Have you fidget spinned yet?

It's the new craze isn't it? All of a sudden we were spinning these little objects on our fingers and asking, like I did 'Is that all it does?' I thought it was going to be the new yo yo or be able to do lots of tricks with it but haven't managed anything fancy with ours, only to launch it across the living room. 

If you have been living on another planet for the past few weeks the fidget spinner is the new stress toy. It has been advertised to help people who have trouble with focusing or tend to fidget a lot especially those on the Autism Spectrum, people with ADHD and anxiety problems. They are quite relaxing when you just sit and just spin them, even when you get over the fact it isn't going to perform a major trick. The whole idea is to keep calm and take away the stress, it makes a little bit of noise as it's spinning and has a slight vibration that all add to a nice relaxing experience.

The thing is although they were aimed towards the Autism/ADHD individual they ended up being purchased by everyone really. I suppose it's different from the bottle flipping and Pokemon Go but the spinners have come in for some controversy. A lot of schools have banned them as they are distracting students from their work. For a start who is letting kids play with them in lessons? It all follows conkers and throwing snowballs as a health and safety risk, kids just can't be kids anymore. I know they have to be safe but really? I'm going to say it, like an old parent......'it never did us any harm in our day' If schools are also going to ban mobile phones then give them a break when they find something else to play with. 

I can see that they may be a distraction when a few hundred kids in the school all start playing with them at once, but in a mainstream environment my concern is that these fidget toys are taken away from the very people that get some relief from using them. I would like to hope schools just use their common sense and discretion with them as they are classed as therapy. 

I've known quite a few people comment how they are helping with attention and anxiety so it's got to be a good thing. For everyone else it's like a lot of things, it becomes the new craze and then kids move onto something else. I bet whoever invented them is doing ok and living for the moment. Makes me wish I could come up with a snazzy idea that everyone will want to take part in. It was only a plastic bottle before so the worlds my oyster, anything is possible surely. If you see me on The Gadget Show you'll know I've made it in life. Move over gadget geeks, Sue from the Brew is coming through. 

I'm not sure it beats the fidget cube, that is still my favourite. I keep buying these things for my son and he's just happy with a paperclip or blu tack, all of which I tend to find whirling around my washing machine. I never check the pockets you see. So how do you find the fidget spinner? Any tricks? Leave a comment below as I would love to know whether it is helping anyone. If you've also had to claim for broken windows or knocked granny's specs off with them then also let me know the hazards of using them. 

For now though less fidgeting and more spinning, have fun, and no detentions please!!! Catch you for a bit of TV chat tomorrow on 'Pass the remote Sunday'.