Just as the yo-yo toy used to be popular, the spinner craze is expanding exponentially. Sellers position it as an anti-stress toy. Do psychologists agree with them? We decided to find out what is more in the newfangled hobby – benefit or harm.
This is some kind of global madness. Yesterday, no one had heard of spinners, but today there are entire channels on YouTube dedicated to this mysterious thing. Why, even Ivan Urgant appeared in his show with a spinner in his hands, and Forbes magazine called the toy “a must-have office accessory – 2017”.
“Today I found and bought all the species that were,” says one saleswoman of the shopping center to another. Apparently, the child demands. So what is it? Why does your child need it? And, most importantly, isn’t it harmful?
The full name of the toy is fidget spinner, which literally means “fidget toy”. It was invented by Katherine Hettinger, a chemist by training. She received a patent back in the 90s of the last century. According to one version, she made it especially for teenagers who have nowhere to put bad energy – like those who recently threw an explosive package into the sewer in the Primorsky Territory. In another interview, Katherine said that she built a toy from scrap materials so that her daughter had something to play with: Hettinger’s child has a rare disease that causes specific muscle fatigue. The girlfriends saw the toy, they liked it too – and so it went into the world.
The spinner is arranged quite simply: in the middle there is a stationary part, and the outer one can be rotated around its axis. The individual parts are weighted to ensure free rotation, which is maintained for as long as possible. In general, you can even assemble yourself, as Catherine did in her time.
The toy is positioned as anti-stress. Several reputable publications have already written about the properties of spinners. Portal he organized them and gave the advantages of the device.
1. Develops fine motor skills. A lot is connected with it, as all parents know: memory, ingenuity, even speech.
2. Works as an anti-stress to help you focus. They say it even relieves the fear of flying. It’s all about repetitive movements: they can calm even a child with an autism spectrum disorder. And much better than smoking.
3. Helps children with hyperactivity disorder and perception problems – along with kinetic sand and other sensory toys.
4. Relieves muscle tension from long hand work: writing lectures, typing, driving, etc.
5. Children are helped to escape from gadgets.
6. Eliminates annoying habits: snapping fingers, banging on the table, biting nails. The latter is especially true for children.
However, the opinions of teachers about the usefulness of spinners differ. Many schools in the United States have already banned them. That is, play to your health, but not in the classroom. Some Russian specialists also think so.
– Fidget spinners can be a distraction, a trick. They do not solve problems and do not relieve a person of stress. Often, children do not know how to use these devices correctly and turn their full attention to them instead of keeping them in the background. This can distract them from more important things, study. In terms of the development of fine motor skills and logic, it is better to use various puzzles, Rubik’s cube, snakes, etc.
One of the advantages of a spinner is to kill time. But isn’t it better to spend this time with benefit? You can draw, sculpt, build, embroider, ride a bicycle, roller-skate, walk, play sports.
There is another opinion.
“I allowed one of the students to use a spinner. I bought it myself. And the guy has severe ADHD and behavioral problems that prevent him from studying with other guys. It is hard for him to sit for a long time. And with the help of a spinner, he was able to release his energy without disturbing his classmates. On the day when he first sat in a class with a spinner, I was absolutely delighted. He sat quietly. He listened. He participated in the discussion. The spinner hasn’t stopped all this time, ”says special education teacher Rebecca Poe.
In addition, there is a study that has shown that people who draw during lectures, draw some kind of scribble, remember 29 percent more information than those who just listen.
“As a medical therapy, as a physician, I would not prescribe him,” says Dr. John Bender, family doctor. – However, there is no evidence that spinners are harmful. There is no sufficiently complete research on this subject at all. However, for people with attention deficit, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders, they can be helpful. But you shouldn’t expect miracles from them. “
So no one is ready to give a universal recipe. We’ll have to try. If you see that the spinner distracts your child more than helps him, do not let him take him to school. And if it helps you concentrate, then why not let your child twirl the toy while he teaches physics or poetry. In any case, one thing is certain: it is not harmful. True, there are a bunch of scary stories about how spinners cripple children. But scissors can also cripple if you do something stupid with them. However, no one forbids scissors. How to use a knife at the table.
PS Before our correspondent began to write this material, his child did not have a spinner. But soon it will be – in the process of preparing the text, the author ordered it in the online store.
PPS Fidget spinner is inexpensive: from 50-100 rubles. True, the range of prices is wide enough. The cost of a toy can go up to 2-3 thousand rubles.
Marina Ryabtseva, Natalia Evgenieva