Fidget tools – such as fidget spinners and bouncy bands – are advertised by manufacturers to improve academic performance in children. Therefore, these tools are often used in the classroom setting, either as a universal tool for all children or specifically for children with elevated ADHD-symptomatology. However, there is a paucity of ecologically valid research on the effectiveness of these tools in elementary school children. This study examined the effect of fidget spinners and bouncy bands on mathematics and listening performance of 233 children (53% boys, M_age = 9.10) in their regular classroom setting. ADHD-symptomatology was assessed by parent report and children’s movement was objectively measured by accelerometers. Linear mixed-effect models revealed that fidget spinners had an overall detrimental effect on academic performance, regardless of ADHD-symptomatology. Likewise, for the bouncy band an overall negative effect on children’s performance was found. However, further exploratory analyses suggested that for children with more symptoms of inattention the use of a bouncy band may reduce the negative effect of these symptoms on mathematics performance. Based on these findings, we advise against the use of fidget spinners or bouncy bands as universal therapeutic classroom tools to improve academic performance in elementary school children. More research is warranted on the potential beneficial effect of bouncy bands for children with elevated inattention symptoms.

制造商宣传指尖陀螺和弹力带等指尖工具是为了提高儿童的学业成绩。因此，这些工具经常在课堂环境中使用，要么作为所有儿童的通用工具，要么专门针对患有多动症症状的儿童。然而，关于这些工具对小学生的有效性，缺乏生态学上有效的研究。这项研究调查了指尖陀螺和弹力带对 233 名儿童（53% 是男孩， M_岁）的数学和听力表现的影响。 = 9.10）在他们的常规课堂环境中。ADHD 症状通过家长报告进行评估，儿童的运动通过加速度计客观测量。线性混合效应模型显示，无论 ADHD 症状如何，指尖陀螺都会对学习成绩产生总体不利影响。同样，弹力带对儿童的表现也有总体负面影响。然而，进一步的探索性分析表明，对于有更多注意力不集中症状的儿童，使用弹力带可能会减少这些症状对数学成绩的负面影响。基于这些发现，我们建议不要使用指尖陀螺或弹力带作为通用治疗性课堂工具来提高小学生的学习成绩。