18 Stress-Relieving Toys That’ll Fit on Your Desk
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The modern-day professional must deal with unhealthy amounts of stress being accumulated over time.
Trying to balance work and personal life amidst all this mental stress is no easy task, hence, many adults are seeking stress-relieving toys to aid in dispersing the negative energy.
These gadgets work by calming or distracting the individual from the stressful activity that they currently experience. Stress-relief toys have gained a lot of popularity in recent years and have been proven to unwind employees during an anxiety attack.
Many organizations have understood the importance of stress-alleviating toys and usually, have a dedicated space set up with equipment for employees to relax.
THE DANGERS OF WORKING IN A STRESSFUL PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Health-related disorders
The effects of stress on the psychological mind are numerous. Employees take up unhealthy habits to beat stress such as severe alcohol consumption and smoking, which further lead to lethal heart complications and stroke in the long run.
It’s not uncommon to see someone in their early 30’s suffer from a heart attack these days and even youngsters in their 20’s aren’t spared from the ill effects of stress. Demands of excessive workload and pent-up frustration are the main contributors to stress for many working professionals.
Many European countries widely recognize stress as a major occupational hazard and hence, have plenty of stress preventing activities scheduled for their employees.
The use of stress-relieving toys is widely recognized and approved by the health facilities in Europe. Regular usage of these gadgets has proven to bring down the negative effects of performance in employees and has even helped improve moods.
Constant State of Aggression
A significant rise in aggressive individuals has been recorded by psychologists and medical practitioners due to stress-related disorders. Increased injury rates through accidents and poor sleep are also a major contribution caused by stress.
There is also a strong rise in suicides recorded globally with people who are unable to manage their stress levels. Violent crimes such as sexual harassment and third-party attacks are on the rise when workers can’t bring their mental pressure under control. Stress isn’t just a personal threat but it’s a threat to society.
While physical activity can let out the steam, it’s not always an available option to those with a confined working space. That’s where stress-relieving toys come in. They can be conveniently placed on your desk and can be accessed at a moment’s notice when you feel agitated towards something.
In hard evidence supported by scientists from Netherlands and Hungary, stress is directly proportional to our acts of violence. The experiment was conducted in a 5-phase manner where 53 male rats were electrically stimulated to feel stress, the rats then began to release a chemical, similar to cortisol in humans, and the behavior resulted in the rats becoming aggressive by the minute.
Poor Relationships Caused by Work Stress
Sadly, stress isn’t something that can be left back at work to pick it up the next working day. It follows you back home and can disrupt the relationships with your loved ones. Over 98% of Americans have reported that stress has ruined their relationship in some way or the other.
Pent-up stress causes us to isolate ourselves from the world and live in a dark and lonely place. The pressure at work also diminishes our motivation to work and eventually, we set aside our goals and end up with a series of depressive mood swings. Catching depression at its earliest stage is the swiftest way to normalizing our life.
Stress-relieving toys introduce a pleasurable way for us to distract our minds from challenging work practices and help in managing our work life better.
This video demonstrates how Tony Robbins breakdowns the dangers of stress and why it is necessary to find a solution fast.
WHAT ARE STRESS RELIEVING GADGETS? HOW DO THEY WORK IN LOWERING STRESS?
Relaxation is a key part that plays an important role in dispersing all the pent-up negative energy that we take in daily. Stress relieving toys offer a soothing and therapeutic way for professionals to comfort themselves through activity.
The need for twirling your hair and biting your nails are long past, ensure you’ve got a few stress toys on your work desk.
Stress is caused due to a rush of hormones such as — adrenaline, and cortisol. These hormones are linked to providing us with immediate energy or provide us with the necessary means to fight when danger presents itself.
Since these triggers are constantly turned on for the better part of our day, it could cause our bodies to overload and have a mental breakdown.
Hence, it’s extremely necessary to provide bouts of distractions through regular use of stress-toys and bring down the overall stress levels.
A research led by the Department of Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted a study in May 2015, to understand the effects of stress by grouping 30 college students together. The study offered conclusive evidence that stress was reduced by a large margin when the group was introduced to stress-balls as their primary activity.
While many of the toys are classic stress busters, the new age toys release your mental tension and induce your mind to relax. The real benefit of these toys is to be able to cope with stress on a long-term.
18 STRESS-RELIEVING TOYS THAT SHOULD BE A PART OF YOUR WORK DESK
1. Desktop Cornhole (Miniature Edition)
Features
- Mini board game
- Raised Platforms
- Tiny bean bags
- Ideal for Work Desks
Summary
The cornhole is a popular game that is found in carnivals or lawn parties where the goal of the game is to land the most number of bags from one side of the platform to the other. The miniaturized cornhole game keeps all the fun of the actual set up intact and is great to set some time aside to play a game or two with your office mates.
The mini kit comes equipped with its own mini bean bags and raised platforms are provided for an ideal good time whenever you seek it. The board game is ideal for an office environment where you could play with up to 4 players at a time. The competitiveness is sure to create a fun atmosphere and you could instantly alleviate stress levels during your break.
2. Mini Magnetic Fishing Kit
Features
- Magnetic hook to catch the fish
- Colored fish with various point system
- Miniature fishing pole provided
- Convenient to carry around
Summary
Distract yourself by acquiring a magnetic fishing kit and compete with your co-workers for the high scores. This fun little fishing kit will entertain you whenever you feel the need to let out steam. The aim of the game is to hook as many fish as you can by utilizing the magnetic pole. The more fish you catch the more respect you earn among your peers.
The competitiveness allows the game to be played by up to 3 players at a time. You don’t have to leave your office and head out for a fishing trip to enjoy a relaxing time, bring the fun of fishing to your work desk every day.
3. Kinetic Sand
Features
- Non-drying kinetic sand
- Available in multiple colors
- No batteries required
- Non-sticky and easily moldable
Summary
Bring out your inner creativity by molding the Kinetic Sand into any shape that you might imagine. The clay-like substance is made up of entirely non-sticky ingredients, so you don’t have to worry about a messy work desk. The toy is suitable for individuals looking to create shapes or figures and can provide minutes of distraction from your mundane working experience.
The multiple colors allow you to form distinct designs that you could show off to your office troops and let them be impressed by your imaginative mind. The Kinetic Sand is a perfect item to gift your work colleague and share the calming process along the way.
4. Wood Rolling Stick Toy
Features
- Compact — can easily be carried in one hand
- Made of Wood
- Comes in various colors
Summary
The wood rolling stick is a simple and entertaining way to toss a wooden piece of block that will roll its way to your target. You could roll the block around and toss it back to your other hand and so forth. While there is no set goal for the wood rolling stick toy, the process of shifting the block back and forth is highly addictive and entertaining.
You will be surprised at how easily it can distract your mind with just a few tosses. The best part about this quirky toy is that it can mesmerize anyone that watches you do it and you are bound to get some surprising glances your way at work.
5. Nanoblock Kit
Features
- Over 100 building block pieces
- Assorted color range
- Designed to create sculptures of any sort
Summary
Remember playing with your favorite building blocks as a kid? Every time you created a magnificent design with those blocks, you would get the impending rush of showing it to every kid in your neighborhood. Now recreate the same experience with the Nanoblock Kit, except the neighborhood is now your office space.
The building blocks are colored distinctively to provide a rich experience in creating micro-designs of your choice. Once you create your design you can place the sculpture proudly on your work desk and present your trophy for everyone to witness.
6. The Calm Cube
Features
- Unique six-sided fidget toy
- Portable in your pocket
- Each side has a special function — Glide, Click, Roll, Flip, Spin
Summary
The calm cube is a phenomenal piece of equipment that allows you to quickly de-stress your mind with its various functions. The cube is shaped like a “Dice”, each side of the surface has a unique feature to it.
The toy allows you to click rubber buttons, flip switches, spin wheels, glide a joystick, and roll over a surface. Due to its various functions, the calm cube is a perfect desk toy to keep around when you feel like you need to de-stress.
The simple object is made from rubber to allow you to relax your nerves and maintain your focus. If you feel agitated simply, take your calm cube out and begin to fiddle with its many features to maintain a calm mind.
Here’s a video displaying the calm cube in action along with the fidget spinner.
7. Hanayama Cast Puzzle
Features
- Brainteaser Puzzle
- Metal framework
- Provides intense challenges to solve by reassembling and interlocking
- Ideal for a Display Unit
Summary
An important activity to consider when you feel the need to calm down is to distract your brain with an activity such as solving puzzles.
The Hanayama Level 3 Cast Puzzle is an ideal object that allows you to recreate a design by interlocking metal pieces together. Each design is more complex than the the next.
Once the design is achieved, you can choose to display the metal piece on your work desk for others to appreciate.
Much of the designs are based on a geometric aspect and creative job enthusiasts will truly find a great deal of entertainment by solving the challenges.
8. The Magic Decision Maker
Features
- Kinetic Motion
- For Entertainment Purpose Only
- Ideal Work Desk Object
Summary
During our hectic work schedule, we may need something more than board games to distract us from our complicated thought processes.
That’s where the Magic Decision Maker comes in, it’s an object that works by pulling a metal pendulum back and by thinking of a question, then letting loose of the pendulum. Once the pendulum stops, the word that it highlights is your answer to the problem in mind.
The answer isn’t to be taken literally and only serves as an entertaining diversion. Think of a question such as “Should I be going to the bar today?”, and then proceed by checking with the magic decision maker, if the answer comes as “No Way”, well you could consider heading back home for some much-needed snooze.
9. Kendama
Features
- Wood construction
- Non-stretching and nylon string
- Various challenging levels of play
Summary
The Kendama is famous in Japan for being a traditional cup-and-ball game that has been entertaining kids and adults alike for years. The trick is to throw the ball portion of the object into the air and try and catch it with the wood cups provided.
What makes the Kendama extremely fun for the average working professional is that it takes little to no prior experience to understand how it works.
However, the Kendama can also be improved upon in terms of difficulty by tossing the ball and maneuvering the wooden base to form complicated techniques such as the — lighthouse, candle, airplane, etc.
The Kendama is a great addition to your work-desk toys to get you to relax within a few minutes of play.
10. Silly Putty
Features
- Bouncy stretchable rubber substance
- Vintage toy
- Ideal for Working Professional
Summary
The Silly Putty is the 20th century’s reimagination of what the 1950’s was like with its cool retro packaging. The toy itself is like wet clay except there isn’t any mess when you’re done with it, which makes it an ideal work-desk toy. You can twist and cut it into different shapes and sizes.
The experience is like touching taffy and is ideal for relieving stress symptoms. The classic toy offers more fun than you can handle.
11. Mindless Coloring Book — This Annoying Life
Features
- 64 pages of witty illustrations
- Paperback design
- Ideal gifting option
Summary
The things we do to get stress off our backs when all we need is to simply sit back and color illustrations.
“This Annoying Life” is a perfect title for the book and it translates to what working professionals feel daily and why it’s necessary to calm our minds instead of causing strain to our bodies. The book aims to destress us at work by offering therapy in the form of color.
The illustrations themselves are humorous but the real fun begins when we attempt to go on a coloring craze and add our own unique twist to these cartoons.
12. Scalp Massager
Features
- Portable massager with handle
- Tingling sensation promotes blood flow and relaxes stressed muscles
- Simple to use by yourself
Summary
Whoever said that to get a great massage we need to hit the spa, has clearly no idea of the existence of this amazing product. The scalp massager provides every bit of the experience that you may find in an expensive beauty spa except its available on your desk for you to use at any time.
To use the massager, simply align the extenders to your scalp and gently press down to experience a relaxed sensation that instantly alleviates your sore muscles. It’s a great way to instantly provide your hot-headed mind with a cooling wave of calmness.
13. Aromatherapy Diffuser (Miniature)
Features
- Diffuses essential oils to relax the mind and soothe senses
- Instant Relaxation
- Can be placed on your office desk
Summary
An aromatherapy diffuser works by adding a few drops of essential oil to water set in a diffuser bowl. The diffuser bowl is then switched on and the vapor of the concoction is released into the air where you can take deep breaths to soothe your mind.
Many Aromatherapy diffusers come in the form of a USB or toy and can be conveniently placed on your work desk to improve your focus.
Essential oils have been proven to improve attention span and increase the efficiency of your mind to focus. This is an extremely valuable stress-relieving toy that can add many benefits to your workspace.
14. Mini Desktop Arcade Machine
Features
- Over 200 games included
- Built-in speakers
- Powered by batteries
- Color Screen
Summary
Ever wished you could go back into the 80’s or 90’s and play the vintage arcade games? Now that reality is a possibility with the Mini Desktop Arcade Machine, it features a portable console that is packed with a variety of well-known games from the retro era. The speakers offer enough clarity for you to enjoy a gaming experience and aren’t too loud to alert your boss of your gaming escapades.
The variety of games offer a quick burst of entertainment and is ideal for your work desk. When not in use, the arcade machine looks like an ideal display unit and is sure to catch the attention of your gaming coworkers.
15. Rubik’s Cube
Features
- Highly entertaining puzzle solving challenge
- Vibrant colors
- Simple Learning Curve
Summary
The classic Rubik’s Cube makes the list of extremely entertaining work-desk toys that you just can’t miss.
Without surprise, the Rubik’s cube can consume countless periods of stress trying to solve the basic challenge of getting every color to match its side. You could compete with a coworker at the office to complete the challenge in the least time possible.
With the entire office competing for a top score, you will surely find hours of fun while also finding a quick way to distract yourself from work.
16. Desktop Basketball
Features
- Miniature basketball ring and mini ball
- Easy to Assemble
- Suction Cup Base for stand
Summary
You don’t have to hit the basketball court to have a game of ball with your favorite coworkers. Set up the basketball stand and have an entertaining time competing for the high scores. The desktop basketball toy provides plenty of fun and entertainment for working professionals that prefer outdoor sports but aren’t allowed to leave the office premises during work hours.
Why stop the outdoor fun when you can bring your own basketball ring to your desk? The setup comes with its own mini basketballs that require being precise and require a lot of attention to landyour points. Before you know it, your work stress is off the table.
17. Magnetic Checkerboard
Features
- Foldable Set
- Stainless Steel Board
- Magnetic Pieces
Summary
If you’ve ever wanted to play checkers with an office mate but decided against it due to your boss’s swooping eyes, here’s a toy that is going to blow your mind. The Magnetic Checkerboard is no larger than a smartphone and you can conveniently carry it along with you. The magnetic pieces allow you to play a game without the disruptive features of plastic pieces.
You’ll never lose another checker piece thanks to the anti-slipping surface combined with the magnetic feature. Next time, you feel like a game of checkers, simply open your box and the game’s on!
18. Fidget Spinner
Features
- Pocket-sized Gadget
- Ultra-durable
- Certified to Increase Focus
Summary
Finally, the world-famous fidget spinner that has made waves across the globe. There was no way that this list would be complete without this ever-popular pocket-friendly gadget.
The fidget spinner is the perfect friend to you in terms of distress, it can be easily placed on your work-desk and can be spun anytime you feel the need to release pent-up negative energy.
The fidget spinner is known to improve focus and attention spans and is a great asset for working professionals to consider. The fidget spinner is extremely silent and unlike other forms of entertainment is unlikely to catch your boss’s attention so spin it at your own pace.
CONCLUSION
While exercise can make the body disperse stress, it’s not readily available in an office workspace and that’s why we need to emulate the same release of endorphinsusing stress-toys. It’s for the same reason that doctors provide a stress ball to a patient just before a surgery is performed — to alleviate anxiety.
When used in moderation, stress-toys can become key components to eliminate anxiety-inducing symptoms and can help us maintain a stress-free life.
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