These DIY fidget toys are the perfect way to support kids in the classroom without breaking the bank!
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One of the most challenging things about being a school-based therapist is that we’re often faced with very large caseloads and very limited resources.
The good news is that, as therapists, we are trained to problem solve situations and use what we have on hand to conquer just about any roadblock. Therapists tend to be creative types!
Some of the most commonly asked-for items in a school setting are fidget tools. Unfortunately, while the fidgets that are available commercially are awesome, they tend to be not-so-budget-friendly.
So what’s a therapist to do? Turn on that creative brain and try these ideas for DIY fidget toys! These ideas include items you can make yourself, or super simple, budget-friendly items you can pick up at the dollar store or grocery store.
20 DIY Fidget Toys
1 || Balloons filled with flour or play dough – check out our favorite ideas for DIY balloon fidget toys!
2 || Nuts and bolts
3 || Tube sock filled with dry rice and sewn shut for weight/tactile play
4 || Velcro under the desk or table to run fingers over
5 || Theraband on legs of the desk or chair
6 || Pipe cleaners to twist/wind around fingers
7 || Kneadable erasers or sticky tack
8 || Ziploc bags filled with hair gel or finger paint and taped closed (add buttons, beads, google eyes)
9 || Flexible rubber hair curlers
10 || DIY Zipper bracelets
11 || Flexible straw cut short so the child can bend/flex in his hands
12 || Key rings linked together (try different sizes)
13 || Hair rubber bands around wrist
14 || Large key ring with pony beads looped on
15 || Ziploc bags or balloons filled with water beads
16 || Small gel window clingson a piece of laminated card stock
17 || Gear ties
18 || String pony beads onto a pipe cleaner and duct tape either end to a craft stick for child to slide beads up and down.
19 || Pony bead strung onto a jumbo paper clip
20 || Sew a small mesh fabric tube, place a marble inside, and sew ends closed so the child can push the marble back and forth inside the tube.
BONUS IDEA || Learn how to make pencil fidgets for kids!
So now that you have a whole kit of awesome new fidget tools, it’s time to learn about how to introduce fidget toys in the classroom! Creating DIY fidget toys and introducing them in a classroom setting is an awesome way to deliver push in services!
Other Fun Fidget Ideas:
How to Introduce Fidget Tools in the Classroom
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Like a lot of these ideas. Just have to remember with the first one that if a child has a gluten allergy or sensitivity both commercial playdough and regular flour would have gluten.
you really think they will eat the playdough??
what are they gonna do use it as a jelly fruit
I do like the ideas but they are hard with out instructions
What a fun idea! Thank you for the nice list of fidget toy!
The toys you share help children develop both physically and intellectually.
Love this idea! Thank you so much for sharing!
My kid actually went on this website and made a lot of them herself! She took random things and I was confused until she told me!
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