Fidget Spinner

What is the fidget spinner? The fidget spinner is a small device that fits in your hand. It is usually made up of two parts – a central bearing that you grip with your index finger and thumb, and a three-pronged rotational blade (resembling a rounded Chinese throwing star) that spins around it once you give it a flick with your free hand. There are some wackier designs that eschew this template (such as the multi-bladed cog version), but they generally stick to the same blueprint. Why is it so addictive? While other crazes have relied on collectability or competition, the fidget-spinner craze has taken off due to the toy’s immediately addictive nature. The sensation that comes from holding a fast-spinning contraption is a large part of its appeal. As you tilt it back and forth while it whirrs, you can feel the various spinning forces undulate in your hand. What do people do with them? The real fun comes from trying to pull off various tricks and stunts with a spinner as these forces take hold. As it spins it can be balanced on top of fingers, toes, and if you’re really daring, your nose or forehead. If you have more than one you can stack them on top of one another, and create a spinning tower that plays with your eyes. Perhaps the biggest challenge is throwing a spinner to your friend and trying to catch it, a feat even more impressive to pull off than the bottle flip. What else should I know? Some schools have already banned fidget spinners for being too distracting, but that hasn’t stopped them taking over playgrounds. A lot of their success is helped by their affordability. While you can invest in high-end spinners that can cost anywhere between £20 to £100, your average device will only set you back around £5. The fidget spinner industry has also exploded over the last month, and brought a huge range of different types of the toy into existence. There is also a panoply of YouTube videos and Reddit threads to be found online, featuring tutorials, trick showcases, reviews and FAQs. If you’re interested in getting into the fidget spinner craze or just fancy seeing what all the fuss is about, then you’ll be interested to know they’re not just sold to kids. There are spinners for adults too, and they come in a variety of different colours and shapes.