Truly silent fidget toy?

January 2, 2022 1:10 PM

I’ve gotten my daughter many, many fidget toys over the years. The trouble is every one makes some kind of repetitive noise, which drives her sister (and sometimes me) crazy, especially in the car. Case in point: those little clicky cubes, or whirring spinners. The closest I’ve found is the rubbery bubble-popping sheets, but she’s not really a fan of those. Is there such thing as a *truly* silent fidget toy?
posted by gottabefunky to Shopping (18 answers total)

I use hair scrunchies on conference calls. A couple are fabric, and a couple are basically coiled phone cord. Plain black hair elastics work as well.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:17 PM on January 2, 2022

Does it need to be one handed? Cat’s cradle is a good fidget activity. And it can be done with one or more people. There are also small squishy toys which are fun.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:22 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Yes to any kind of elastic. And Therapy Putty works very well for fidgets.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:34 PM on January 2, 2022

Look for "fidget snakes" or "fidget snake puzzle" toys. They're foldable snake-shaped puzzles of interlinked triangles that you can curl up, twist around, roll and unroll etc. They're not completely silent if someone's really throwing them around, but they're not designed to make a clicky noise or anything. They usually come in nice bright colours as well which might appeal to her.
posted by fight or flight at 1:37 PM on January 2, 2022

My eleven-year-old grandson loves these magnets.
posted by davcoo at 1:38 PM on January 2, 2022

Spiky sensory rings are silent. I had to stretch mine out a bit before they'd fit on my fingers.
posted by needs more cowbell at 1:42 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Silicone stress balls are either silent or very close to it.
posted by box at 1:46 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Putty! Silly Putty, Thinking Putty, or even therapy putty. They come in cool colors and are endlessly occupying--and are totally silent.
posted by rhiannonstone at 1:52 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Whirring fidget spinners can be rendered almost totally silent with a drop of sewing machine oil in each bearing.
posted by flabdablet at 1:58 PM on January 2, 2022

Fidget rings, either the silicone (non-popping, non-spinning) textured kind, or the metal kind that can be fiddled with or spun relatively silently. There are also necklace pendants that serve the same purpose.
posted by erst at 2:10 PM on January 2, 2022

Therapy Shoppe has a whole section of silent classroom fidgets.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 3:08 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

My six year old’s absolute favourite fidget out of dozens we’ve tried is a small piece of modeling clay.
posted by makonan at 7:06 PM on January 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

My kid has something called a “bike chain floppy fidget” and its silent and fascinating.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:32 PM on January 2, 2022

This Flipping Rings fidget toy is practically silent. I still have one in front of me. :)
posted by kschang at 6:10 AM on January 3, 2022

This was a “saw it on TikTok” beauty buy but the REVLON Oil-Absorbing Volcanic Face Roller has been an excellent fidget tool, and IIRC it’s silent or nearly silent—there might be a very quiet scraping sound as the stone rolls.
posted by emkelley at 8:47 AM on January 3, 2022

I used locker rugs in therapy for soothing sensory input--I'm not sure they'd work as fidgets, but I think they might!
posted by epj at 9:56 AM on January 3, 2022

My kiddo likes these mesh things with a marble inside and these peapod doodads. He also has the flipping rings toy that kschang mentioned, which has been an enduring favorite. All silent and teacher-approved.

(We also have a set of Noodlies that he never got into, but the adults in the house really like.)
posted by Siobhan at 11:53 AM on January 3, 2022

If she's old enough, crochet (only one needle so no clicking sounds like with knitting) or basic needlepoint can keep her hand and mind engaged while riding along.
posted by dawkins_7 at 2:08 PM on January 3, 2022