There is no doubt that fidget toys have become more popular over the years. Fidgeting used to be done with scraps of paper and now entire companies are dedicated to their production. The truth is they are a great way to relieve stress and relax. They are an amazing tool to calm down if you are feeling overwhelmed, so much so that it is commonplace for teachers to have them in classrooms. 

A possible major component of this recent craze may be social media. Just going back a few years ago, EVERYONE was making slime. Scented, colorful, fluffy, clear, you name it, people were making it and posting all about it. Although some variants of them have always been around, companies have started capitalizing on fidgets over regular toys. The first popularized fidget toy-ish was the slinky in the mid 1900’s, then Silly Putty and the Rubix cube in the 70’s. In the 2010’s this turned into fidget cubes and spinners, highlighting “fidget” in the name. Since 2020 “pop its” have surged in  popularity as well as NeeDohs. 

Sophomore, Isabella Lucero says, “…more teachers (are) including them in their classrooms… which is something I didn’t see last year as a freshman.” She also explains how, “Tik Tok gives people our age easier access to online shopping since a lot of people use it and it is convenient. With an increased use of short form media, it might be easier to reach an audience and have people get a good look at a product.”

Social media has definitely made shopping online easier and more accessible. Lucero also believes that they really took over the internet during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Saying, “…since people didn’t really have anything to do, people even started trading them.” 

When in complete isolation from the rest of the world, squeezing a ball or playing with a NeeDoh sounds like a great way to relieve some anxiety. Sophomore Claire Defrates puts it as “…(a way)  to express that anxiety without resorting to bad habits like nail biting.” 

Fidget sales are at 9.57 billion USD Globally as of 2026. That number is projected to almost double to 17.65 billion USD by 2034, according Fortune Business Insights. This is no surprise with many teachers promoting them.

Spanish teacher, Senor Erdman, explained how he often offers NeeDohs to stressed out students to help them relax. He also explains how when he was a kid fidget did not really exist and were not as normalized as they are today. He says, “ They are just more accepted and can also be helpful for a lot of mental health issues and things like that.”

Toys used to be used exclusively for younger kids, today adult and teenage collectors are more and more common. It would not be strange to see an adult fiddling with a fidget spinner on the street.

Lucero explains it as “…like a little toy that you can use publicly and often, without it having much attachment to being purely just a “kid” or childhood thing since I see fidgets being used by anyone.”

They are a universal way to just take a break and relax.