Keep your fingers busy with these fidget gadgets
When I need to concentrate, my fingers like to start drumming on the table. Or I nervously tap my foot on the floor. Fidget gadgets are supposed to help – some of them are quite absurd.
I am always looking for little toys that help me concentrate and keep my fingers busy. These practical everyday helpers are also known as fidget gadgets. I have rummaged through our range and picked out the most promising ones.
You can find a humorous video version of five of these fidget gadgets here:
Squeezing allowed
Squishy toys come in all sorts of crazy shapes and colors. The great thing about them is that their material allows them to be squeezed and stretched. Depending on the quality, however, they can also be sticky and therefore not particularly durable. Fortunately, there are exceptions.
The Squishy Butter is the grossest candidate. It turns out to be unexpectedly large, and I find squeezing it pleasant. However, it is slightly sticky and actually smells like something that is supposed to resemble butter. Yuck. Its size also makes it unsuitable for on the go.
I am positively surprised by the Moj Moj Bubble Ball. I imagined it would be extremely sticky and short-lived. However, it feels very pleasant. The ball has an extremely thick layer of plastic, so I can really let off steam with the little squishy creature. The small beads in the ball's belly are a cute bonus. It is normal for a few bits of lint to stick to the material over time, but they are easy to wash off.
The stretchy Fidget Caterpillar is exactly as I imagined it. Quite funny and rather pleasant at the beginning – fortunately, it is only slightly sticky. However, it doesn't hold its shape for very long. In any case, it wore out quickly for me. Also in the sense that it became too boring for me.
Press, turn, and pop
My favorite fidget gadgets are things with buttons, dials, and the like. There is something extremely satisfying about a button triggering a click or a wheel locking into place.
That's why I also love my mechanical keyboard: the keys click softly and creamily when typing, and the volume knob on the corner clicks gently into place when turned. When I recently received a keychain with four mechanical keys from XPPen (a graphics tablet manufacturer), it immediately became my new favorite fidget gadget. We have them in our range as individual keys.
I hoped for a similar amount of fun from the Fidget Cube. It has different ways to keep your fingers busy on all sides. However, it is unfortunately extremely cheaply made. For example, only three out of five buttons work on one side, and the toggle switch only clicks on one side.
I have already seen plenty of Pop-it toys. They come in all shapes and colors. Their appeal: pressing in the small plastic bubbles and letting them pop back out. The principle seems similar to bubble wrap, only there the little air bubbles pop so funnily. On the other hand, I can use the Pop-it gadgets multiple times.
I don't like the look of most of them, or the plastic feels inferior. That's why I decided on the Pop-it phone. It is declared as a teething toy for babies, and the quality is just right here. And the fact that it is so cute and compact makes it much more practical for on the go. I think it's nice.
A well-rounded thing
Round fidget toys are extremely versatile, whether for training my hands, for a hand massage, or simply for rolling around.
The most exciting gadget from my list, which also has another benefit, is the Schildkröt hand trainer. Schildkröt has chosen a somewhat tricky way to make the inner ball spin. To do this, I have to thread a small string into a hole and pull it. Then I can make it spin faster and faster with the right flick of the wrist.
Through a video from the manufacturer, I can see what movements and exercises I can do with it to train my wrist. These feel extremely pleasant and strengthen my hand in addition to the playing around.
I can hold the Spinner Ball at the top and bottom. This way, it spins in the middle when I nudge it. This also works wonderfully when I place it on the table. The ball seems well-made and is made of metal. That's why it feels pleasantly cool and has a good weight in my hand.
By the way, it also looks really chic and has almost something hypnotic about it due to the spiral-shaped notch. If I only turn the ball slowly, I can follow the notch and the colorful coloring with my eyes.
The Fidget magnetic balls have been on my wish list for a long time. Perhaps that's why I was a little disappointed with the six balls at first. Only one of them feels massaging in my fingers, and I don't even know exactly what to do with them at first.
But after playing with the magnetic balls for a while, they grew on me. By rotating them around my fingers at the same time, I become a bit more skillful. If I roll them over my forearm with gentle pressure, I get funny imprints of the different structures on my skin in addition to the massage effect.
Thanks to the integrated magnets, the balls don't fall out of my hand so easily. The balls also seem well-made to me and come in a practical little case for on the go.
Children's toy and math learning factor
Doodling on a piece of paper can also contribute to better concentration. I do this very often when on the phone, and used to do it during lectures at university. But so that I don't fill an entire pad with meaningless patterns, it's best to use something reusable: a magnetic board.
I found what I was looking for in our range. I can also hang the mini magnetic board on a backpack or put it in my bag. I can simply erase the doodles with the slider and start over – well, not quite easily. A little bit of magnet always remains at the edges. In addition, the string to which the pen is attached is too short for me. The little gadget is not optimal.
Because I like fluffy things, I can't avoid the Squishy bag. It is actually super fluffy, and the little donut plushies to take out are super cute. Otherwise, the toy has a similar purpose to the squishies above: I can squeeze the bag and the donuts however I want. Here I don't have to worry about anything breaking or getting sticky. The fact that I can tear open the bag at the top thanks to the Velcro fastener, like a real bag of chips, makes the little toy even funnier. We also have a version with cookies instead of donuts in our range.
Fidget spinners are available in every conceivable color and design. I was particularly taken with this version because I can use it to refresh my mental arithmetic skills: the math fidget spinners. Although they are all made of plastic, they are pleasant to spin.
The idea behind it is simple. The numbers 1–10 are on the small wheels. On the large wheel, there is a supplementary math problem such as "- 1" or "* 5" and opposite it an arrow pointing towards the numbers. If I turn the wheel, it shows me, for example, "6 - 1" or "5 * 5". This way, I can not only keep my fingers busy but also my rusty brain cells. However, these fidget spinners are not particularly practical if I should be paying attention elsewhere.
Rings as chic accessories
Last but not least, the premium version of fidget gadgets: rings. They are available in many different designs. I own two types myself: on a stainless steel ring with a dragon motif, the outer part can be rotated. On another, the built-in mechanisms click gently one after the other when I move the upper half counterclockwise.
The Purelei ring disappointed me more. It comes in a cute little bag, but otherwise, it is rather moderately well-made. Furthermore, the small moving balls around the ring are not as easy to play with as I had thought. It also doesn't look particularly beautiful on the finger. Definitely not a purchase recommendation.
I find the acupressure ring much more pleasant. It looks much less beautiful and is not intended as an accessory for evening wear. But it massages gently when I slip it over a finger and slowly roll it down. At first, I have to get used to it, but the feeling quickly changes to stimulating.
Do you know of any other cool fidget gadgets that you can recommend?
Ever since I learned how to hold a pen, I've been doodling away in bright colours. Thanks to my iPad, digital art has also become part of my life. That's why I love testing tablets – from the graphic design range to the regular kind. When I feel the urge to express my creativity without lugging lots of equipment, I go for the latest smartphones and start snapping away.
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