on the market and how can they benefi t users of all ages.

Buffalo Games

Pop It! has amassed over 2.2 billion views on TikTok, offering sensory play, collectability, and practice building dexterity. Pop It! has introduced various twists on the original, including the three-times bigger Pop It! XL, Pop It! Counting that incorporates math learning, Pop It! Mini, and Pop It! Licensed featuring favorite characters.

Blue Orange Games

The Loopy Looper has an all-ages appeal — from kids looking to master new spinning skills to adults in need of a quick break from work or a concentration boost at their desk. The different items in the Loopy Looper series can be used in different ways. Flow provides a smooth and zen spinning action to promote concentration and relaxation. Edge keeps kids occupied as they build their speed to keep the marble spinning on its rail. Jump presents the challenge of trying to jump through the gap with each spin. Hoop will have users tryin to land the marble in the hoop.

BunMo

BunMo offers three varieties of its Stretchy Strings —Original, Textured, and Super Sensory. The Original Stretchy Strings are fi dget toys for adults and children that can help calm stress and anxiety by providing a fun outlet for restless hands. They can be stretched, wrapped, squeezed, squished, and pulled into any shape. The Textured Stretchy Strings are sensory toys that can cater to the needs of individuals with autism, ADD, and ADHD. They include bumps and ridges and are durable and fl exible enough to be stretched seven feet. BunMo’s Super Sensory Strings are their strongest and most unique variation yet, because each string has its own strength ability — so no two strings have the same tension. The patterns and ridges make them an ideal sensory toy that can provide users with a sense of calmness, peace, and stimulation.

Focus On Fidgets

Fat Brain

Dimpl provides a sensory adventure for babies and toddlers as they push down the silicone bubbles into the sturdy ABS plastic frame, perfectly sized for little hands. And there’s a Dimpl option for all ages. Simpl Dimpl is a keychain with two silicone buttons that’s easy to bring on the go for hours of fi dget fun. Dimpl Pops and Dimpl Pops Deluxe are the ultimate Dimpl experience, with 18 or 25 bubbles, respectively, for Pops and Dimpl Pops Deluxe are the ultimate Dimpl experience, with 18 or 25 bubbles, respectively, for pushing, poking, and popping over and over again.

FoxMind

FoxMind’s Go PoP! products contain no loose or noise-making pieces, making them great for playing in a car, bus, plane, restaurant, or at school. They’re also waterproof so they’re good to bring camping or to the beach. GoPoP! can be used as a game with more than one person, where players compete not to be the last to press down the bubble on the board; it also works for solo fun to build motor it also works for solo fun to build motor skills. Different versions include Go Pop! Colorio, Go PoP! Roundo Tie Dye Special Edition, and Go PoP! Mini

Schylling

NeeDoh is a squishly ball fi lled with a non-toxic, dough-like compound that always returns back to its original shape. It’s appropriate for anxious tendencies and helps promote focus, attention, and centering, offering an ideal way to decompress. It’s offered in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, including Classic, Groovy Fruit, Bubble Glob, Cool Cats, Teenie, Dohjees, Glow in the Dark, Dohzee, Shaggy, Super, Color Changing, and Noodlies.

PunkinFutz

PunkinFutz’s Sesame Street Fidget Set takes children from school to the playground and back home again, with a combination of quiet fi dgets, self-contained play space, and a cool, collapsible water bottle. It consists of one play space backpack, one marble maze, one pom-pom fi dget, crayons, a three-inch Cookie Monster collectible patch, one collapsible red silicone water bottle, and one PunkinPassport Activity Book. Meanwhile the PunkinFutz and Sesame Street Sensory Set is a back-to-school success kit to help children stay calm everywhere from the classroom to waiting rooms, car trips, dinners out, and even at home. Included are a sensory carry bag, one marble maze, one pom-pom fi dget, three emoji patches, and one PunkinPassport Activity Book