As we descend from Peak Fidget Spinner into its decadent phase, expect to see more of this. The Backyard Scientist discovered that hiding behind a flimsy plastic folding table is no match for rocket-propelled debris from a fidget spinner experiment gone wrong. Read the rest
YouTuber Autistic Tic has a great series of videos on inexpensive toys for fidgeting and stimulation. Great for pets, kids, and fidgety adults! Read the rest
Sculptor-machinist Chris Bathgate has improved on his Slider "worry-stone" gadget for occupying your nervous hands, using techniques he learned through his collaboration with spinning top-maker Richard Stadler. Read the rest
I dote on fidget gadgets -- soothing gizmos intended to give your hands something to keep busy with, like modern worry-beads -- and while you can't buy Chris Bathgate's amazing machined sliders, and the Fidget Cube Kickstarter just closed, there's still Thinkgeek's new Jumbo Noah Fidget Toy, which looks like a lot of fun and "features two interlocking rings that are also connected together with five links on each ring. The center link is larger and has a colored rubber band that rolls back and forth like a treadmill." Read the rest
Kickstarter veterans Matthew and Mark McLachlan have raised nearly $1M for Fidget Cube: gadgets that you can switch, twist, click, glide, and roll when you want to do something with your hands. Read the rest
The incomparably great Vihart continues her Doodling in Math Class video series with a history and demonstration of the miraculous Hexaflexagon, a simple-to-fold paper hexagon that contains several iterations of itself, which can be found by turning it inside-out over and over again. Sure to delight, inform, entertain, and mystify!
Historical Note: This video is based on a true story. Arthur H. Stone really did invent the hexaflexagon after playing with the paper strips he'd cut off his too-wide British paper, and really did start a flexagon committee (which we'll hear more about in the next video). The details and dialogue, however, are my own invention.
(Thanks, Fipi Lele!) Read the rest
