#puffer creature

Lovely anon, I’m going to say straight up that this is an area in which Ihave no personal experience. I encourage folks who do to offer up theirthoughts and suggestions via comment or ask or reblog, because I can only offerup things I imagine might be worth trying, which isn’t the same thing.If you’re trying to find a redirection stim that is similar, experience isimportant!

I think you might have seen therecent derma ask, and some of it still might be useful as a starting pointif you’re looking to approach a redirection stim from a “keep the hands busy”angle–especiallythe textured handheld toys ask I linked. You may not wish to pick theflocking off a Tangle Jr Fuzzy or peel away glue, but you might like a TangleJr as a manipulation fidget, for example.

I’m going to link to another ask I wrote about stimtoy categories, as this breaks down the different kinds of stim toys into afew rough categories, which might also direct you towards particular toys dependent on your tactile preferences and aversions.

My first suggestion might be a lot odd, but I think it’s the closestoffering to human hair, so I’ll mention it: fashion doll heads. You canoften find ratty blonde Barbies in op/second-hand shops, markets and garagesales, or for sale on eBay in bulk lots. I’d wash the head and hair with humanshampoo or dish soap first, just so you’re handling clean hair (usually nylon,saran or kanekalon) and then remove the head if you want something smaller tocarry around (and aren’t bothered by just the doll head). These are easy toreplace if they become bald.

(I am a fashion doll collector, so I give you my absolute encouragement totake those ratty blonde Barbies and use them this way. I wouldn’t do this tonon-blonde or dolls of colour as they’re harder to find (and kids of colourneed dolls that look like them). But the five million white, blonde Barbiescluttering up garage sale tables? Stim with them. So many of them just getthrown out because even we collectors don’t want a thousand white and blondeBarbie dolls, so you might as well put them to good use first.)

Other toys with hair would work too–My Little Ponies, Monster High dolls,baby dolls, troll dolls with fuzzy hair, rag dolls with wool hair. Some dolls,like the discontinued LIV dolls, come with wigs, so you can just pull orpluck the hair from the wig–and you can also buy a variety of doll wigs online,for that matter!

More standard stim toys with fronds and pulling/plucking potential include:

Tangle Hairy.Please note that I don’t know the pulling strength required to break thefronds on this, because I am far too anxious about breaking my things to try itout. The fronds on this are 1.5 cm long and stretch out to 13 cm before I startto panic, so it might take a lot to break them, but they become verythin when fully stretched. This also gives you a very textured manipulativestim, fulfilling multiple stim needs.

(I find the constant movement of the fronds to be visually overstimulating,but most stimmers love the Tangle Hairy.)

Koosh Ballsor Bandy Balls.The Koosh Balls have thinner fronds, more like that of the Tangle Hairy withoutthe silicone feeling. Bandy Balls are more like balls made from rubber bands.The Koosh fronds are 2.5 cm long, and again stretch to 13 cm before I getanxious, but they have more resistance to pulling than the Tangle Hairy.

(Please note that these are made from natural latex!)

Puffer ballsor puffer creatures. These are often less hairy than the Tangle Hairy or theKoosh Balls, but easier to find–even available in many dollar shops. These comein a wide variety of thicknesses and lengths–I’ve got a frog similar to Stimtastic’sSqueeze Critters and have handled ones with much longer fronds. My frog hasfronds 0.8 cm long that stretch to (at least) 7 cm. If you like squishing andsqueezing as an additional stim, these might work for you.

(Many of these have a strong artificial plastic odour, which is why I onlyown a few.)

Hedge ballsor hedge creatures.There’s three different variations–some with hard prickles, some with softprickles and some with stretchy prickles. The latter is the one I’m thinking ofhere. These are often very small, good if you’re after a handheld fidget forstealth stimming! TheStimtastic ones, I believe, are squishable or stretchable; myhedge monkey set is very stretchable.

If you’re after items to pull at that you can’t break, you might want to trypencil cases, plushor dusters made from chenille frondy fabric. If you have a Daiso storelocal to you, they sell hedgehog dusters with this fabric as a backing, as wellas mop heads and glove-type dusters. The glove dusters are pretty widelyavailable now in dollar and department stores–I’ve even seen duster slipperswith the bottoms of the slippers made from this fabric! I’ve also got pencilcases and coin purses, so you should be able to find something if youthink this appeals to you.

(If you have a little sewing ability, it isn’t too difficult to turn theseinto plush toys–the hedgehog dusters just require filling and a single seam.You can weight them, you can scent them, you can turn a coin purse into a beanbag just by filling it with dry soup mix. There’s a lot of potential tointroduce other stim aspects into these!)

Unfortunately for everyone, when I Googled, the listings I got were $6.25 USD, so I’m guessing there’s been a slight price increase between ask and post. It’s absolutely worth discussing, though, as we need good chose-your-own-colour options for US-based folks.

This link from eBay seller einsteinstoolbox has all six currently-in-print Tangle Jr colours. I’ll note that international shipping to Australia is $13.75 USD, so I’d recommend this being a viable listing for only North America-based stimmers.

They also have the Tangle Jr Metallics ($5.99 USD) and the Tangle Jr Textured ($6.99 USD), both with choose-your-own-colour option. There’s also currently a 15% off two or more eligible fidget toy items sale, which might help defray some of the extra expense added to the chose-your-own-colour Tangles.

(Here’s a link to all the fidget toys available under the promotion: they have a good selection including various stress balls, snap and click toys, puffer creatures, Tangles and Toysmith items. Many of these also have the ability to choose your own colour, so for folks disliking the random send option, it might be worth investigating.)

Thank you so much for sharing with us, anon!

I see we have another stimming convert! Fabulous. Not that we’re trying to take over the world or anything…

Anon, I’ve got several posts that I consider Stim Toy 101, including posts on breaking down toys into categories and posts on the more popular fidget toys. I’ll list those, and then I’ll finish by listing the toys that I think fit your brief.

So. For anyone new to the wide and wonderful world of stim toys, here’s what I hope to be useful reading:

@wrennigan​‘s Chewable Comparison Post: a list that compares many Stimtastic chewables.

Household Stimmy Items: a list of readily available stimmy objects for folks who don’t have online access to conventional toys or need to be stealth in their stimming.

Subtle On-The-Person Toys: toys that are easily portable and less like to draw attention, also great for folks who need to be stealth.

Common Tactile Toys: a list of the most common tactile stim toys and how they’re used. This is a great post for “starter” toys, anon!

Categories of Stim Toys: things to keep in mind when building a varied stim kit.

My Stim Kit: an example of the kind of kit you might build.

Varying Your Stimming: why you should be a little mindful about your stimming, because you don’t want to end up with chronic pain or injury.

@whisperstims​‘s Stim Toy Hygiene Post: how to clean your stim toys.

DIY Stim Toy Master Posts, One and Two: lists of links to all sorts of tutorials for DIY toys. The degree of difficulty varies here: some tutorials and DIYs are easy, others require a bit of crafting experience.

Autistic Sellers and Crafters Post: a list of autistic stim toy store owners and stim toy crafters.

Now, we’ll move into the rec portion of the answer. Squishable, with resistance, but silent and scentless. All links go to our tags, because by now there’s several posts telling you where you can find the thing.

Squishies: available in a variety of resistances, very squishable, available many places online. Some of these are slow-rising, which mean they compress tightly and take time to expand; others compress less well. Some, like the mochi squishies, are rubbery and gel-like, but most are made from foam. The better quality squishies generally cost more, sadly; I’ve had good experiences with the SquishyFun brand, and I’ve heard good things about Areedy squishies as well. Unfortunately, many squishies are scented, and while some listings state this, many don’t specify scent, so buying these can be a bit of a risk.

Stress balls: usually made from foam, available in a variety of resistances (firmer than most squishies), silent. Most of these don’t have odours, but I recently bought some that did smell chemically. These are readily available in dollar shops and just about everywhere online.

Fabric or crocheted stress balls: weighted, good for crunching and scrunching, no scent, do make low noise as they contain weighted pellets and, sometimes, crinkle paper. The mesh fabric stress balls I have are quieter than the crocheted ones.

Grape or mesh stress balls: squishy, available in varying resistances, do make a slight slurping sound as the slime inside the ball moves.

Puffer balls and puffer creatures: very soft and squishy, but the majority of them have a chemical-rubber scent that I can’t bear. This said, I own one ball from a dollar shop that has no odour, and the puffer worms I smelt at Sensory Oasis for Kids have no odour, so they do exist. This one, I think, is very much a try to find in person item because of the risk of bad smells, but they are available in many dollar and toy shops.

Wool stress balls and wool dryer balls: soft woolen balls that you can squish in your hand. No smell, no odour but that of wool unless you add scent - just a wool ball you can squish or tear.

Makeup blending sponges: a teardrop or hourglass shape sponge, generally medium resistance, great for squishing. No scent or sound, just a lovely fine-spongy texture. I’ve seen them from most dollar and department stores starting at $3-$4 AUD, but the brand name sponges are absolutely not needed for stimming.

(Many sponges in general are good for squishing, and if you like rough textures, check out this ask for a few more rough-textured sponges that are squishable.)

Disney mini Tsum Tsum plush: no scent, very squishable, lots of great textures, a small amount of sound if you press the small pocket of weighted pellets in the plush’s belly (above the strip of faux suede used as the toy’s base).

Thinking Putty and TheraPutty: one of the firmest items here, if you like a lot of resistance when squishing, but Thinking Putty does tend to crack and snap when moulded. It’s not constant, so it’s like a crack here and a snap there, but know that it does. TheraPutty makes no noise at all. No scent for either, unlike most putties and doughs.

Thank you for letting us know, anon! New stores to check out are always a good thing!

Here’s the store locator, for any US person wishing to see if there’s a store close to them.

I couldn’t find the slimes either, but there’s lots of different stimmy things folks might want to check out online. Please note that a lot of these come in 12 or even 24 packs, so they might not be justifiable or affordable for a single stimmer.

(If you have a stimming friend or two to share with, though, or you want toys for a group meet up, these sorts of packs are ideal!)

Things that caught my eye include: fidget spinner and cube section | soft smile balls | smile springs | smile bounce balls | star cubes | fuzzy animal keychains | puffer worms.

Thanks again, anon!

Anon, it’s fine. Not a problem at all.

(By the way: no stim is horrible. We might need to replace some stims for healthier ones, which is a good thing to do if we can, but even less-healthy coping stims aren’t horrible. It’s just a stim. You absolutely do not need to feel bad about having a less-healthy coping stim. We all have them.)

As a doll collector, I see absolutely nothing wrong with yanking a head off a doll and pulling its hair. As a doll collector, I have absolutely done worse to my own dolls - everything from removing their hair to replace it to removing their heads to put a nice head on a more articulated body. I’m Sid from Toy Story! Admittedly, I’m used to having doll heads floating around on my desk (or doll heads covered in glue in the process of wig-making) so this doesn’t rate on the creepy scale for me. In fact, it seems quite a practical approach to me as the doll hair, while not identical, is a good substitute for our own.

You can even get a near never-ending supply of cheap Barbies from local op and second-hand shops, usually for only a few dollars a bag. Wash them with shampoo and conditioner like you would your own hair, and then either stick the doll head-first into a cup of boiling water or wrap the shoulders, neck and head of the doll in a wheat heat bag. Give the doll’s plastic time to heat (a minute for the hot water, a few for the heat bag) and then grab the doll’s head in a towel and pull it off the neck knob.

Seriously, I am all for unconventional stim toys, especially in the world of replacement stims.

But, if that really bothers you (and keeping in mind there’s spaces where it isn’t safe to pull out a doll head) there’s stim toys that have hair-like strands for pulling.

First: Koosh Balls and Bandy Balls (or similar knock offs). They’re balls made from strands of fine latex or rubber. The bigger ones (like this large knock-off) are almost large enough for combing fingers through, and there’s plenty of strands to grab hold of and pull. There’s also so many fronds it should keep you going for quite a while if you pull hard enough to break them off.

The brand-name version is on Amazon for $6.46 USD; a Toysmith knock-off version is available for $6.36 USD with a cheaper listing under the seller options. Fidget Club has the Ogosoft Stress Ball for $2.99 USD and the thicker-stranded Bandy Ball for $3.99 USD. Also worth checking out your local toystore, as that’s where I’ve found mine.

(Note that they do have a chemically-rubbery smell, especially the knock-offs.)

Second: Tangle Hairy. The strands aren’t long enough to comb through, but there’s plenty to pull, and being a Tangle, it looks more like a fidget or office toy than a child’s toy.

$6.99 USD from Fidget Club; $6.95 USD from Fat Brain Toys. Aussies can find these in Toyworld stores, $10-$15 AUD depending on the store.

(The Tangle Hairy is the only puffer-type toy I own without a chemical odour.)

Third: Spaghetti Ball. Similar to a Koosh, but with much thicker strands. The Koosh is more hair-like; the Spaghetti ball is more like … thick spaghetti.

Available  atNational Autism Resources at $5.59 USD and Fidget Club for $4.99 USD for the standard and $6.99 USD for the mondo.

Fourth: Puffer Creatures or Puffer Balls. These are a soft rubbery plastic ball, worm or creature with plastic fronds attached, long enough for pulling.

Available in many, many dollar shops and just about everywhere online. Fidget Club has them available in a puffer bracelet called a Squigglet for $4.99 USD, which might be ideal if you want something easily portable and right at your hands.

The puffer creatures do tend to have a chemical odour. Also note that all of these things stretch, and in that sense doesn’t much mimic hair. They are absolutely designed for pulling, though!

I hope there’s something there that helps you, anon. But please know that I think the doll head is a damn good idea and not the slightest bit strange or creepy. I’ve rehaired dolls and My Little Ponies with embroidery floss (back when I didn’t have chronic hand pain, alas) and it feels wonderful for pulling and stroking. Wonderful. As someone who collects dolls, I have absolutely no problem with your pulling one apart for you to stim with. None.

Please comment away with any further suggestions!

- Mod K.A.

@bluestreaksand-freckles says,

Maybe anon could paint the plastic part of the doll head in a solid color so that it looks less like a doll head.

[image description: four fronded puffer bear toys with large heads, oversized noses and bright bow-ties in green, orange, pink and blue. The bears have a rubbery plastic loop attached to their heads, likely meant to fasten to a keychain loop or a carabiner.]

Apologies for the tiny picture, but they are adorable!

Mochi Squishies

I dust mine with cornstarch to keep the dust away and it keeps them feeling silky smooth!! It needs to be reapplied sometimes, especially if my hands are damp, but cornstarch is cheap and readily available and unscented. I'm not sure if it'll be visible on darker squishies because I have the white seal squishy.

Note for international folks: cornstarch may be sold as cornflour. Don’t worry: they’re the same product. And I do need to try this, because washing my mochi chick has made almost no difference to the dust.

Orbeez/Water Beads/Water Marbles

When soaking orbeez/water beads, they're more durable if you only soak them for a small portion of the time and take them out while they're still wrinkly. They'll smooth out after a little while and they feel more like the durable gel beads in eye masks and stuff, and they're much harder to crush. They have more "bounce" when they're not fully soaked. They won't be as big but it's worth it to not accidentally crush them.

This is super useful given that the larger orbeez are pretty fragile! Also useful for anyone looking to try the phone case DIY and is worried about crushing the orbeez when a phone is placed in a pocket or bag.

Puffer Caterpillars

Those stretchy caterpillars (image example here) are also in the Easter basket stuffers at Walmart right now! I've never seen them in Walmart before, only in the Easter things. They're available in pastel purple-pink and orange.

I wish our Easter sections had toys like this. US folks should definitely check this out.

Oooh! Exciting question! Sadly, I don’t have too many! Plushies/soft toys form most of my frog collection (most of them I’ve found in the Easter plush sections of department stores, so now’s a good time to be looking). I do own a large fake Kermit fairground-style plush that’s taller than I am when held upright (I’m 5.2 ft tall) and a few fake Keroppi badges/pins on my satchel. Also a frog-face plush coin purse from Daiso, which I forgot to photograph! My Oma really liked frogs, and I kept acquiring them for various unintended reasons, so it’s something I inherited from her.

These are my stimmiest of frog items, though, all things I’ve found locally:

[image description: five green frog stim toys. From left to right, top to bottom: a long fake Keroppi-featured embroidered plush head attached to a long bobbly chenille handtowel; a bobbly chenille finger sponge with round embroidered eyes, mouth and pink buttons for cheeks; a flat bath toy with an oversized head, round and a polka-dot yellow middle; a green puff ball with beady white eyes and tiny limbs; and a frog head with a bobbly chenille back, also with embroidered face, mouth and pink buttons for cheeks.]

- The handtowel cost $1 AUD from The Dollar Guy (he sells everything for $1 AUD) at Beckley Park Market. Most of his stuff is the usual dollar store fare but cheaper, so this might be available at dollar/discount stores as well.

- The finger duster costs $2.80 AUD from Daiso. It’s a duster or polisher that’s meant to go over your fingers, but I stuffed it with lavender-scented rice to make it a weighted toy.

- The bath toy came in a selection of bath toys from Toys R Us, $6 AUD for a bag of four. I’ve seen more bath toy frogs at stores like Harper’s Bathroom but they’re a little expensive.

- The animal puffer ball cost $5 AUD from Australian Geographic. Stimtastic stocks similar ones as well (the pictured frog has bigger eyes than mine) for $2 USD. This has a slight chemical smell that takes a long time to air, but it’s very pleasing to squish.

- The face duster/polisher also costs $2.80 AUD from Daiso. It’s got the longest and softest chenille fronds of any similar duster/creature I own (and I’ve a few, now). It comes as pictured, filled with regular polyester stuffing like a soft toy, and I keep meaning to open a seam and weight it! Of all the things pictured, it’s probably my favourite because I really do love chenille fabric.

Other stimmy frog things that I admire from afar include frog chewable necklaces, the Pickles the frog squishy and a frog coin purse. I’d also love to own this squishable frog-shaped water bead pack. One day!

It’s been easier to accrue duck (I used to own an American Pekin duck justly called Houdini) stim toys than it has been frogs, to be honest. I have a duck cake squishy, a duck chenille sponge, a duck puffer ball, various duck soft toys, various bath ducks, a fluffy plush duck shoulder bag. I do have help, though: @ambiguouspieces sends me teaser photos of more duck squishies!