The goop-filled blobs are squeezable, stretchable and squishable. And hunting them down is half the fun.
At 7:30 a.m. on a recent Monday morning, Ashley Montan and her 8-year-old son were waiting in line outside a Target in Hackensack, N.J., hoping to secure the latest additions to their growing collection of squishy toys. The key, they had found, was to show up right when the store opened.
“He’s waking up at 6:30, brushing his teeth, getting everything together, and I typically can’t get him to do that by himself for school,” Montan, 32, said of the summer mornings they’ve spent “squishy hunting,” or chasing down the latest collectibles.
“But for some reason, for these squishies, he will get up,” she said.
On their recent successful mission, they took home a squishy stick of butter and a newly released squishy cloud.
The textured, squeezable squishies have become a sensation. They come in a variety of shapes, colors and forms: a basket with a dumpling inside, a plump cat and even a raindrop. Some have a crunch feel, and others rise slowly after they’ve been compressed.
“I was shocked at how much complete joy a squishy could bring,” said Samantha Nawahine, a 28-year-old mother of three in Oahu, Hawaii. She posted a video on TikTok showing when she surprised her 6-year-old daughter with new squishy toys, and the girl’s joyful reaction has now been viewed nearly four million times.
The toys are a tactile experience. In addition to squishies, fidget toys include poppable silicon bubbles and bendable, scrunchable rubber straws, many of which brand themselves as stress-relief items. NeeDoh, whose textured gum drops and ice cubes are currently on Amazon’s best-selling toy list, describes its pliable, inedible doughs as a way to mellow.
“I swear, it’s therapeutic,” Nawahine said.
On a recent day at Kip’s Toyland in Los Angeles, which calls itself the city’s oldest toy store, a box of squishy butters sat front and center near the cashier. Above it, a sign read: “NeeDoh sold out.”
A “perfect storm” of factors has led the toys to surge in popularity, said Adrienne Appell, a trends expert at the Toy Association, a trade group. At a relatively low price point, they’re easy to collect, she said, and they offer a break from technology.
While the toys are certainly low-tech, videos of people trading and acquiring them have become a social media hit. Users share tips on how to locate them, trade them among friends and even make them.
Madison Martell, 23, recently posted a TikTok video showcasing a fidget trade with her boyfriend.
The setup is simple: two people sit on opposite sides of a mat or a sheet of paper that has a plus sign, a check mark and a minus sign on each side. One party volunteers a fidget they’re willing to part with. The other person evaluates the offer and either accepts (check mark), declines (minus sign) or asks for more (the plus sign).
“It’s like a way of shopping,” Martell said, adding, “like you’re getting new items, but you’re not spending a dime.”
Martell said her video, which has been viewed five million times, had been inspired by the creator Faith Bench — or Mrs. Bench, to her nearly 10 million followers — who is credited with starting the fidget-trading craze.
Bench, a former middle school math teacher, said she had the idea to use fidget trading to help children learn about communication and decision-making.
“They don’t even know that they’re practicing real life skills, because it feels like play,” Bench said.
She started fidget trading and posting about it in 2021, and opened a storefront in Florida for buying and trading fidgets in 2023, but she said the activity had “exploded” over the last few months.
“People are trading everything now,” Bench said. She’s watched videos of dentists trading dental tools at their offices, college students trading shots and even car dealership employees trading car keys.
Juliana Leung, a 22-year-old student, said that squishies help her focus while studying. As they’ve grown in popularity, it has become difficult to find her favorites. So she turned to a D.I.Y. option, using skins, or silicone casings that can be filled to replicate a squishy.
“I was like, you know what? I could probably make the filling and fill these myself for a lot cheaper,” Leung said.
Leung, who goes by Joowliesfidgets on TikTok, has been posting video tutorials for others, using materials like shaving cream, glue and sand.
There were precedents to the squishy era, including stretchy slimes, fidget spinners and Bop Its. The social and shareable nature of the fidgets, along with how tactile they are, has likely helped fuel their popularity, said Dan Klitsner, a longtime game creator and the inventor of Bop It.
“You can’t compete with digital, and all you can do is try to do something you can’t do with the phone,” Klitsner said. “And that is: things you can squish and twist and pull.”
While the enthusiasm for a decidedly analog hobby may be encouraging for some parents, others have worried about the ingredients. Doctors and public officials issued warnings this summer after a trend that encouraged children to microwave NeeDoh led to burn injuries.
Playing with toys made from plastic, certain foams and other materials could risk exposing children to unwanted chemicals, said Tracey Woodruff, a professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. Younger children, who may be more inclined to put their mouths on toys, may be more exposed, she said.
“It’s not going to affect every child, but it can definitely affect some children,” Dr. Woodruff said.
Buying fidget toys from reputable suppliers is one way to ensure toys have met safety standards, Appell of the Toy Association said.
With the products selling out faster than stores can restock them, the name brand on the squishy is an afterthought for some customers.
“There’s definitely some fake ones out there, but, I think in the end of the day, like, a squishy’s a squishy. It really doesn’t matter if it’s a name brand or not,” Martell said, adding, “I think they’re fun regardless.”
At Kip’s Toyland, an employee said the squishy craze had decimated the inventory. Rest assured, they’ll be restocking this weekend.
