As an academic coach, I work with a lot of fidgety teens with ADD and ADHD. Every fall I buy some new toys to add to my collection. This year I ordered from Fat Brain Toys. We’ll see whether my coaching clients enjoy the Acrobots, pictured left .
I also ordered these Magnetic Marbles, pictured here. However, I’m not pleased with their magnetism, which isn’t very strong. Maybe my students will find fun ways to play with them. (I’m always blown away by new magnetic tricks discovered accidentally while discussing breaking down their next history project into manageable parts).
Finally, I ordered Rory’s Story Cubes. These are more of a treat for me because they remind me of the MuseCubes. I might use these as creative warm-ups with the teens, before we move into our time management and organization tasks. There’s also a fun iPhone app.
I use fidget toys for my voice students,too. I find it helps them turn off their “inner critics” and allows them to access and flow with the information they already have but the “inner critic” keeps blocking.