Must-have toy for kids is more than for just playing

MEDFIELD, Mass. — If your go-to response in any toy aisle is “put it back,” you may want to reconsider because the must-have toy for kids right now is about more than just playing.

At Medfield’s Park Street Books there’s one toy that they just can’t keep on their shelves.

“(They have) all different things,” owner Jim James said. “Things you spin, things you push. Things that make a little noise.”

What makes for busy hands is apparently calming for the mind. So you can take you pick to roll, flick or spin the toy.

They're called Fidget Toys, and what began as a Kickstarter campaign has become kind of a craze.
"For me, I'm a fidgeter," James said. "It helps you to concentrate."

James said every week his store gets a shipment of 144 Fidget Toys, and within a weekend they’re all gone. He said what differentiates this toy craze from others is their therapeutic qualities. The effectiveness of which, he’s noticed too.

“For me, it really helps,” James said.

Parents should be warned, though, that the toys have become so popular that some schools have banned the louder versions and some have just outright banned the toys altogether. So parents looking to buy them for their children, make sure schools allow them if they’re bringing them to the classroom.

Cox Media Group