5 Main Types of Fidget Toys For All Ages

I recently discovered the #TeacherTok hashtag on the popular video sharing app TikTok, and was amazed at all of the different fidget toys that teachers use. They have toys that you can pop, spin, and squish all in the palm of your hand! Fidget toys are super popular in school classrooms, and can be fun for adults to play with, too. It made me wonder, what are some types of fidget toys?

Fidget toys come in all shapes and sizes! Most fidget toys are small enough to hold and play with using just one hand. All of them are meant to be physically manipulated and played with, no matter how they move. Some fidget toys, like the fidget spinner, are made to spin and twirl, while others like popits are made just to pop! There are also fidget toys that squish and stretch, and others that roll and stack. There’s no end to the different types of fidget toys that you can find! 

What Are Fidget Toys?

Fidget toys are small toys that you can hold in your hands and play with. They’re a great way to keep your hands busy when you can’t sit still. Fidget toys can be played with in lots of different ways depending on the toy, but they all focus on physically playing with the toy.

Fidget toys can come in different sizes and can incorporate lots of different shapes and textures. Some fidget toys are called by many different names, but they all serve the same purpose: to fidget with! Sometimes fidget toys are also called sensory toys, as they make it easy to occupy your sense of touch, keeping your brain free for other things.

What Are the Main Types of Fidget Toys?

There are so many types of different fidget toys, and they all do something a little bit different! Most fidget toys move in one of five ways: spin, pop, stretch, bend, or push. Let’s talk a little more about what these different kinds of fidget toys look like, and how they can be used.

1) Spinners

Often thought of as the traditional fidget toy, these toys spin around a central point. They come in all kinds of color, themes, and textures, and can range in size from mini to extra-large! Small fidget spinners are a great toy to use with a single hand, and can be spun around over and over again. With fidget spinners, the spinning never stops!

2) Popits

These fun toys are like bubble wrap that never ends! Pop each bubble back and forth, and then do it all over again. You can find popits in every theme from apples to unicorns, pencils to aliens, and in every size, too!

3) Stretch

Stretching fidget toys are fun to pull and stretch before letting the toy snap back to its original shape. Stretch fidget toys can be large bands that you can loop around your ankles to stretch, or shaped bracelets that slip over your wrist.

4) Bend

Sometimes you just need to bend and shape! A stress ball is a great fidget toy that you can squish and squash without making a mess. Silly putty is another great fidget toy that you can use to make shapes and letters.

5) Push

Fidget cubes bring lots of different pushing sensations together into a single toy! These fidget toys have gears, joysticks, buttons, and switches on the different sides. This type of fidget toy isn’t limited just to cubes, but can also be found on other shapes! These types are easy to flip around in your hand to choose what kind of pushing motion you want to do.

Who Can Use Fidget Toys?

Fidget toys can be used by anyone, of almost any age, size, or gender. They’re fun for kids of all ages, and adults too. Different people will prefer different types of fidget toys, depending on their own personal preferences.

All of us fidget sometimes, like when we tap our fingers on the table or twirl our hair. Fidget toys can be used by anyone, although they’re often geared towards children. Fidget toys should not be used by very small children for whom they could pose a safety hazard, such as choking. Adults should also look at the labels on fidget toys and use common sense to make sure a child is old enough to play with it.

What Are the Benefits of Fidget Toys?

Fidget toys can help people streamline their focus on the task at hand. They’re great at helping to mitigate stress and anxiety, and can create a calming sensation. In the classroom, they may even help promote learning by keeping children more focused on their learning activities.

Fidget toys can be great in any situation that requires self-regulation. They give people something to keep their hands busy when they need to use their minds to focus on a specific task. For children, fidget toys are often used in the classroom to keep the kids focused on the activity at hand without distracting the other students. Providing a fidget toy allows them to channel that excess energy into that specific fidget toy, leaving more brain power available for learning!

For children who have trouble keeping their seat in a classroom, fidget toys can often provide them with enough stimulus that they don’t feel the need to get up as often. This can help cut down not only on random trips to the pencil sharpener, but also on how much they distract their classmates. Fidget toys help these kids keep their fidgeting to themselves without having an impact on other people.

For adults, fidget toys are commonly used to deal with anxiety. Playing with a fidget toy provides a physical outlet for that anxiety, channeling it out of your body and into the toy. Since they’re small and fairly discrete, fidget toys can be used in the office, on the phone, or even on public transportation! Adults may already be familiar with one kind of fidget toy, the stress ball, but not know about all of the other kinds of fidget toys available to them.

How Much Do Fidget Toys Cost?

Most fidget toys are fairly inexpensive, which makes them easily accessible to lots of people. Individual fidget toys can cost as little as a dollar for a single toy, and increase in price from there. The smaller or more simplistic a fidget toy is, the cheaper it will be. Generic fidget toys are usually less expensive than specifically branded one. For example, a generic spinner will be less expensive than one that looks like the golden snitch from Harry Potter!

One way that you can save money on fidget toys is to purchase them as a bundle pack. These bundle packs usually include multiple different types of fidget toys, which makes them a great way to try out some new kinds of fidget toys to determine which are the right ones for you.

You can purchase fidget toys in lots of different places. Individual fidget toys are available in lots of different stores, including the big box stores and convenience stores. You can also find them at stores that cater to classroom supplies for teachers. If you can’t find any that you like in person you can also buy fidget toys online from places like Amazon.

Another factor in the cost of fidget toys is the materials they are made out of. Fidget toys can be made using just about any materials including plastics, wood, and metal. Fidget toys made of wood, metal, and hard plastics can last a long time. Toys made out of softer plastic, or plastic that’s meant to be stretched and pulled may not last as long as they lose elasticity as they’re played with.

What Should You Think About When Choosing a Fidget Toy?

With so many different types of fidget toys, how do you know which ones are right for you? Here are some things you should think about when choosing a fidget toy.

• What type of action do you want your fidget toy to do? Do you want it to spin, pop, or bend? Are you looking for a squishy toy, or one that’s more rigid? Do you want your fidget toy to focus on only one sensation, like a spinner, or more than one like a fidget cube?
• Do you want to try different kinds of fidget toys? Some people may know exactly what type of fidget toy they want, but others may want to explore all of the options first. Buying a fidget toy bundle pack is a great way to test out the different kinds of fidget toys before committing to a single kind. You may also find you enjoy more than one kind of fidget toy, or that you want different toys to match different moods.
• Do you want a generic fidget toy or one that has specific branding? Generic fidget toys are a great way to get started, and are typically cheaper. Once you know what kind of fidget toys you prefer you may want to find ones that match a theme that you love!

• How much do you want to spend on a fidget toy? Fidget toys have a pretty low starting price, making them affordable for most people. Remember that you can always buy more expensive fidget toys in the future, even if you start off with a cheap one now.

Types of Fidget Toys – Thanks for Reading!

Links to all of the fidget toys discussed in this article are below. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our other educational toy articles! For example, check out our review of the best solar system educational toys. Or, if you or your kids love robots, take a look at our guide to some great robot kits to build!