First thought of in the 1980s, the fidget spinner toy became popular in 2017, taking over social media and quickly engraving itself into kids’ lives. Thought to reduce anxiety, help with ADHD, and promote focus, fidget spinners were only one of the many examples of fidget toys that rose to fame in the late 2010s. Other fidget toys include stress balls, putties, keyboard button clickers and more. Additionally, pop-its, which were silicon toys that could be pushed in and out to create a popping sound, reached their top popularity during 2021 and 2022. Coming in various colors, shapes, and sizes, there was thought to be a suitable fidget toy for everyone, increasing their attractivity to consumers and collectors. However, like all items and phases that go viral, they will inevitably fall and the search for new fidget toys will slow down. This dip has happened ever since 2023, even though they never fully went out of popularity.
However, this summer, fidget toys have seemingly become more popular than ever. “U.S. squishy toy sales quadrupled year-over-year to about $297 million in January through June,” said Jenny Lee of CNBC. Specifically, different squishies and clicker toys have gone viral on various social media platforms. Oftentimes resembling food, like cheese, butter, and more, squishies made of materials like vaseline and shaving cream have taken over the internet. Prior to these squishies were the dumpling blind box squishies, which like the name suggests, are dumpling shaped squishies with a slow rising foam filling. Each box contained one toy, and the different variants had different facial expressions and colors. The “ultra rare” glitter dumpling was the rarest and the one that most people sought to find. As the popularity of these dumpling blind boxes rose, new types were introduced, including glitter, glow in the dark, tie-dye and many others.
The role of fidget toys in a learning environment has been a debated topic for many years now. Some schools think that they are a helpful tool for staying focused, while some argue that they are a distraction. So far, the conclusion for what to do about fidget toys in schools is to allow teachers and administrators, in addition to input from parents and students, to decide about regulations regarding fidgets.
It is inevitable that fidgets will slowly lose their popularity as time goes on. However, they will likely rise back up again in a different form, similar to what happened this summer. The internet is looking forward to what the next fidget trend will be!