To understand what a spinner is, it is enough to know the designation of the English word spin. Its interpretation is rotation, that is, it is a rotating toy. A simple design, a wide selection in different price ranges and designs, and even the ability to make it yourself are factors in the increasingly growing popularity of the toy.
A gyroscope or spinner is a device that has one axis and maintains its position constantly.
Spinner device
The spinner is designed in such a way that a light touch of a finger is enough to start it; there are no batteries in the toy.
It consists of several petals with a weighting effect and a bearing located in the center. That is, the bearing is located in the center, and the petals are perpendicular to its axis. The weight of individual parts is selected so as to maintain free rotation of the spinner for as long as possible.
Components of a spinner
1. A cover screwed into the center of the bearing, its purpose is to securely hold the toy during rotation.
2. Frame (housing) - a part that rotates around the central bearing.
3. Bearing – a round ring with balls inside. The balls can be ceramic or metal. Most spinners only have a center bearing. There are models with several bearings, but only the one in the center works; the outer ones are a decorative element.
By the way! When choosing a spinner, pay attention to the quality rating of the bearing - ABEC. The higher it is, the greater the speed and time of rotation of the toy.
The duration of rotation is a criterion for choosing a toy, which becomes the main one literally from the first few rotations.
Ardent fans of spinners zealously choose the bearings and materials from which the toy is made, in order to end up with a gadget that can spin for as long as possible.
Why do you need a spinner?
You can safely answer - this is a toy for situations where there is a tedious waiting process or cases that require active brain activity.
A rotating toy can be found in the hands of a person who is in a state of nervousness, waiting for someone or thinking about something. In this case, a spinner is a great way to free yourself from negative energy, unpleasant thoughts or anxiety. This is a modern alternative to the clicky cap on a ballpoint pen or endless patterns on a sheet of paper.
It’s easy to imagine how earlier, while at school during breaks or during free breaks between lessons, students twirled triangles in their hands, placing their index or middle finger in the hole of this geometric figure.
The spinner is a modern analogue of such school entertainment.
The technique of using it is simple - just grab the bearing with the middle or thumb on either hand and spin it, hitting the blades or petals lightly with the fingers on the opposite hand.
After completing certain training sessions, you can gradually eliminate the use of starting rotational movements with the other hand, that is, get used to it and make rotational-translational movements yourself.
The toy is quite convenient to rotate compared to other objects, which is natural, because it was invented specifically for this purpose. When developing, the creators and designers took into account all the technological nuances and the psychological factor that is triggered in situations where a spinner can be used. External attractiveness, and often exclusive design, the product is a factor in attracting the attention of others, a way to increase the popularity of the owner of the spinner.
Types of spinners
The modern product line includes:
1. Single. The spinner, consisting of a bearing and a frame-bar, is the most compact. However, despite the size, some models are capable of rotating for 4-5 minutes.
2. Three-spinner. The most popular spinner variation. The design consists of a central bearing and three petals. There are models where, in addition to the central bearing, there are additional ones built into each of the petals. Their presence affects the balancing and weight of the product. Materials for making three-spinners: plastic, metal, less often wood and leather.
3. Quad spinner. The design is four petals assembled around a bearing. Advantages over three-spinners are greater stability and smoothness during rotation. Relative disadvantages are larger size and weight.
4. Spinner wheel. The complete absence of petals and the presence of an additional circle made this product look like a bicycle wheel.
5. Exotic spinner. The petals of such products are made in such variations that it is difficult to classify them as tri- or quad-spinners. They can be rounded, asymmetrical, have built-in movable elements and similar attributes. Most of these models are not designed for the average user. This is evidenced by the uniqueness and diversity of design, as well as the materials used for their production - zirconium, Damascus steel, mokume-gane and others.
We should also highlight the spinner, the body of which is printed using a 3D printer. The number and design of petals can be any. The assembly time for such a product is within one and a half hours. On social networks you can find more than one group where there are not only those who want to make a spinner using their own equipment, but also diagrams and drawings for creating such toys.
Benefits of using the toy
Speaking about the benefits of the product, it is worth highlighting the physiological and psychotherapeutic aspects.
Benefits for the body
1. Development of fine motor skills of the hands. Very relevant for teenagers.
2. Promoting the development of hands and fingers. This factor should be taken into account by those who have suffered a hand injury accompanied by prolonged immobilization (presence of a plaster cast).
Psychological and psychotherapeutic aspects
1. Relieve stress, normalize mental state.
2. Help in the process of getting rid of bad habits.
3. A factor of better concentration, the ability to quickly find the necessary solutions to a problem.
Using a toy chosen taking into account personal preferences has a positive effect on the owner’s mood and the perception of him by others.
Harm from using a spinner
The main thing that can be dangerous about a spinner is the possibility of injuring your fingers when spinning.
The reason is poor quality materials and insufficient uniformity of the toy’s surface.
You can eliminate this factor at the purchase stage by carefully choosing a toy.
During use, you should also check the product for roughness and other micro damage.
Buying a spinner, what to look for
1. Appearance of the product. A spinner is not only a cure for stress, it is an opportunity to express yourself and your individuality. Moreover, today the choice of toys is very large.
2. Vibration when rotating. All spinners vibrate and make a sound. Its volume varies and depends on the material of the bearing and the product, its weight, and maximum rotation speed. If you are not a fan of excessive noise, give up metal toys and consider ceramics.
3. Ergonomics of the product. The spinner should not cause inconvenience. Each person's hands are unique. Some people can easily spin a massive metal spinner, while for others the ideal option is a light wooden toy.
4. Cost. Spinners prices start at $5. Cheaper ones are, as a rule, Chinese assembled, made on 3D printers. Those wishing to purchase a product made from high-quality materials or with a unique design should consider models starting at $60.
5. Bearings.
The most commonly used bearings in spinners are 508, 608 and r188. The latter has the highest ABEC rating.
Steel - this bearing requires minimal attention and is easy to maintain; it is installed on most models.
Ceramic – Ceramic balls located inside the bearing promote smooth rotation with reduced vibration and noise. The cost of a spinner with a ceramic bearing will be more expensive than a similar product with a steel one.
Hybrids are bearings that use both steel and metal balls.
Where to buy a spinner
1. Online stores, including large online hypermarkets.
2. Trading platforms for aliexpress.
3. Vape shops. The presence of fidget spinners in such stores is no coincidence, because they are an excellent way to get rid of the craving for smoking.
How to make a spinner with your own hands
It turns out that making a pinwheel yourself is not at all difficult.
So, the spinner consists of a body, a centrally placed bearing and a plug. The most important link is the bearing; the operation of this toy or the quality and positiveness of rotational movements depends on it. It is also necessary to provide 2 plugs to ensure the closure of free holes.
Paper version of the spinner.
The most optimal materials for making this interesting thing are paper or cardboard. When using paper, you need to prepare 4 bearings, a stationery knife and glue. Initially, you need to decide on the size and make a drawing. After drawing the sketch on paper, cut out the potential spinner and carefully cut the holes for installing the bearings using small scissors.
By the way, nail scissors are perfect for painstaking work on a paper spinner.
It is important to make the diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the bearing itself. This is necessary so that when installing the element, it fits tightly enough to avoid falling out during rotation. In order to make gluing, you will need a large amount of glue to create a certain strength. After the work is done, you can paint the homemade product in any color. Making a product out of paper or cardboard is the most affordable way to make a toy.
Wooden spinner.
For those who like to work with wood using jigsaws or drills, it is proposed to make a spinner from wood - an environmentally friendly, harmless material. The wooden product is pleasant to the touch and beautiful.
Stages:
1. First you need to select the material.
The main criterion when choosing is strength.
For beginners, you can also use plywood, since when working with pure wood you need experience in carrying out such work.
2. Preparing a sketch. You can print it from online resources or make it yourself.
4. Sanding. After the spinner blank is ready, you should grind it using sandpaper. This is done to prevent injury to the hands or damage to the skin from the splinter.
5. It is best to drill the hole for the bearings. It is important to take into account that drilling a hole should initially be done from one side to the middle of the thickness of the wood, and then from the other side. This is the only way to get a good result. The thickness of the wooden layer should be the same dimensions as the thickness of the bearing. If the thickness of the plywood sheet is slightly higher, then it should be sanded to ensure evenness.
Spinner made from caps.
How to make a spinner without a bearing? The simplest and most affordable way to make a spinner with your own hands without using a bearing is a spinner made from plastic bottle caps. To do this, you need to take only three lids and glue them together with instant glue on the sides. The result is a matryoshka doll consisting of three identical parts.
Next, it is enough to drill the middle part so that the refill from a ballpoint pen can fit there. Then take the rod without the paste contained in it and cut off a piece of about 3 cm, then place it in the previously drilled hole. The spinner is ready.
Now, holding the rod on both sides with your thumb and middle finger, you can make rotational movements.
Lego spinner.
To always have an anti-stress toy at home, you can make it yourself, using parts from children's Lego construction sets. It is lightweight and this invention lasts longer.
To make it, just take three round parts from the construction set and glue them together with their end sides, similar to a product made from plastic bottle caps. Only in this case it is not necessary to insert a piece of ball paste rod into the middle; it will rotate just fine just like that.
Spinner tricks
In addition to simply rotating the toy, you can try transferring the spinner from one hand to the other, or moving it between your fingers.
A more difficult option is tossing and intercepting the spinner while spinning.
Spin gurus are able to juggle two or more spinners at the same time.
So, having finished with the theory, it’s worth trying to see how the spinner is right for you. Perhaps, after just a few training sessions, you will be able to perform the tricks described above.
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If you try to record how much time a schoolchild spends in his hands with a smartphone, you may turn gray. You cannot take away your cell phone - the child must always be in touch for his own safety, and it is also impossible to control the time - parents are not always with their children. But it seems that a contraption has appeared that can pull modern children out of virtual reality.
The other day, showman Ivan Urgant appeared on television with a strange thing in his hands and said that the spinner (that’s what this thing is called) is at this stage a symbol of childhood. We decided to tell our readers what a spinner is and why it is so necessary for modern children.
So, let’s say right away that there is no SPECIAL meaning that adults are looking for in this toy. Three rings, and in the middle there is a bearing. The spinet rotates around its own axis. Spins for a very long time. You spin and have fun. ALL!
After the appearance of this toy on the Internet, a stir immediately arose - from rave reviews to perplexed “what is this for?” So what is this?" But for children it doesn’t matter at all - for them, owning these gizmos is a matter of “misfortune and happiness.” You can find them on the Internet in online stores at prices ranging from 350 to 3000 rubles (from the most arrogant sellers). By the way, on Aliexpress you can buy a bucket of spinners for this amount. But not everyone is ready to wait.
Sellers claim that fidget spinners help children with autism. This, of course, is complete nonsense. But one thing is undeniable - children really like these “restless spinners”.
Perhaps all parents who have schoolchildren have seen how modern children behave during recess. Most of them, leaving the office, take smartphones and headphones out of their pockets and wander into the corners. When schoolchildren have spinners, immersion in virtual reality no longer arouses such interest. After all, playing with several spinners is always more interesting: you can, for example, build a tower out of them and spin them all at the same time, or just launch several at once and see whose spinner moves longer.
To be fair, it is worth noting that in the childhood of today’s parents there was something similar - many carried bearings to school. But the modern entertainment industry responds to the needs of children more quickly. And that's great! The only important thing is that modern children like fidget spinners. And it's really cool!
And in continuation of the topic, a story about.
A spinner, as everyone already knows, is a simple spinning toy that appeared at the beginning of 2017 and became the most noticeable trend in the first half of the year. What caused such a wild popularity of this simple twister: unique consumer qualities, novelty and originality, or banal hype based on nothing? Why does everyone need these spinners so much, and do you personally need one? And if you need it, how to choose it?
First you need to figure out what these spinners are and why are they so popular in Moscow?
First, watch the video to better understand what we're talking about:
What's the trick?
The technical characteristics and functionality of these things are very limited. This is a small toy that just spins! A plastic or iron body (other materials are less commonly used) with a bearing in the middle. “Buttons” are attached to the bearing to comfortably hold the handspinner while it rotates - technically, these hand spinners are designed indecently simply and the same! You can twirl it between two fingers, either on the table, or simply move it in your hands. Young fans of spinners begin to practice tricks, and many achieve success - they spectacularly throw a rotating spinner from finger to finger, from behind their backs, mint with them and do other interesting things.
What are they?
In addition to the similar design, there are quite a few differences in the spinners: first of all, this is the body material and its design. Manufacturers compete in originality, unusualness and beauty, constantly releasing more and more new models from a variety of materials and in different styles, from steampunk to fusion, and it seems that they are not going to stop in their attempts to create the most original hand spinner. Presumably, one of the reasons for its popularity is this crazy variety of designs, among which everyone can choose something to their liking. Many people, having once bought such a turntable and appreciated it, are drawn into the movement and want to get another one, then the next one, then another and another, until they have amassed an impressive collection. In fact, it is difficult to resist this mania for “collecting” seeing all the variety of new models that appear on sale.
You have to try it once!
Having never tried to twist this knob, it is difficult to understand why everyone in Moscow and beyond is now turned to them, and if you only know about it from the Internet, most likely the attitude towards them will be, at least, wary! But once you pick up a good spinner, your attitude immediately changes miraculously! Forbes magazine describes this effect perfectly: “When introducing a product to focus groups or random passers-by, the conversation always goes the same way. We tell them about it and get a skeptical-aggressive reaction, but then we let them hold it, and in a matter of seconds the reaction changes - people fall in love with the toy and do not want to return it. This happens every time, without exception.” And this seems to be the main feature!
Spinning it is a pleasure!
It really is a lot of fun to spin. When rotating, a real spinner vibrates a little, you feel a gyroscopic effect (it resists changing its position in space, it is difficult to tilt), sometimes it makes a quiet sound, forms beautiful patterns in the air when rotating, or simply shines - it’s like it’s alive! And you can interact with the spinner in different ways: spin and stop, balance on one finger, spin on the table and watch the rotation gradually slow down. And now this is truly something unprecedented: a small piece of metal with a bearing reveals dozens of ways to interact with it. The main feature and know-how of these spinners is tactility; it has always existed, but before the advent of spinners, few people thought about this category. It is precisely because of the tactility that it is so easy to get hooked on hand spinners.
The Friday TV channel explained this well in its story (which, by the way, was filmed in our store), see:
How to choose a good spinner?
When choosing a spinner, it is important to understand that its “magic” effect is fully realized if you hold a real, good spinner. Every detail is important in any spinner, and if something is not done perfectly, you will constantly pay attention to these shortcomings and instead of pleasure you will get irritation.
You can buy a real good spinner in Moscow in our store, we have a showroom on Taganka, come and choose the spinner that suits you best! We also service and repair spinners, change and clean bearings, and of course, advise clients on any issues related to spinners. And finally, if this topic interests you, you will find a large selection of useful information using the links below.
According to a 2015 study in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, repetitive activities help children with attention deficit disorder concentrate. You can click the automatic handle button, or you can spin the spinner - both are equally good. Although no research has been carried out regarding this particular toy, on the English-language Internet you can find articles about the spinner that begin with the words “teenagers”, “concentration”, “attention deficit”, “benefit”. Largely thanks to them, apparently, the toy became incredibly popular, first in the USA, and then in other countries.
Who invented the spinner?
Although the spinner has gained incredible popularity, bordering on hysteria, only today, it appeared back in the 1990s, and it is most likely impossible to definitely name the creator. The authorship is usually attributed to Katherine Hattinger from Florida: in 1993, she filed documents for a patent for a “spinning toy.” Bloomberg News later reported comments from Jeffrey Blake, an intellectual property lawyer who saw the toy's description in the patent and said it was different from what is called a fidget spinner today.
Katherine tells at least two different stories about how she came up with the idea for the toy. The first appeared in the New York Post. According to her, the woman saw children on the street throwing stones at the police, and with her invention she wanted to make the world a little calmer and give children a less destructive way to spend excess energy. The Guardian Katherine Hettinger told another: she allegedly suffers from myasthenia gravis and cannot fully play with her daughter. To entertain the girl, she glued pieces of newspaper together with tape, making various unusual things.
In general, today we are unlikely to find out exactly how the spinner appeared, so you can choose any of these stories.
A spinner, spinner, fidget spinner, hand spinner (fidget spinner, hand spinner) is a fashionable anti-stress toy today. It is a real salvation for kinesthetic learners who like to twirl something in their hands.
What is a spinner toy?
In the center of the spinner there is a bearing made of ceramic or metal; on the sides of it there are several blades or weights. Finger spinner is made from various materials: plastic, brass, titanium, stainless steel, copper.
A hand spinner is a kind of gadget that consists of the following main parts: a housing with a bearing, a plug and external bearings. The spinner looks like a flat structure that is activated by hitting the side of the wing, causing the wings to rotate quickly.
That is, to spin the toy, you need to hold the middle bearing between your thumb and index finger, and spin the wing with your second hand or middle finger.
The spinner was invented back in the 1990s, but only became popular in 2017. Now its popularity is growing, especially among schoolchildren who have learned to perform various tricks with it. Today, the spinner is very often presented as a toy that brings health benefits. It is interesting that in some US schools it is forbidden to bring fidget spinners because they distract from studying, and in some schools, on the contrary, they are recommended to help students concentrate.
The spinner is an effective tool for self-regulation. It is used to calm and relieve anxiety, to reduce anxiety and stress. In addition, the fidget toy helps develop fine motor skills of the fingers and increase tactile sensitivity, and this promotes concentration, strengthens memory, and develops intellectual abilities.
According to Money magazine, the popularity of these fidget spinner toys began to grow in April 2017, during which time the number of Google searches for the phrase “fidget spinner” sharply increased.
On April 27, 2017, the New York Post wrote that “so-called fidget spinners are a passing fad that is sweeping the country with its scale, and stores cannot keep up with the demand for them.”
In May, spinners topped Amazon's list of 20 best-selling toys.
Today, hand spinners amaze with their diversity. As mentioned above, they differ in the materials from which they are made (metal, wood, plastic, etc.), sizes, colors, rotation speed, weight, size of cut-out holes and edging.
Health effects of spinner toys
Money magazine published an article saying fidget spinners were "originally created and marketed as a calming aid that could be used to help stay focused." On Amazon, fidget toys were advertised as “anti-stress.”
There is a well-known teacher who used fidget spinners when working with autistic children, and they actually helped calm the kids.
But expert opinions are ambiguous. Some agree that fidget spinners are beneficial for people with ADHD and autism, while others argue that fidget spinners are more of a distraction than an aid to concentration.
Those experts who are in favor of fidget spinners say that they are not only a stylish anti-stress toy, but also a simulator that helps keep your fingers and hands toned. In the process of interacting with the hand twister, stress, fear, anxiety decreases, concentration improves, the level of irritability decreases, and the emotional state returns to normal.
This toy is suitable for people with monotonous or stressful work; it helps to relax, relieve stress, and redirect attention.
Thanks to the spinner, you can get rid of some bad habits: tapping a pen on the table, twirling your hair with your finger, biting a pencil, nails, and performing other meaningless actions.
In addition, with the help of a spinner toy, you can learn to perform interesting tricks, film them and post them for everyone to see.
A hand spinner is an original gift for both adults and children.
You can clearly see what a fidget spinner toy is in the video:
