# Explain to me the allure of Fidget Spinners **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882 "2017-05-04T23:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/81 "2017-05-23T17:49:11Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > The Slingshot Channel - Joerg Sprave decides to [Weaponize Fidget Spinners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfGCI7yuMPc)… His laugh gets on my nerves, but I love his channel. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/82 "2017-05-23T17:58:48Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > My daughter was prescribed one by her OT to possibly help with her stimming (knuckle cracking and skin picking). I ordered one, but it was backordered. I ordered another, but a week later was told it was backordered. I went to the special needs store in town. They were out. I ended up pre-paying 20 bucks, but she finally got it two weeks ago and it’s really helping her BUT now three of five of her teachers have banned them from class. I could make a fuss since she does have a prescription for hers but she doesn’t want attention called to herself so she’s agreed to put it away. It kinda sucks because the skin around her nails was finally growing back. Oh well. Four more days and school will be out for summer. I just hate that what helps her became a cool toy. Let’s just hope the next cool craze isn’t “spinny seats” so wheelchairs don’t get banned too. Teach her to [spin pens](https://youtu.be/voqYX8_VjvQ)…? You don’t need fancy pens for that - a pencil will do. That’s what I do in meetings to help me keep focus. (I’m _nowhere_ near that good - I know a couple basic tricks - but that’s enough) > [@Patx2](#): > > I see them all over the schools I am in, I really don’t see what good they do, I don’t see it helping with focus, they are mostly a distraction. I guess they are good, though for kids that just need something to help with fidgeting. I’m a sub, so I just play it the way the classroom teacher does as far as whether I allow them or not. Some folks need to self-stimulate to _be able_ to concentrate. People think it’s a distraction, but it’s actually what allows them to function normally. The “theraputic tool” has been eclipsed by the fad. Imgaine if everyone started, say, wearing hearing aids. Imagine the angst that would cause, espeically amongst those as need them, and suddenly find supply-and-demand has impacted their theraputic needs. ---
**Author:** ![DkTrdGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DkTrdGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DkTrdGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/83 "2017-05-23T18:00:33Z")
Some people just really like to annoy others. I think fidget spinners are a great tool to accomplish such. My nephew drives people crazy with those things. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/84 "2017-05-24T06:22:56Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Hey, I still have a set of clackers from the 70s! You should show off your clacker skills to a random group of middle school students somewhere. By the end of the day we’ll be in the midst of a clacker renaissance! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/85 "2017-05-24T10:11:15Z")
I think they are only popular because so many people have one. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/86 "2017-05-24T10:47:45Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > You should show off your clacker skills to a random group of middle school students somewhere. By the end of the day we’ll be in the midst of a clacker renaissance! 😃 Random thought–I remember as a child driving down the road (“passengering” down the road) seeing the occasional set of clackers that had been retired by tossing it across a power line. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/87 "2017-05-24T10:53:21Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > You should show off your clacker skills to a random group of middle school students somewhere. By the end of the day we’ll be in the midst of a clacker renaissance! 😃 Hell, I remember [flubber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flubber_(material)) back in the early sixties, shortly after the original movie. Apparently it was causing a rash if it was handled too much; I remember all of the kids’ hands being inspected by the school nurse and (rash or no) being asked how much they had played with the stuff (No rash and once or twice). Back then it wasn’t dyed green and, as the picture caption says, it’s normally colorless. Well, it starts out that way but it picks up dirt until it’s this translucent, yellowy-green color. I was walking in echelon with the science teacher (Yes, I was that kind of kid) and we passed a girl playing with a gob of the stuff going the other way. “Why are you playing with snot?” the teacher asked, prompting her to drop it. It _was_ banned from the school, ostensibly for the rash reason but now I wonder, and died out as a fad within about three months. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/88 "2017-05-24T13:19:57Z")
It will be interesting to see when you start seeing these at close-out prices. 10 for $1 or something. There’s going to be tons of them sitting around when the fad collapses. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/89 "2017-05-24T13:29:21Z")
I saw some kids playing with a Kendall (wooden ball attached to a cup by a string). This might end up being the next big fad. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/90 "2017-05-24T13:43:06Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Hell, I remember [flubber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flubber_(material)) back in the early sixties, shortly after the original movie. Apparently it was causing a rash if it was handled too much; I remember all of the kids’ hands being inspected by the school nurse and (rash or no) being asked how much they had played with the stuff (No rash and once or twice). When I was in primary school, teachers would occasionally bring something interesting around from room to room to show off to the students–things I remember are a Portuguese Man-o-War in a jar and a dissected frog that had its lungs somehow inflated so that they stuck out of the chest cavity. Another thing I remember is when one of them brought around a container of mercury, and we were allowed to hold globs of it in our hands and roll it around and play with it… [QUOTE=Channing Idaho Banks] I saw some kids playing with a Kendall (wooden ball attached to a cup by a string). [/QUOTE] You mean a [kendama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendama)? A Kendall is different annoying fad that I wish would fade away (along with the Kim, Khloe, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/91 "2017-05-24T14:13:29Z")
My kids love them. Some kid in their school bought high quality ones in bulk and sold them below retail prices but still way above cost and made like a thousand bucks. I was extremely impressed. Do they have any use? Nah, it’s just a fad and they’ll be gone in a year. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/92 "2017-05-24T14:17:55Z")
Uh > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You mean a [kendama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendama)? A Kendall is different annoying fad that I wish would fade away (along with the Kim, Khloe, etc.) This is what I was trying to enter but autocomplete refused. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/93 "2017-05-24T14:56:23Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Teach her to [spin pens](https://youtu.be/voqYX8_VjvQ)…? You don’t need fancy pens for that - a pencil will do. That’s what I do in meetings to help me keep focus. (I’m _nowhere_ near that good - I know a couple basic tricks - but that’s enough Pen spinning! To this day I cannot master that trick. I remember being a teacher’s aide in some class or another and there was a guy that would do it the whole hour. I could not take my eyes off him. So yeah, pretty distracting to other people (it didn’t annoy me, though). ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/94 "2017-05-24T15:08:37Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Pen spinning! To this day I cannot master that trick. I remember being a teacher’s aide in some class or another and there was a guy that would do it the whole hour. I could not take my eyes off him. So yeah, pretty distracting to other people (it didn’t annoy me, though). I try to keep my hand below the table, because, yeah, it’s distracting. But I’m not there to show off, I just need to keep my hands busy. So yeah, simple tricks (that won’t fling my pen across the room if I goof), out of direct sight. _Edit_: If you’re not into showing off, the basic [Figure-8 (Infinity)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AKKxLT2tW0) will probably serve your figiting needs. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/95 "2017-05-24T15:32:56Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I think they are only popular because so many people have one. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/96 "2017-05-24T15:40:29Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Pet Rocks for Millennials. > [@Little\_Pig](#): > > From what I recall, I don’t think you can [frob](https://books.google.com/books?id=g80P_4v4QbIC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=to+frob&source=bl&ots=6ohqnsmoO3&sig=x6ajqpIKsZ-0rkYdCJM_NYrRgXI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQuojoodrTAhWnllQKHa9GC_AQ6AEIVDAH#v=onepage&q=to%20frob&f=false) a Pet Rock. Sounds more like the modern equivalent of the ruler propeller. You know, put a ruler on the point of a pencil and spin. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/97 "2017-05-24T15:50:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > …We sold the 1,000 in a day and a half, and are currently waiting for more. > > The person who invented those things should be shot. So you don’t like selling things at your store? Perhaps sales shouldn’t be your field. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/98 "2017-05-24T16:04:11Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > So you don’t like selling things at your store? Perhaps sales shouldn’t be your field. Try “doesn’t like customers ‘go[ing] ballistic’ at her about things she has no control over.” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/99 "2017-05-24T16:17:06Z")
I just ordered myself one [like this](https://www.etsy.com/listing/514442492/the-cog-and-chain-spinner-fidget-spinner?ref=related-4). I used to do that thing where you walk a large coin across your knuckles, but this looks like an easier way to piss people off. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/100 "2017-05-24T16:45:12Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > My daughter was prescribed one by her OT to possibly help with her stimming (knuckle cracking and skin picking). I ordered one, but it was backordered. I ordered another, but a week later was told it was backordered. I went to the special needs store in town. They were out. I ended up pre-paying 20 bucks, but she finally got it two weeks ago and it’s really helping her BUT now three of five of her teachers have banned them from class. I could make a fuss since she does have a prescription for hers but she doesn’t want attention called to herself so she’s agreed to put it away. It kinda sucks because the skin around her nails was finally growing back. Oh well. Four more days and school will be out for summer. I just hate that what helps her became a cool toy. Let’s just hope the next cool craze isn’t “spinny seats” so wheelchairs don’t get banned too. Someone mentioned these earlier in the thread, but I have been seeing them on Facebook ads for months - [fidget cubes](https://www.thefidgetcube.co/). Seems like they would be helpful for your daughter and something she can do quietly in her pocket or under her desk. Looks like there are plenty of cheap knock-offs if you don’t want to invest $19.95 plus shipping, but the knock-offs might be louder when clicked and stuff, and not as discreet as the original. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882.md?page=6)