East Renfrewshire school boy creates stress relief toy

Amaan Waheed, 14, created the stress-busting Stax after experimenting with magnets and spin bearings in his bedroom.

The S3 pupil at Williamwood High School in Clarkston has spent recent months perfecting his invention for the fidget toy market.

The magnetic building blocks went on sale last week via the “relax with Stax” website, while Amaan hopes early sales to customers throughout the UK will help entice gadget shops to stock the product. So far, Phones & Gadgets at Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre and Para Para Store in Clarkston are stocking Stax.

Amaan has been fascinated with building objects since an aunt mistakenly gave him a complex Lego Technic sports car aimed at 11-16 when he was only seven, and he revelled in the challenge.

He came up with the idea for Stax while trying to use magnets to create a floating ball toy. He used the neodymium magnets and bearings from the experiment to build a series of other objects including a fidget spinner.

Magnetic creations it is possible to build using Amaan’s instructions now also include a dog, a wind turbine, a kite, a handbag and a bracelet as well as numerous stress-busting spin and fidget toys, although the young inventor says the possibilities are really unlimited.

He said: “It’s taken me about three years to get it to market but I finalised it in lockdown. It’s a relaxing toy, which anyone can enjoy, especially during the pandemic when a lot of people are feeling stressed.

“It’s made from magnets and there are instructions to build lots of things that you can fidget or spin but really if you can dream it you can make it.

“I hope people will buy them and have fun. It’s a bit like Lego in that you can build things using instructions.”

sked “could it be bigger than Lego?”, he replied: “Maybe, if we try hard enough.”

Amaan spent hours photographing his different creations after school and later got a designer to help with the instruction leaflet. Remarkably, his younger sister Ammara, 12, designed the box. The toy, which starts at £10 for a basic pack, is available to anyone aged over-14.

Amaan said: “I’ve loved experimenting and building things since I got my first Lego set aged about seven but I’ve never put something on to the market before.

“It was a good feeling when the first one sold from the website because it showed someone else in the world thinks my idea is a good one.”

“My friends at school also think it’s cool and some of them are saying they’re going to get one for Christmas.”

Asked what he would do if the toy nets him a fortune, he added: “If I made enough money I’d pay off my dad’s mortgage. There’s also a Mercedes six-wheeler that would be really cool.”

Amaan’s dad said: “Amaan has always been quite inventive and has had a workshop in his bedroom since the age of seven or eight. He’s always experimenting, breaking things up and working on different projects.

“His attempts to get a ball to levitate using magnets didn’t work in the end but during the experiment Amaan started making other things, and he quickly came up with the name Stax and the slogan ‘relax with Stax’.

“I think Amaan has really hit on something. He’s found a creative way to relax and reduce stress.”