Student Contributor: D. Peterson
The Mesh and Marble Monkey Fidget tool is a great fidget toy for students of all ages. This toy helps students who have extra energy, students who constantly move around as well as students who battle high stress and anxiety levels. These toys help by promoting a sense of calmness, can reduce anxiety or stress and can increase focus in the classroom.
The Mesh and Marble Monkey Fidget tool is a great way for students in your classroom to move around without making noise or distracting any other student. How the fidget toy works is by squeezing the marble from one side of the mesh to the other, creating quiet movement. They can be bought in packs of 10 to survive the school year and are made from very durable material so they are expected to be quality tools in the class. How this fidget toy is different from other fidget toys is that it makes no noise when being used and emits no lights or distracting movements. Students prior to using the toy will need to be expected to treat this toy in the right manner and should be used only when needed. With multiple of these toys in the classroom, it would be best to store them at a community table to be used when a student needs it or to lend them out yourself individually.
The Mesh and Marble Monkey Fidget tool would come from the Supportive phase. This toy helps keep students who move around stay focused at the task at hand while not distracting other students from instruction. It can also reduce misbehavior or outbursts by helping students release extra energy throughout the day. For students with anxiety or high stress levels, this would be a great tool to use because it brings the students back to the task at hand without raising unwanted behavior during instruction. This tool is also a student-centered strategy because the teacher and the student work together to overcome the students high levels of energy or stress by quietly fidgeting with this toy.
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Tool Source: This idea was introduced to me in class and class discussion.
