DIY Fidget Spinners and Fidgets for Kids with ADHD

Has the fidget craze hit your classroom? Kids have transformed the therapy tool of fidget spinners into the next big collection craze.

Kids who were bottle flipping are now performing tricks with their fidget spinners. Fidgets were originally meant as therapy tools for kids with attention and sensory issues, not as toys.

If your kids need to move, these DIY fidget spinnners and DIY fidgets for kids will help boost concentration and attitudes in the classroom. Fidgets are just one more tool you can use that helps make teaching ADHD easier.

Kids will love these DIY fidget spinners they can use in the classroom or at home just for fun. Tweens will love these fun fidget toys they can play with!

Do Kids Need Fidgets?

Thanks to fidget spinners suddenly exploding in popularity, now the use of fidget toys is a hotly debated topic. Some poeple claim they are a distraction and cause more trouble than good, while others claim fidgets help kids with concentration issues focus.

Studies on fidgeting for kids with ADHD support the latter claim.

My ADHD kids NEED to move. In fact, they cannot sit still. It’s not a discipline issue for them. Before we knew my eldest had ADHD, we tried “training” her to sit still, but it was impossible. Even if she was *mostly* still, she still wiggled a foot, twitched her fingers, shifted in her seat, or looked wildly around the room.

Research suggests that for kids with ADHD and other sensory processing disorders, they NEED to move for information to click in their minds. Stop them from moving, and they stop learning.

But, since our classrooms aren’t usually equipped for movement (although, thankfully, that is changing in a lot of schools), fidgets can help provide an outlet for the restless energy that kids with ADHD have.

Without these tools, kids with ADHD will tend to fidget anyway, by picking at clothing, biting pencils, chewing straws, tapping on the desk, kicking their chairs, shifting position, popping in and out of their seat, rocking, twirling hair, chewing fingernails, biting their lips, and other self-destructive behavior.

So, in our family, we are definitely pro fidget for kids who need them.

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DIY Fidget Spinners

If you don’t want to shell out the big bucks for the original fidget spinner make these DIY versions instead!

Hardware Fidget Spinner // All For the Boys

Beaded Fidget Spinner (video below)

Easy Paper Fidget Spinners // Red Ted Art

Bottle Cap Fidget Spinner (video below)

LEGO Fidget Spinner // Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Brain Break Cards for Kids with ADHD

Kids are easily overwhelmed with work if they have ADHD. One simple way to help a kid with ADHD reset is to implement brain breaks. These 60-second or less activities help reset a child’s brain and gets her out of the flight or fight mode. You can use these at home or in the classroom!