#jelly squishy

[stimboardboy]

jelly paw squishy

[youcantgowrongwithpink]

💛 💛 💛 / 💛 💛 💛 / 💛 💛 💛

[stimtoybox]

[image description: a purple-tinted translucent liquid-filled puffer ball-jelly squishy hybrid, filled with pink, blue and yellow plastic insects, sitting inside a clear plastic bag atop a red watermelon slice pillow. The plastic toy insects inside the puffer ball are blurred out by the layers of plastic and the water inside the ball, resulting in pink, blue and yellow blobs. Small, fine purple-tinted protrusions emerge from the ball, but their translucence provides a dimpling effect, like looking at the inside of a see-through golf ball.]

Insect Water Ball - Toyworld, $2 AUD.

Dimensions: 7 cm across when slightly flattened.

On paper, this should be an amazing toy: it’s a liquid-filled squishy with soft spikes on the outside, like a puffer ball, and hard plastic toy insects inside the ball.

I can roll the ball in my hands for texture and poke a finger inside the ball to touch the coloured insects through the skin of the ball, providing more textured things to grab and stroke. I can also squish down on this like a balloon stress ball or puffer ball, causing the ball to bulge on the sides, and pull on the fronds like a puffer ball. And, for all of those things, this ball is amazing. For a fantastic design mingling multiple forms of stimming and sensory options, I give it all the points.

(I promise that those coloured blobs are plastic insects. My old camera isn’t capable of handling a layer of plastic bag, the translucent skin of the ball and the water inside the ball to focus on the insects.)

So why do I have this ball remaining inside its plastic bag, as far away from my desk as I can get it while still remaining in my room?

Smell. I don’t mean the usual plastic puffer ball smell, which I find abhorrent as is but consider a fair risk when buying these. I’m not sure what this smells like--chemical plastic crossed with ammonia? It’s bad. It lingers on my hands for a long time after handling and I can’t wash it away with ordinary hand soap. I’m going to put it outside to see if I can air it, but I’m not hopeful.

If you don’t have any difficulty with chemical odours and you really like the sensory possibilities in this kind of puffer ball/jelly squishy hybrid, you may wish to take a risk on it. Otherwise? I can’t recommend it.

[stimboardboy]

cat paw jelly squishy

[stimtoybox]

Two stim toys for my Aussie friends. They are from Mr Toys Toyworld. One on the left is a blue squishy ball with orbeez and a flashing light. The right is a pink bunny fidget cube creature. It’s feet spin, the arms push through its body, the ears are a light switch, the mouth is a button and on the back is a rolling ball that also clicks.

Thank you so much for sending this one in, @gigi-meow! I’ve seen both but haven’t been able to afford either, so it’s awesome to be able to feature both on this blog!

Here’s the Mr Toys Toyworld site. I can find the Transformer Fidget Its and the Light Up Bubble Ball for those who’d prefer to purchase online. I’m also going to link to Toyworld’s Store Finder, as a lot of the different-branded stores carry the same stock, so folks might find these at their local (non-Mr-Toys) Toyworld store as well.

Toyworld stores usually have a display of fidget-friendly toys near the front, including squishies, orbeez balls, putties, slimes, fidget cubes and fidget spinners, so I’d look there first. However, their prices for many things are also higher than other stores, so expect that, too.

[stimtoybox]

[image description: stock photo on a white background of two corn squishies/orbeez stress ball hybrids. The squishies are shaped like a corn cob made from a clear gel-like plastic, knobbled to mimic the shape of individual corn kernels, and filled with yellow orbeez/water beads. A green plastic cap sits on the base end of the squishy, shaped like plastic leaves cradling the cob.]

Corn Jelly Orbeez Squishy - eBay, $1.67 USD.

Dimensions: 9.5 cm x 3.5 cm.

Item has free standard shipping to most regions.

I kind of want these (in one of my stories there’s a walking genderless corncob called Susan) but I find most of these jelly orbeez squishies to have a strong plastic/chemical odour along with a tacky jelly skin, so I probably won’t risk it.

For folks wanting a seriously textured jelly orbeez squishy, though, this looks amazing.

[stimtoybox]

[image description: two photos taken on a red watermelon slice background of a clear jelly ball squishy or splat ball. The ball is a slightly-oval egg-shaped squishy made of clear jelly plastic, containing a clear liquid and a yellow silicone disc that resembles the yolk of an egg. The first photo shows the ball inside a mottled rainbow bag with a clear window showing the ball below two vector-style images of an egg and the ball. Text on the bag reads “kids and co splat ball”, “3+ years” and “throw it! watch it splat!”. Second image is a close up of the ball sitting on the pillow, showing the bubbles forming between the outer jelly layer and the yolk.]

Splat Ball - K-Mart, $2 AUD.

Dimensions: 5 x 6 cm approx.

Variations: pig, brain, eyeball.

Whilst sold as a ball for throwing against walls and floors, the egg version of the splat ball looks and feels extremely close to a jelly squishy.

Like the jelly squishies I’ve handled (and the orbeez mesh stress ball) the jelly splat ball is extremely sticky and has a strong, stinging chemical-plastic odour. This absolutely must be kept in a plastic container when not in use. Also like the above, it doesn’t leave any residue on the skin. I’d say that all these things are to be expected with clear jelly squishies and stress balls, and stimmers sensitive to smells or stickiness should avoid all these toys.

(I’d say that this is a little stronger in scent than my jelly squishy and orbeez ball; it’s certainly the one I least like to handle.)

The yolk inside the ball is soft and can be pressed down on, although it doesn’t stretch. It is good fun to squish, and the liquid filling gives it a rolling sensation on the hand (although it won’t roll away, as the jelly skin is far too sticky).

If you’re wanting a jelly squishy and need to find offline sources, you might be interested in this. Honestly, though, I find my orbeez stress ball, whilst more expensive, to be a far more interesting toy, and the orbeez-filled jelly squishy has the added texture of the water beads to make up for the stickiness. I’d recommend checking out dollar shops for those instead. If you can’t find them, though, or dislike the water beads as filling, the splat ball is a reasonable substitute.

[stimtoybox]

[image description: a clear jelly squishy, shaped like a light bulb and filled with purple water beads/orbeez, sits on a sheet of clear plastic atop a red watermelon slice pillow. The bulb squishy has a silver-painted end resembling the screw top of a light bulb, complete with raised ridges; the clear bububble end is a simple teardrop-shaped clear case, holding full and a few broken water beads. The effect is somewhat like a water bead holding smaller water beads!]

Lightbulb Jelly Squishy - Mostly $2, $3 AUD.

For folks wanting to find slimes, stress balls and a variety of squishies in offline stores, I strongly recommend that you check out your local dollar shops. Perhaps it’s just an Australian thing, but in the wake of the fading spinner fashion, the stores that stocked spinners are now stocking many kinds of squishies, slimes, plastic slinkies, putties, grape stress balls and balloon stress balls. It’s amazing. I’m not finding a lot in chain stores like The Reject Shop, but the independent dollar shops are a wonderland of stim.

Local prices range from about $2 AUD for the smallest grape stress balls to $13 AUD for the large bread and cake squishies, and the selection is amazing--just today I’ve seen unicorn squishies, bread squishies, two-handed-sized cake squishies and jelly squishies. Many of these are scented, but the larger squishies were slow-rising and quite good quality. Most things are on counter displays by the front of stores, so they’re not difficult to find.

Because of the abundance, though, I’m now only purchasing anything unique or unusual, since I can find most things a little bit cheaper on eBay. (I also have enough squishies now, or so I’ll attempt to keep telling myself.) This lightbulb-shaped jelly squishy caught my eye, though. It’s filled with water beads!

This squishes down really well, and the feeling of the water beads underneath the jelly coating is a softer, quieter version of a bead-filled ice pack. I really love the feel of the beads rolling under my fingertips when I squish down on it, and I think I have to try and make myself some water-bead-filled balloon stress balls. It’s almost a massaging sensation, one I find super pleasing. I suspect some care in use is required, since mine does contain some broken water beads. I wouldn’t toss this in a carry bag for fear of it getting crushed.

Unlike a normal squishy, there’s no slow-rising aspect to this.

There’s two downsides to this. The first is that it has a strong chemical plastic smell, just like many grape stress balls. The second is that the clear bulb part of the ball is sticky. Stick-to-your-hand sticky. It doesn’t leave any residue on your skin, thankfully, so that the ball stops sticking the moment you pull it away. The problem is more to do with dust, dirt, hair or anything sticking to the squishy, and, as I discovered when Dad grabbed at it with sugar-covered hands, washing it makes it more sticky. I suspect a dusting of cornflour will solve this, but it will cloud the clear plastic, so for the moment I’m storing it in a ziplock bag.

It’s not a toy that’s easy to use, and anyone who dislikes the feel of stickiness on their skin should avoid it. I have to say, though, that I still really like the feel of squishing down on the water beads, and it’s such a unique, cool-looking toy. I still like it, probably more than I should.