What can I stim with if I hate, hate, hate the feeling of plastics/slime?
This is a challenging question not because there isn’t options (there is) but because it’s hard to know what is meant by “plastics”. By “slime” I take it to mean “no liquid/watery/oozy/sticky things” but there’s actually a lot of different textures that can be described as “plastic”, many of them feeling in no way similar - for example, Tangles, puffer creatures and silicone chewables are all plastic! Do you have the same reaction to ABS and 3D-printed objects? Is it the smoothness or the hardness? Do you dislike vinyls but don’t mind silicone? Is putty okay? What about nylon, say in the strands of a brush? I could go on, but I hope this gives you the idea that “plastic” is a broad category with many different types and textures. Because so many stim toys are made from different types of plastic, and some of these things might still be okay, it’s easier if folks can be specific about the textures in addition to the materials they wish to avoid.
(I’ll also note that this is me being pretty autistic right now, in terms of the high chance of overthinking it: I tend to go ‘but there’s so many plastics!’ because I can’t get past the idea that there might be a plastic that isn’t a problem. Autism and being particular about everything helps me be helpful, but sometimes it also makes me a little annoying.)
For safety’s sake, I’ll list things that don’t involve plastic at all - just wood, metal, fabric, sand, flour, paper. Links go to that item’s tag, collecting all the posts we have so far on that item.
Moulding: kinetic sand, playdough. If scents are an issue, you might like to look at DIY or edible variations. Please note that you can store these in a glass jar (like a mason or jam jar) so you don’t need to handle a plastic container.
Puzzles: wooden puzzles, twist and lock blocks, wooden or metal nuts and bolts, hexaflexagons, Jacob’s Ladder. I’m also thinking things like these traditional wooden puzzle toys (K-Mart, $8 AUD for three).
Balls: crocheted stress ball, fabric stress ball, wool stress ball, wool dryer ball, baoding balls, possibly Koosh or bandy balls (made from natural latex).
Fidgets: marble mazes, marble loops, bean bags, chain fidget, metal slinky, all-metal spinner (like the iSpin), mobius ball, maille, bead ring with metal or porcelain beads, pompom keychain, worry stones, corks, plush toys and dusters, weighted toys, crocheted toys, Moosh shapes, higher end makeup brushes (I think the cheaper ones are nylon) marbles, glass counters, shells, braided cord, magnetic stones.
Chewables: DIY T-shirt chewables.
Jewellery and Accessories: fidget necklaces like this planet spinner necklace (Stimtastic, $7.50 USD), metal snap clips, plush coin purses, fabric telephone cord bracelets, metal spinner rings, snake twist necklaces, Stimtastic’s bike chain bracelets.
Visual: glitter jars. (Also, you could tip bubble liquid into a glass jar and make a blower the way we always did when I was a kid - by bending and shaping a chenille pipecleaner. That way you can blow bubbles without touching any plastic at all.)
You also might like to check out our DIYs (master posts one and two, tutorial tag, DIY tag) because an awful lot of these do not involve plastic in any way. Many do involve slime, but I think there’s enough alternatives there for it to be worth your time, if you have any tendency to DIYs and crafting.
I’ve been meaning to write a post on it, but I recently made myself a braided T-shirt chewable necklace, but because I tied it in a loop, I’ve been playing with it in my hands more like a Tangle. Anything that can form a loop (braided cord, braided wool or embroidery floss, rubber bands, fabric hair ties, pipecleaners) can be used pretty similarly; it’s just about making it into a size that works for you.
I hope this gives you somewhere to begin. There are a lot of things that don’t include plastic at all, especially fidget jewellery, plush toys, marble mazes, bean bags, wooden puzzles, some spinners. You’ll have fewer dollar shop options, sadly, and it might take a little hunting or purchasing online to get some of these, so be prepared for that. Metal spinners cost more than plastic ones, for example, so you might have to pay more to put a kit together. That’s not right or fair, but in a world where NT folk are just starting to grasp stimming, it’s the current situation (and I hope one that changes).
Stimtastic, I think, is a good starting point for more inexpensive online options, especially for US folks.
Good luck!
- Mod K.A.
