MakerSpace: DIY Fidget Spinners in Three Ways

This past week we spent some time setting up a DIY Fidget Spinner station at the Teen MakerSpace at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (OH). There are no shortage of DIY Fidget Spinner tutorials out there and we tried several and landed on the following three for our DIY Fidget Spinner station.

Cardboard Fidget Spinners (No Bearings)

The basic premise for our fidget spinner was found at the Red Ted Art blog and corresponded nicely with our new MakeDo Cardboard Creations station. You can find the basic tutorial here: http://www.redtedart.com/make-fidget-spinner-diy/. The no bearing center uses a toothpick, hot glue and cardboard as the spinning mechanism which we used for both our cardboard and origami fidget spinners.

To see a short video of our cardboard fidget spinner, click here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVSxb6CnWHP/?taken-by=makerspaceplmvkc

Supplies Needed:

• Cardboard
• Box cutter
• Toothpicks
• Hot glue
• Pennies
• Embellishments (if desired)

Very low cost, quick and easy, effective

Origami Fidget Spinner (No Bearings)

Using the same premise as above, we also made an origami fidget spinner. You can find a variety of origami ninja star tutorials online and turn your origami ninja star into a fidget spinner. We used a toothpick and beads to make our own bearing to create the spinning mechanism.

To see a short video of our origami fidget spinner, click here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVSxMkWHJ4Q/?taken-by=makerspaceplmvkc

Supplies Needed:

• Origami paper
• Toothpicks
• Hot glue
• Embellishments (if desired)

Very low cost, quick and easy, effective

3D Pen Fidget Spinner (with Bearings)

We also bought some bearings off of Amazon and used them in combination with our 3D pens to make fidget spinners. Our first attempt looked like a traditional fidget spinner and used 4 ball bearings. It spins really well and we are very happy with the outcome.

With our second attempt we wanted to see if we could make our ball bearings go farther so we used one for the center to make our spinning mechanism and replaced the exterior ball bearings with pennies. By doing this, we can make more fidget spinners with the bearings we have on hand. This worked basically the same.

To create our 3d pen fidget spinner we made circles around all four of our objects first and then we joined them together.

Supplies Needed:

• 3D pen and filament
• Ball bearing
• Pennies

Higher cost because you need a 3D pen, filament, and the bearings, a little more challenging and time consuming, effective

In setting up a station with various types of fidget spinners for teens to try they get to really engage in comparing and contrasting and problem solving. We’ve already made a variety of various fidget spinners and find it to be a lot of fun. I highly recommend this activity.

Filed under: Makerspace