A recent article in The Atlantic reported on interesting research on stress balls and other types of hand held toys. Researchers from the Polytechnic Institute of New York looked at what they call "fidget widgets." These are objects people play with while thinking about something else. Their preliminary findings indicate playing with these toys might boost both attention and memory. In a training session or a meeting, a staff member who is fiddling with a object might just be doing it to improve their ability to pay attention. Neuroscience has shown that physical activity improves brain functioning. Particularly for kinesthetic learners, the physical manipulation of an object can be helpful.
Maybe "fidget widgets" for everyone at the beginning of staff training might be a good idea next summer.
