Educational Ways to Use Fidget Toys

Fidget toys have been going crazy lately. Kids just love them and they are wonderful fidget toys, but did you know they can also be used for learning? Read on to find some educational ways to use fidget toys in your homeschooling or classroom.

Educational Ways to Use Fidget Toys

Fidget toys were originally created to help kids focus and concentrate. Though, these days, they have become a popular item with kids to use at any time. Though their popularity may not last long, like the fidget spinners previously, here are some fun educational ways to use their fidget toys for learning.

Bubble Popping Fidget Toy

These pop it toys are made from silicon. They contain lots of bubbles, depending on the size of them, which making a popping sound when you press them – just like bubble wrap, though quieter. You can press all the bubbles, then flip them over and repeat.  They come in many shapes and sizes such as circles, rectangles, hearts, different types of fruit, unicorns, dinosaur, even a computer keyboard and more.

If you are looking for a fidget toy with the letters of the alphabet and numbers already on it, then check these ones out.

This set contains toys in all the numbers from one through nine with a bonus ice cream toy that has the letters of the alphabet on it. Check it out here!

This large pop it toy has 100 bubbles making it great for teaching maths from one through hundred.

Learning the Alphabet

There are many ways you can use these toys to learn the alphabet. Some of these pop it fidget toys come with the letters of the alphabet on them, or you can write them on yourself with a black marker.

Sing and Press

As you and your children sing the alphabet song, have them press the letters as they sing or say them. 

Syllables

As children pronounce words, they can pop a bubble for each syllable. After finishing the word, they can count up the popped bubbles which will give them the number of syllables in the word they just said.

Find and Pop

Create an alphabet sensory bottle or sensory box using alphabet flashcards. Have children choose a flashcard or find a letter in the sensory bottle and then pop the letter on their toy.

Spelling Words

Children can practice spelling CVC words with this Western Themed CVC activity and then popping the letters of the words on their fidget toy. They could do the same with this Snail Sight Words Activity.

Hangman

Using a pop it that has the letters of the alphabet written on it, children can play a game of hangman. When guessing the letters, pop them on the toy instead of writing them down like in a traditional game of hangman.

Alphabet Printables

Practice letter recognition and handwriting with these fun alphabet printables. They come in both uppercase alphabet printables and lowercase alphabet printables. In each pack there is one page per letter of the alphabet. Each page consists of multiple activities:

• Dab the Letter
• Pop the Letter
• Trace the Letter
• Colour the Pictures that begin with the letter
• Come in colour and black and white versions

To grab these printables, click on the links below:

Uppercase Letter Alphabet Printables

 

Lowercase Letter Alphabet Printables

Math Activities

There are many ways you can use these toys to learn number recognition, to count, odd and even numbers and more. Some of these pop it fidget toys come with the numbers on them, or you can write them on yourself with a black marker.

Number Printables

With these number printables, children will be able to practice number recognition as well as work on their counting skills and handwriting skills.

To grab a copy of this printable, click on the link below:

Counting

Depending on the size of the fidget toy, practicing counting to 10, 36 or even 100 if you get a large one, by popping the numbers as you say them. You can also practice counting in 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and so on all the way up to 10’s.

With a large toy, children can also use them to learn and practice skip counting.

Odd and Even Numbers

Practice odd and even numbers, by popping all the odd or even numbers. Take a look at the result – when you pop all the even numbers, the odd numbers will be easily recognisable.

Before and After Numbers

Practising before and after numbers is so much fun when using a hands-on activity. Say a number and have children pop the number that comes before and the number that comes after it.

Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication 

For addition, have children pop the sum, then count to find the answer.

With subtraction, children can pop the first number, then un-pop the second number, then count to find the answer.

To practice multiplication with these fidget toys, children can pop rows and columns depending on the equation. For example 1 x 2, they would pop one row and two columns. They would then be able to count the answer – 2.

Using a Dice

To practice counting and addition, children can roll one or two die, and pop the numbers they roll. When rolling two dice, they can practice addition, by popping the first number, followed by the second number then adding the two numbers together.

Kids learn better and are able to retain what they have learnt when they are having fun. Using fidget toys to have fun while learning, will help create a fun learning environment for your kids.