MODERN FAMILY
LUNCHTIME breaks in work are for taking a walk, catching up with a friend over coffee, or grabbing something to eat – they are not for scouring the streets looking for the latest craze to sweep the school playground.
But that is what I ended up doing after agreeing to get son junior a Fidget Spinner during a moment of distraction, when he knew my guard was down.
Not heard of one? Then you probably don’t have school-age children.
The thud, thud, thud of the bottle flip challenge is thankfully yesterday’s news, Hatchimals are so 2016, loom bands are in the dim and distant memory – Fidget Spinners are the new craze in town.
When I was growing up it was all Rubik’s cubes, yo-yos, and My Little Ponies. Today it is a tiny gadget that fits in the palm of your hand.
I didn’t believe the moans from the children that “everyone” has one until returning to school after the Easter break to find that what they said was true.
The spinners basically have two or three prongs with circles in them, along with a circular pad in the middle where you hold the device with your finger and thumb.
Then you twirl it. That is it, just twirl it between your fingers or balanced on the tip of your finger or thumb, and watch it whirl round.
Some people do tricks with them but what you see is what you get – just watching the thing whirring around.
It is actually quite mesmerising and was initially designed to use as a stressrelieving toy for offices.
A search on eBay finds nearly 80,000 results and prices range from 99p to £20. Fidget Spinners were initially patented back in 1997 in America.
Manufacturers claim that the gadgets aren’t just fun to play with but also help people with ADHD, anxiety, autism and various other issues.
But how they have become a craze in UK playgrounds 20 years later remains pretty much a mystery. It’s a slow-burning craze, by all accounts, which started in America and crossed over to the UK. But how does it spread until everyone wants one?
It is one of those lightbulb moments, coupled with some brilliant marketing, which seems so simple and yet proves so effective. At least with loom bands we knew the idea came from American father-of-two Cheong Choon Ng, who set up a company called Rainbow Looms. He went on to sell more than four million kits and, hey presto, he has a global phenomenon on his hands.
The best idea I have come up with is a specially-designed bathroom door that automatically reminds young boys (very loudly) to flush the toilet and wash their hands before leaving. I won’t give much away but I will reveal that my prototype employs advanced cattle-prod technology, plus sonic boom and blue flashing lights to reinforce my message. I think many parents will see it is a must-have – especially the mothers of boys.