Regulating Through the Ages: Before Fidget Toys and Minecraft, This Is How We Did It
From marbles and hopscotch to fidget toys and slime- how past generations calmed their nervous systems, what’s missing now, and how we can help.
Throughout the years, we all had our own intuitive ways of self-regulating.
Each generation had its own “thing” that brought the nervous system into sync through rhythm, predictability, and patterned repetition.
Let’s take a little trip through time…
The GI Generation (born ~1900–1925)
How they regulated:
Manual labor & repetitive tasks (shelling peas, sewing, sweeping, handwashing clothes)
Knitting, quilting, mending (rhythmic hand movements)
Singing folk songs or hymns together (helped them breathe in rhythm and feel connected through sound)
Marbles
Storytelling
Pocket-watches (weren’t just for telling time..they gave a rhythm to follow a small routine of winding, clicking, and listening that most likely helped to settle the mind.)
Life was harder for them in many ways, but it was full of steady physical rhythms that grounded the nervous system in a world that didn’t always feel safe.
The Silent Generation (born ~1925–1950)
How they regulated:
Rocking chairs and porch swings
Whittling wood, knitting, card games/ shuffling
Walking nearly everywhere (which gave rhythm and grounding)
Singing in school, church, or at home
Dancing to radios or record players
Hopscotch, jump rope, dominos
Whistling or humming while working
Stamp + coin collecting (involved categorizing, organizing and sorting by detail which is calming to the pattern-loving brain)
Spoon collecting
Doll collecting (helped with regulation by acting out caretaking, mirroring and creating routines)
Duck Duck Goose and London Bridge is Falling Down (then passed these games down to the baby boomers)
This generation regulated through simplicity and community. Their lives may have appeared a bit restrained, but underneath it all was steady repetition and routines that anchored their nervous systems in a rapidly changing world.
Baby Boomer Generation (born ~1950–1975)
How they regulated:
Rolling down hills, climbing trees
Swingsets, monkey bars, spinning on merry-go-rounds
Jacks, yo-yos, Slinkys, rhythmic hand-play
Journaling or typing on typewriters (tactile and sound rhythm)
Dance parties, bike rides, church choirs
Roller skating
Building model ships or airplanes
Long phone conversations- twirling the cord while pacing the room
Etch A Sketch and Lite-Brite (hand control, visual pattern and repetition)
Putting patches and embroidery over holes in jeans
Hippie subculture (the younger Boomers) regulated and expressed themselves through tie-dyeing, beading, gardening, drumming circles, hiking/ camping, walking barefoot, making art, painting, and going to concerts. For some, psychedelic exploration played a role too…used not just for rebellion, but as a way to reset/ expand the nervous system.
For many Baby Boomers, play and regulation involved movement and hands-on activities. Whether it was dancing to records, typing on a typewriter, or riding bikes with friends, their nervous systems were supported by steady, repetitive sensory input that was naturally built into everyday life.
Gen X–Millennials (born ~1975–1995)
*My generation!*
How we regulated:
Hand clapping games like Miss Mary Mack and “crack an egg on your head” ritual type games
Slap bracelets, Tamagotchis, mood rings
Making friendship bracelets
Legos (structured creativity and pattern building.)
Doodling and drawing (remember that weird “S” shape? That was symmetry and pattern…very regulating and satisfying to draw)
Rollerblading, pogo sticks
Making mixtapes/ CDs
Walkmans and Discmans
Nintendo64, Sega Genesis/ Gameboys
Clicking pens, putting glue all over our hands and peeling it off.
POGS! (involved stacking and flipping…all rhythmic and satisfying)
Folding notes in those little triangle origami shapes (rhythmic hand folding and social regulation…created connection and anticipation)
We grew up in that perfect time between analog and digital…riding bikes, recording songs from the radio onto tapes to capture our favorite songs, to making friendship bracelets…just as the internet was starting to “come online” in our lives.
Gen Z / Gen Alpha Kids (born ~1995–now)
How they regulate now:
Fidget toys, putty, pop-its, Squishmallows
Playing with slime and creating all different concoctions (puffy/ butter/ clear slime)
Creating digital art + animation
Lo-fi music creation or remixing audio (auditory control, rhythmic grounding through sound)
Video games like Minecraft, Roblox
Scrolling (but this is often dysregulating)
ASMR
Short-form video editing (such as CapCut or TikTok drafts…pattern, sequencing and visual timing)
Weighted blankets, sensory rooms in schools (when accessible)
Watching Youtube/ Netflix shows (often on repeat)
Autistic children stim openly (spinning, flapping, humming.)
This generation is often misunderstood.
They’re labeled as “dysregulated,” “disconnected,” or “defiant.” But what’s really happening is that they’re mirroring broken patterns (or as I call it…distortion.)
They’re not here to push through systems that don’t work…they’re here to reflect what no longer fits.
And here’s something that might give you chills when you sit with it:
They’re not just different…they’re operating on an entirely different timeline.
It’s almost as if they’ve been dropped in from another dimension. Their wiring and sensory systems don’t sync with what shaped our parents or grandparents… they weren’t meant to.
There’s very little overlap because they’re here to build something new and the codes they carry (potentials within their DNA, biology and energy field that awaken over time) are aligned with that.
Their nervous systems are adapting to what’s coming in the future…not what’s already here now.
They’re not wired to obey outdated rules or stay quiet just to keep things “normal.” It’s as if they arrived with a “no” already encoded in their bodies. They’re not malfunctioning…they’re sounding the alarm by mirroring back what’s no longer working for us in society.
A Word of Caution About Modern Regulation ⚠️✋
That said, there’s a few things parents and caregivers should be aware of.
Many Gen Z and Alpha kids are finding new and creative ways to regulate. While some of these things are very effective, others may look soothing on the surface, but are actually subtly dysregulating over time.
For example:
Slime
Playing with it is calming and provides tactile sensory input and proprioceptive feedback to the hands and fingers- both of which help the nervous system settle.
But watching YouTube videos of other people playing with slime (without engaging the hands at all) isn’t regulating in the same way. It’s passive visual stimulation without any grounding movement or sensory input.
As a result, low level nervous system agitation builds without the child (or adults around them) noticing it consciously.
Same goes for Minecraft or other repetitive video games. They’re not inherently bad- and when played in moderation they’re incredibly fun and creative.
But if they become the main source of comfort, especially without any real-world movement or sensory balance, they can create a kind of loop. The body feels slightly unsettled…child turns to screen for comfort…but because there’s no physical sensory input happening, the underlying dysregulation stays stuck.
This is why some parents report their kids feeling irritable or in a “trance-like” state after playing these types of games.
The repetition and creativity appear soothing, but never-ending pixilated worlds with no set or leveled “endings” (like older games had) can be dysregulating for some children. Especially if they’re playing for extended periods of time without doing grounding activities after.
Final Note: Rhythms We Need to Get Back To
We’ve lost many of the natural regulation rhythms previous generations had automatically built into their daily life.
We move less…. use our hands less. We daydream less and don’t get those quick little ‘brain breaks’ in throughout the day. When we get bored, we head straight to the phone instead of just zoning out.
Regulation now requires a more conscious effort.
But the good news is it’s completely possible to bring it back.
A few ideas:
Always encourage full-body movement activities. Climbing, swimming, rolling, swinging, bike riding.
Get outdoors. Bare feet on grass, hands in soil, lying on sand, etc.) The Earth carries a natural negative electric charge, and research shows the exchange of electrons can help regulate the nervous system. It gets the body out of fight or flight mode into the calmer “rest-and-digest” mode.
Bring back rhythm. Drumming on a drum set, bouncing a ball, tapping to music, hand clapping games, jumping rope or just pacing around the house with headphones in. The body loves repetition….it helps the nervous system remember what “steady” feels like.
Give the hands something to do. Squish dough, bead a bracelet, organize Pokemon cards, build something weird out of cardboard, simple crafts, origami, learn to draw something cool by watching YouTube tutorials, or stirring pancake mix (my 11 year old daughter always bakes when she starts to feel restless or overwhelmed. For her, stirring, pouring and zoning in on bringing a recipe to life is very calming for her.)
Screens are okay- just balance them out. Games like Minecraft aren’t the enemy. But if a kid spends hours absorbing fast visual input without any grounding movement or real world tactile sensory input, their body starts to buzz and disconnect. After playing, try to get some hands-on or full body movement like jumping on a trampoline, playing catch, squeezing a stress ball, or walking around the block. This snaps them out of the “trance- agitated” state by connecting back to the sensory world.
Not everything has to be “enriching.” Repetitive, low-pressure things like sorting LEGOs, ripping paper for a collage, popping bubble wrap, doing a paint-by-number, or cleaning out a junk drawer can actually feel good to the brain.
-Christina
Occupational Therapist, Founder of Sensory TheraPLAY Box
Writer and Creator at Starry Eyed OT
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*If you’re still with me..I just want to share something personal. After I finished writing this article, I was a little teary eyed. It hit me how much can change in just a generation or two 🤯…how much is lost/ gained, and how each generation has its own struggles. It also reminded me that no generation has it “easier or harder”…just different.
We’re all connected and all doing our best with what we’re handed (and what we’re trying to fix.) Earlier generations may not have had the awareness or language to express what they felt, but they still felt it.
And today’s kids may have more perceived modern day comfort and “luxury,” but they’re dealing with a completely new kind of pressure. We’re all part of the same story, just in different chapters and need to be compassionate and forgiving of each other.💛