Stim toy help.

[The Phantom]

Do you guys have any ideas for stim toys? Such as ones you can make yourself or places/sites to buy them? I'll put some 'guidelines' to be more helpful.

- I generally like 'squishy' things, but not too hard. Stress balls are fine, but I generally like oens that are easier to squish. But also not too easy to pop, I have a very hard grip that I've onnly just realized how hard it is

-probably shouldn't be filled with water, or a too distracting design (light up or things like that) because I am a teen and would be bringing this to school. No doubt classmates will ask to play with it, it has happened before in class and kinda defeats it's purpose of helping me focus/relax. And water because I might burst it. It's happened before.

- That being said, I do appreciate animals/smileys/ any of those cutesy designs.


However, any type of input is appreciated! Feel free to tell me things that work for you and don't it may help me find the right toy.


Thank you!

 

[Progster]

Have you tried Blu Tack?

 

[The Phantom]

Have you tried Blu Tack?

Haha yes, I have. I took a program for Mandarin last summer in Beijing, and he were sitting in desks for 4 hours straight learning chinese. My friend with ADHD recommended I buy blu-tack when we were at a market, so I took her advice. But during class, two of my friends kept on asking for some to play with and mold into shapes, which got very annoying and distracting, and they kept on either dirtying it beyond repair or losing parts of it. Even worse, one kid kept an eye on my desk, and if he ever spotted my trying to mold my portion into either a snowman or mickey mouse 9the only two shapes i really liked to make), one kid would run across the room to my desk and smash it. So, yeah, I've tried blu-tack haha. And everyone in class is always looking for blu-tack and fighting over it when another kid has some.
I might try it next year, but I'll have to see how my classmates mature.

Thank you for the suggestion though!

 

[Beverly]

You can make a suitable toy, all you need is some plant gel like this Colorful Water Plant Flower Jelly Crystal Soil Mud Hydro Gel Pearls Beads Balls | eBay water and balloons. Put about 2-3 TBS of the gel material in the balloon, add water 1 TBS at a time and let it soak up until it's as squishy as you like, tie the balloon closed. Make 2 or three at a time so you don't have to do it every day, in case one breaks.

The water is locked up in the gel so, it won't make a huge mess if it breaks and, it can be easily swept or wiped up but, they don't break very often.

Most home improvement and garden stores sell the gel, or you can order it online, it comes in colors and clear/white.

 

[The Phantom]

You can make a suitable toy, all you need is some plant gel like this Colorful Water Plant Flower Jelly Crystal Soil Mud Hydro Gel Pearls Beads Balls | eBay water and balloons. Put about 2-3 TBS of the gel material in the balloon, add water 1 TBS at a time and let it soak up until it's as squishy as you like, tie the balloon closed. Make 2 or three at a time so you don't have to do it every day, in case one breaks.

The water is locked up in the gel so, it won't make a huge mess if it breaks and, it can be easily swept or wiped up but, they don't break very often.

Most home improvement and garden stores sell the gel, or you can order it online, it comes in colors and clear/white.

Thank you! This is a very good idea! I will make sure to try it if I can get the materials.

 

[The Phantom]

You can make a suitable toy, all you need is some plant gel like this Colorful Water Plant Flower Jelly Crystal Soil Mud Hydro Gel Pearls Beads Balls | eBay water and balloons. Put about 2-3 TBS of the gel material in the balloon, add water 1 TBS at a time and let it soak up until it's as squishy as you like, tie the balloon closed. Make 2 or three at a time so you don't have to do it every day, in case one breaks.

The water is locked up in the gel so, it won't make a huge mess if it breaks and, it can be easily swept or wiped up but, they don't break very often.

Most home improvement and garden stores sell the gel, or you can order it online, it comes in colors and clear/white.

Thank you! This is a very good idea! I will make sure to try it if I can get the materials.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I've never had any legit stim toys. Another stim toy thread mentioned a site i think it was called stimtastic that has some you can buy. It has a variety of stuff from the looks of it. Personally i fidget things in my hand a lot as a stim, pens especially, so for me thing like the spinning stim ring thing would be good. I've debated getting one. But my parents would be the one getting the package not me and that would be more than a little embarrassing.

 

[The Phantom]

I've never had any legit stim toys. Another stim toy thread mentioned a site i think it was called stimtastic that has some you can buy. It has a variety of stuff from the looks of it. Personally i fidget things in my hand a lot as a stim, pens especially, so for me thing like the spinning stim ring thing would be good. I've debated getting one. But my parents would be the one getting the package not me and that would be more than a little embarrassing.

I've never really had a 'proper' stim toy either, but just found cheap toys with textures I liked, which works out pretty well. but I do want to invest in a durable product. I've always liked anything either fluffy or squishable, and no one ever questioned it, but now it makes sense if your comparing it to the sensory aspects of the spectrum. I remember having a book where they put a different texture on each page for a different object I had several of those types of book) that I absolutely loved and used frequently. Along with those rubber-ish yoyo's that are a ball and are squishy that usually light up? yeah those. I always loved those, and those worked as stim toy as well. In school, I either twirled a pencil or jiggled my legs (my most notorious habit). Anyway, yeah I understand the whol e package thing. I wouldn't be able to sum up the courage to ask my parents for one ( let alone confront them about Apsergers. that's a whole nother story) plus they probably wouldn't let me buy one anyway. But yeah, if I bought it myself (which I'm not old enough to anyway lol) and my parents got the package I would me mortified!


So yeah, thank you for the link! It seems great, I will definitely be looking into it!

 

[grommet]

Phantom, the gel beads are polyacrylamide. It's also known as SoilMoist. It used to be added to soil to help retain water and release it slowly to water the plant. It was a pretty common product and so available at nurseries and most hardware stores, even hobby shops. So it should be easy to get. I did not think about looking for it on eBay. I got a box many years ago but did not get around to using it. I wonder if I could still find it.

By the way, monoacrylamide is similar but very toxic. Don't worry, it's not generally available. As I understand it, it is used in genetic research. I thought to mention it because I found it so interesting when I first learned about it, how the two are similar but one is okay and the other a hazard.

If I could find the right rubber, something pretty sturdy, I might make what Beverley has suggested. It would be fun to have a big heavy ball of it to keep me company and I could put in my lap or on my chest but also squeeze. I worry a balloon would break too easily but maybe there are more heavy duty balloons.

 

[The Phantom]

Phantom, the gel beads are polyacrylamide. It's also known as SoilMoist. It used to be added to soil to help retain water and release it slowly to water the plant. It was a pretty common product and so available at nurseries and most hardware stores, even hobby shops. So it should be easy to get. I did not think about looking for it on eBay. I got a box many years ago but did not get around to using it. I wonder if I could still find it.

By the way, monoacrylamide is similar but very toxic. Don't worry, it's not generally available. As I understand it, it is used in genetic research. I thought to mention it because I found it so interesting when I first learned about it, how the two are similar but one is okay and the other a hazard.

If I could find the right rubber, something pretty sturdy, I might make what Beverley has suggested. It would be fun to have a big heavy ball of it to keep me company and I could put in my lap or on my chest but also squeeze. I worry a balloon would break too easily but maybe there are more heavy duty balloons.

Yeah, I'm just wondering if I could get it locally though. I live in Asia so I'm not too sure, but I think I can get it. Since I now know it's called SoilMoist I might be able to find some. I can't purchase anything online though, I'm too young and my parents probably wouldn't want me to. If I bought it on my own then maybe.

I'll make sure I don't by monocrylamide haha. The shop owner might not speak english so there is a chance. But yeah like you said it probably won't be available.
And yeah, I think a normal balloon is not the best choice. I know kids in my class have used flour and a balloon for the fun of it but those get popped very easily (at least with my classmates). Perhaps a sturdier balloon might work, but I might have to double it up just in case.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Vinca]

There are resistance balls that are used for exercising the hands. They come in a variety of resistance levels and are often aimed at those with grip issues who want to build up strength. The one that I have isn't a skin filled with a gel, it's all the same material and the surface of it has a very sublte peach-skin feel to it. It's the softest one I could find and offers more, and a different type of resistance to that of a stress ball (It's a while since I've used a stress ball, so I can't remember exactly what they feel like)

Whilst looking on amazon for an example, I came across a product video, which shows a man giving a product demonstration for a silicon version of a hand therapy ball. It gives a a good indication of how soft/squidgy this particular ball is.

 

[The Phantom]

There are resistance balls that are used for exercising the hands. They come in a variety of resistance levels and are often aimed at those with grip issues who want to build up strength. The one that I have isn't a skin filled with a gel, it's all the same material and the surface of it has a very sublte peach-skin feel to it. It's the softest one I could find and offers more, and a different type of resistance to that of a stress ball (It's a while since I've used a stress ball, so I can't remember exactly what they feel like)

Whilst looking on amazon for an example, I came across a product video, which shows a man giving a product demonstration for a silicon version of a hand therapy ball. It gives a a good indication of how soft/squidgy this particular ball is.

Ooooh, those look Perfect!! I would definitely purchase the silicon one, but I would love to have the firmer one as well for hand exercises (not that I don't have a death-grip type of handshake already lol) and the diagrams are useful too. I would love to buy some, but I would have to either convince my parents are ask one of my friends to buy me one for Xmas/B-day haha. I would probably invest in one of these for school. Until then I will be trying out the DIY example Beverly +Grommet suggested, but thank you so much for the suggestion!

 

[gonzerd]

This came by some time ago. Not my writing, it's courtesy of windy-jpg.tumblr.com

hey guys i know stim toys can be very expensive so here’s something to do if you’re extra low on money and you stim with your hands

you know how sometimes drink bottles have caps that say “do not buy if cap pops” and they have the little circle thing in the middle? like…snapple bottles, for example. well, when you open them, the little circle thing can click when you push on it.

like that!! the safety button things!!!
basically you can just keep pressing them forever and ever and they make little clicking noises!

and look how small they are! they can fit in your pocket and if you keep them clenched in your hand the sound is very quiet!!!

safety button caps!!!

I've been using one for a while now and it's been working quite nicely. No more sticky fingers from playing with my kneaded eraser. I cut the sides of mine to make it flat and have some sharp edges for extra stimming pleasure (I like sharp edges, and it's still blunt enough not to cut my fingers).

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

Many of my favorite stims come from Walgreen's. Best thing to do is see what you like playing with

 

[buttercuplols]

I made this. It is a little spring, one of those twisty things for sandwich bags and a clicky button from a printer circuit board. All were lying around the house and I liked them so I put them on a little keychain together as a tactile toy.

 

[grommet]

I made this. It is a little spring, one of those twisty things for sandwich bags and a clicky button from a printer circuit board. All were lying around the house and I liked them so I put them on a little keychain together as a tactile toy.

Very cool

 

[buttercuplols]

Very cool

Thank you very much. I like it a lot!

 

[grommet]

Thank you very much. I like it a lot!

I think the button is a great idea. I would not have thought of that. It is such a good feeling to press those buttons.

 

[buttercuplols]

I think the button is a great idea. I would not have thought of that. It is such a good feeling to press those buttons.

Button are a firm favourite. And jar lids with the pop top so you can tell if it's been opened before. *pop* *pop* *pop*