Fidget spinners are a type of stress-relieving toy, consisting of a bearing in the centre of a design made from materials including brass, stainless steel, titanium, copper and plastic.
They have been marketed overseas as having health benefits for children who have trouble focusing or who fidget, by acting as a release mechanism for nervous energy or stress.
They cost between $9 and $30 each.
New Zealand Principals’ Federation president and Bathgate Park School principal Whetu Cormick has expressed concerns about the toy and believed there was no benefit from such devices being at school or in the classroom.
"A toy is a distraction to learning and classroom routines.
"Most schools will have guidelines for bringing personal items to school.
"At Bathgate Park School, if children bring personal items such as toys, they are responsible for their care.
"Toys are not allowed to be played with in class."
The devices have been banned from classrooms around the world and Mr Cormick said New Zealand parents needed to use common sense if they purchased one for their children.
Principals at a dozen Dunedin primary and intermediate schools told the Otago Daily Times they were aware of fidget spinners but had not yet had any issues with them.
Silverstream School principal Greg Hurley said there had been issues in the past with things like chatter rings, Weet-Bix cards and New World Little Shop mini grocery items.
But they had come and gone, like most trends.
He said schools had learnt from previous trends and just because they had not yet had any issues with fidget spinners did not mean they would be free from them in the future.
"Sometimes it takes a while to come down here from the north.‘‘It can go both ways. Sometimes we can start a trend down here and it can take a while for it to go up north.
"We’ll give it a month and see what happens. It takes time for these trends to get around the country."
One of the New Zealand-based suppliers, Game Kings, sold out of the toys last week.
Owner Eliot Jessep said New Zealand children were "going nuts" over the latest game craze.
He believed they were a positive toy because they were luring children away from computers and back to tactile playground games.
"It’s great for the kids, and the parents love it, too, because it’s an old school game like your grandparents used to play — the polar opposite of Pokemon Go."
