Index of Advertisers

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in the Comfy Peapod relaxes, quiets and calms down most kids,” explains Jeffrey Elsner, Bouncyband’s vice president of sales & development. “It’s perfect for those who are fidgety and can’t sit still to read or study.”

The Peapod’s three inflatable compartments enable kids to rock side to side, providing an outlet for excess energy and fostering a sense of calmness.

In February, Bouncyband introduced the Thingamajig Sensory Pillow, a soft fidget tool that helps build fine motor, problem-solving and counting skills.

“Today we design a variety of unique products that use movement to stimulate the brain and boost mental performance,” Jeffrey adds. “Our products are developed to capture the proven benefits of the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which states that physical stimulation can improve and help achieve optimum mental performance when one is neither over-stimulated nor under-stimulated.”

Some stress is good

The YerkesDodson law, developed in 1908 by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson, is a model of the relationship between stress and task performance, explains the holistic-health website Healthline.com. It’s less a scientific “law” and more of a psychological concept that suggests we reach our peak performance level with an intermediate level of stress. For instance, if your work is routine and nothing ever changes, there’s too little stress and you become bored and unmotivated. The flip side occurs when you’re too

Company

Agati AWT World Trade Bouncy Bands C-Line Products Childbrite by Manta-Ray Children’s Factory Didax Education Educators Resource Eureka / Css Industries Fun Company Jonti-Craft Koplow Kore Design LLC Marco Group

ADVERTISER INDEX

Page Website Company Page Website

5 agati.com 14 awt-gpi.com 11 bouncyband.com 30 c-lineproducts.com 23 childbrite.com 13 childrensfactory.com 9 didaxdealer.com 10 erdealer.com 21 eurekaschool.com 31 funcomfg.com 7 jonti-craft.com 12 koplowgames.com 9, 15, 21, 27 korestool.com Back Cover marcogroupinc.com Miller Studio Inc. Monsam Portable Sinks Protapes & Specialties Romanoff Products

4 magicmounts.com 11 portablesink.com 23 protapes.com 7 romanoffproducts.com Sandtastik 30 sandtastik.com Scholastic Teacher Resources 16 scholastic.com The McChesney Group 8 themcchesneygroup.com The United States Playing Card Company Inside Front Cover usplayingcard.com Time Timer LLC 17 timetimer.com USA Capitol 27 usacapitol.com Ward Products/The Hubbard Group 3 hubbardcompany.com Wikki Stix 6 wikkistix.com Wood Designs 15 wooddesigns.com

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The Foot Tapper Fidget Button and the Foot Roller help increase focus for kids and adults. The Peapod comes in two sizes for kids age 3 to 6 and 6 to 12. With zippers, buttons, snaps and more, the new Thingamajig invites tactile exploration.

stressed and anxious to do your best, like during the final play of the season when you’re up to bat.

Stimulation that’s just right depends on the task. A simpler task requires a higher amount, while a more challenging task requires a lower amount.

Students who sit at an uncomfortable desk all day listening without moving can easily become bored. They need more stimulation, and that’s where the Bouncy Band and other movement products come in.

Improving concentration and providing solace

If you think a long Zoom meeting is mind-numbing, imagine how children feel when they sit all day watching their teacher explain concepts on a computer screen. What’s worse than the lack of stimulation is the expectation that children will get as much out of the virtual presentation as they would from an in-person exchange. Maybe that explains the rapid increase in the sales of fidget toys and movement solutions like the Bouncyband products.

“Anxiety surrounding COVID-19 and working or attending school from home is a challenge,” explains Julie Schwitzer, professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at the UC Davis Mind Institute. “People are expected to be paying attention to virtual meetings for hours. Anything you can do to help improve people’s attention, alertness and emotional regularity could be helpful.”

“When a child needs to look at and/or listen to a teacher, quiet, tactile manipulatives can be effective classroom tool choices to help promote that increased focus,” adds Sydney Zentall, Ph.D., a professor of Educational Studies at Purdue University.

Sydney’s and Julie’s comments were included in the February newsletter from Sandy Ruben & Associates, a toy-manufacturers rep firm. “Fidget toys have exploded in popularity again,” Sandy reported in the newsletter. He set out to find out why.

First, he discovered that not all fidgets are created equal – some are better at helping kids focus and others are better at soothing anxiety. Since the start of the pandemic, people have been looking for solutions that do both.

What Sandy calls “sensory fidgets” enable children to focus on instructional learning by providing comforting and repetitive motion – like feet bouncing on a Bouncy Band. Since sensory fidgets do not require visual attention and are not distracting to others, they can be utilized while instruction is going on to increase individual focus.

“Skill fidgets” involve manipulating an object. They’re more challenging to operate, and they require visual attention and, often, a certain amount of manual dexterity. Skill fidgets are useful during breaks in instruction as a way to release anxiety.

“Fidget gadgets have been especially helpful during the pandemic,” says Jennifer Rothman, a licensed clinical social worker in New York. “Anxiety thrives on unpredictability, and we have a lot of that right now. Finding calming practices and ways to manage stress is even more crucial today and tactile input can be incredibly soothing.”

While many toy professionals considered fidgets a fad, bouncing, tapping, spinning and popping devices have proven they have a much larger purpose and wider reach. As effective tools for meeting longstanding needs, devices like the Bouncy Band may grow in popularity this year as the need for focus and comfort continues.