Ah! Hello I don't know if you've answered an ask like this before (I didn't see one) but I'm some one who really loves clicks and metal tapping together but I also think a tangle will be really beneficial for me so are there any you recommend that are pretty cheap? I don't have much money but I could probably manage something $15 or cheaper thank you so much in advance I'm new to stim toys and getting an autistic screening soon so I'm feeling more self aware of my stims and sensory things
For $15, anon, we can get you a couple of different stim toys! If we go for the cheapest options, we can get you a few of them! There’s a few things I would definitely recommend for anyone after clicking and tapping (and good stimmy noises generally) and I’ll throw in a couple of DIYs at the end as well. This should get you started at the very least, and you can explore adding to this kit (be it by purchasing or by making things) over time. It’s surprising how quickly I went from having a couple of stim toys to having a couple of baskets of stim toys…
(I’ll also say that it’s really normal to have that self-aware stage when you’ve been diagnosed - be it professional or self - or discovered that autism is something with which you relate. My experience was that I’d spent my whole life suppressing so much about myself, and once I had a label for my difference, once I came online and found people both with the same experiences and the language for those experiences, I felt incredibly aware of this and how I moved for a long while. A year later, I’m back to not noticing how I’m rocking my knees while I type; stimming and touching has become more subconscious again, with the difference that I now reach for those baskets of toys more subconsciously and I’m so much less restrained in general sensory/texture seeking.)
Tangles
The cheapest option, no matter where you are, is ebay. (I’ve got my review here and a series of links here, but there’s many more listings here, often for $2 USD and under with free international shipping. (Folks may want to note that there’s now several listings for the glow in the dark Tangles for under $2 USD, too!) Please note that there is no real consensus as to whether these are legitimate, knock-offs, prototypes or something else: some people have found theirs to be identical to Tangle Creations packaged Tangles, while others (including two of us mods) have found them to feel cheaper - lighter, crackier, creakier, not quite right in ways hard to articulate. My feeling is that they’re knock-offs (and that this is indicative in the price) but I don’t actually know this for sure (that they use an older version of the Tangle logo makes it hard to tell). For you, anon, this might be the better Tangle to source, because I can tell you from my own experience that they crack and creak a lot more than a regular Tangle Jr, and at this price you can get a couple of them.
If you want a packaged Tangle, your best bet if you’re in the USA is Amazon or Fat Brain Toys (under $5 USD, $3.99 USD flat rate shipping). If you’re in Australia, try Toyworld stores (around $6 AUD each).
Fidget Cubes
Later on today I’m going to try and make a post about the knock-off cube I found in a local dollar shop. I’ll say this right now: it is clicky. Not just that it has buttons and switches to click, but it makes a loud plastic clicking noise when you use them. (It’s so noisy that I’d wish murder on the person using it beside me in the classroom.) In your case, anon, I’d go for the cheap version not only from pricing concerns but also because of the clicking noises they make. There’s a score of various ebay listings running anywhere from $1 to $5 with free international shipping in anybody’s currency and a few more listings on where to buy on this post.
Klixx Fidgets
This is basically a length of interlocking links that click when you move them. Tremendously clicky. There’s brand-name and imitation versions available - the imitations tend to be a few dollars cheaper. You can hear one being clicked in this video post by @yellows-stim-toy-hoarde.
Available on Stimtastic for $3.50 USD. The knock-off versions are called “Snap and Click” toys and there’s a Squishy Mart listing for $0.98 USD and on Children’s Therapy Store for $1.50 USD.
Twiddles
This is less clicky, in terms of volume, than my fidget cube, but it’s plastic, it’s scrunchy and it’s wonderfully stimmy to just crunch in your hand. It’s also the most expensive fidget here at $9.50 USD from Stimtastic and $12.99 AUD from Sensory Oasis for Kids. I’d be inclined to leave this one for later, simply due to the expense, as you can get multiples of the other toys in your budget. They are fabulous, though!
Snake Puzzles
This is another case, anon, where the cheaper the puzzle, the clickier and creakier it is. My Smiggle puzzles are mostly silent (exceptions being the glow in the dark ones, for some reason: the plastic feels more brittle) but my K-Mart puzzles (both small and large) click and creak as you rotate the triangular sections.
This is one of those odd items where I don’t have a good non-Australian supplier to recommend. K-Mart sells the mini puzzles for $1 AUD each, which I recommend as a super cheap creaky toy (although some of the covers over the triangular pieces like to pop free). There’s several larger ones on Amazon, but none are especially cheap. I’ve seen them on Banggood for $2.18 AUD with free international shipping, which might be your best bet.
Electronic Bubble Wrap
This is less clicky and more pushy with the sound of bubble wrap, but it might work for you if you really like pressing buttons. There’s a range of ebay listings here starting from $5.33 USD with free shipping.
Light Switches
Check out this post Mod Rainbow wrote a while back about finding cheap, unwired switches on ebay. If you’re after a switch to flick/click and you need something bigger than the switch on a fidget cube, here’s an option for under $1 USD with free shipping!
DIYs
- Clicky bottle/jar caps - think Snapple caps, jam jar lids, anything with a popper seal in the middle. You can reuse Snapple bottles for water or anything else so you’ve got a snap-cap bottle on you for stimming and drinking, making this pretty multifunctional!
- @diy-stims has posted this tutorial on making a DIY clicker toy: two bottle caps glued to the insides of a folded length of cardboard.
I think there’s enough here, anon, to get you started, and most of it is priced reasonably enough that you should be able to get a few different things on your budget. If anyone has any suggestions for cheap or DIY clicky toys that I’ve forgotten, please comment and I’ll add it to the post.
Good luck, anon, with both your assessment and your stimming adventures!
- Mod K.A.