The Easter bunny will likely be delivering a lot of fidget spinners in Easter baskets this year alongside chocolate and eggs.
The palm-sized, three-pronged spinners, which twirl reminiscent of a pinwheel, are all the rage among kids who spin them on their fingers, on their noses and more.
"It's mayhem, beyond mayhem," says Jamie Glassberg, vice president of sales at Bay Shore-based Top Trenz, which is distributing its brand, called Spinner Squad. "I've been in business for 23 years. Remember Rainbow Loom and Silly Bandz? This thing is bigger than both."
Spinners come in metallic, in solids, in prints and range in price from about $9 to $20. Top Trenz sells spinners decorated with camouflage, gumballs, soccer balls, and more.
"Did you ever have a pen, and you're tapping the cap on, off, on, off? Or you spin it finger to finger?" Glassberg says. That's the appeal of the spinner _ it's a way to fidget.
"My daughter, she could spin them all day," says Cheryl Haley of East Northport, N.Y., of her daughter Amanda, 10. She says she's sure the Easter bunny will be bringing Amanda another one.
That's the case for A.J. Prudente, 8, of Nesconset, N.Y., as well. "He loves this," says Mom Denise, 49. "He holds it, he spins it, he watches it. It calms him."
Denise says she tried it, and doesn't get why kids find them so mesmerizing. "I spin it, I'm getting dizzy. I said, 'Forget it, take it back,'" she says.
Parents who have had trouble finding spinners for their kids have taken to Facebook parenting pages asking where other moms or dads have found them. People will respond saying they just found one, for instance, at a certain 7-Eleven or other store.
Once Upon a Treetop in Plainview, N.Y., an indoor play area for kids up to age 8, sells the Spinner Squads for $19.99 each. "The kids that come here, they go right for them," says manager Kiara Rega. "It's basically a new trend."
