Do Fidgets Help Students Focus?

Fidgets can wreak havoc in classrooms. During the peak of their popularity, when so-called fidget spinners emerged as a best seller and promised to improve human attention spans, one-third of the top 200 U.S. schools responded by banning fidgets altogether.

The devices are often marketed as “a universal classroom support,” alleviating the symptoms of anxiety, hyperactivity, and boredom, writes Stephanie L. Kriescher, a professor of psychology at the University of Northern Colorado, and her colleagues in a 2023 study. Yet “the evidence basis of fidget toys remains controversial and largely reliant on theory, with few peer-reviewed experimental studies.” 

After reviewing decades’ worth of studies on fidgets, Kriescher and her team say that the devices are often distracting for users and other classmates, and teachers should “proceed with caution when considering implementing fidget toys as a behavioral or attentional support in the general education classroom.”

In a 2020 study, for example, researchers found that fidget spinners caused third-grade students to perform significantly worse on math tests, while another 2020 study concluded that college-age students who used a fidget spinner during lectures distracted other students and experienced their own “attentional lapses, diminished judgments of learning, and impaired performance on a memory test.” Learning while using a spinner resulted in a 44 percent drop in retention, while those sitting nearby dropped by 13 percent.

The case for providing fidgets to neurodivergent students can also be murky. In a 2018 study involving young students with ADHD, researchers found that the use of fidget spinners, in particular, resulted in a twofold increase in distracted behavior. Kids with ADHD might have experienced the attractive, high-velocity devices as “a fun toy rather than something to help them focus,” the researchers said.

Drawn by the kinetic and visual appeal, most students probably see no downside to fidgets. But “students are often unaware of the costs of multitasking,” researchers explain in a 2020 study, and remain blissfully ignorant of the burden that fidgets have on memory and attention.

context matters

But other research suggests that real-world learning environments may be more favorable to fidgets, and banning the devices isn’t the solution. Fidgeting in classrooms, like fidgeting at the dinner table—as we recently reported—may be a sensorimotor strategy to curb other sources of distraction.

A 2015 study concluded that fidgeting may act as a “compensatory mechanism” that supports “neurocognitive functioning in children with ADHD,” suggesting that in some contexts, fidgets may be a way to substitute a moderate, controlled source of distraction for a less predictable and more disruptive source. When students are working in temporarily noisy spaces, for example, or are exposed to the sounds of traffic or outdoor recess, then fidgets may be a useful way to redirect a student’s natural tendency to mind-wander.

Similar findings emerge in the study of doodling and background music. In a 2019 study, for example, researchers concluded that while free-form doodling (drawing animals, people, or scenes) requires a great deal of attention, simpler, low-effort doodling (coloring in shapes or drawing patterns) comes at a trivial cognitive cost and may ultimately allow students to control other sources of distraction. Meanwhile, background music in classrooms is distracting, cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham told Edutopia in 2023. But research suggests that a complex song with quick changes in pace or complicated lyrics may compete with academic tasks, while simpler songs with predictable, driving rhythms may motivate students to work harder without the same distracting effects.

For kids who regularly struggle with executive function, overstimulation, or anxiety, fidgets may quiet tics, perseverations, and restlessness, allowing them to sustain focus for a longer period of time and allocate more of their residual attention to the academic task at hand.

Meanwhile, much of the research on the negative attributes of fidgets focuses on a class of devices that are more properly classified as entertainment, rather than study aids. Fidget spinners, pop-its, light-up discs, or pens with excessive clicking parts can be misused and even cause chaos in the classroom.

It’s important to note that fidgets don’t improve attention, though they may suppress other distractions, in some circumstances. As a rule of thumb, use the least-disruptive fidgets for the least amount of time required to get the academic work done.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Earlier this year, we asked teachers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share how they handle fidgets in their classrooms. Do they impose total bans? Do they allow students to use fidgets, as long as there’s a good reason? Overwhelmingly, teachers found a middle ground: As long as the fidgets were used in a purposeful, nondistracting manner, students were allowed to use them.

“For my high school classroom, they were hugely beneficial!” writes middle and high school teacher Taylor Baumeister. But, she continues, you should “avoid stress balls and others that look like they’re meant to be thrown and avoid noisy ones so others are not distracted. Finally, and most importantly: frame them as tools not toys.”

A review of more than 500 comments reveals several other key insights:

Try alternatives: Fidgets aren’t the only solution to helping students stay calm and focused—brain breaks, nature walks, and breathing exercises can get the job done without introducing potentially distracting objects into the classroom. Onderwoman, a PreK teacher, gives students the option of flexible seating or a calm-down corner. “I start the year very slowly, introducing each of these items and discussing them,” she writes. “Anything that’s misused ‘takes a break’ from the classroom for a while.”

Set clear expectations: Teachers often emphasized the importance of talking to kids about using fidgets responsibly and laying ground rules early. “We need to teach expectations; we can’t expect they already know them,” writes ms.m.walker on Instagram. She displays a “Tools vs. Toys” anchor chart that shows pictures of students using the fidgets correctly. “When someone forgets, I can point to the chart and tell them, ‘Remember what we decided about toys vs. tools.’”

Avoid the most distracting fidgets: If there’s clear agreement between researchers and teachers, it’s to avoid the most distracting fidgets at all costs—spinners, poppers, and other devices that light up, make noise, or encourage throwing. “I’m all for fidgets if they are used properly and are noiseless,” writes elementary school teacher Kasey Deese Orellana. “My rule is: If it’s helping you focus, it’s a tool. If it’s distracting you, it’s a toy and must be put away. The moment it leaves your hand (toss/throw) it’s a toy and has to go.”

The most effective fidgets, teachers generally agreed, were quiet and unobtrusive, such as textured stickers, wristbands, and stress balls (although firm “no throwing” rules had to be quickly established). “I have what I call quiet fidgets (mesh sleeves with a marble) and I will give them to students with a tapping habit or a noisier fidget that is distracting me,” writes Catherine Pascual. “As a teacher with ADHD and sensory sensitivity, I very much understand the need for them. But the sound of fidget spinners completely distracts me from what I am trying to say.”