About

Squishy Toy Trend or Squishies Craze refers to a social media trend surrounding various squishy toy products, such as the NeeDoh Cube, the LeBron James Toy, Taba squishies and other goods, which are typically silicone shells filled with a slime or glue that can be squeezed (similar to a stress ball). The squishable toys garnered virality in 2025 as people shared videos of them online, spiking in early to mid-2025 when reports that a young boy and girl had been burned when they microwaved the toys, causing them to explode. These toys are commonly featured in ASMR videos, as well as referenced as stimming products for people with autism or ADHD.

Origin

Squishy toys, such as the Schylling NeeDoh Nice Cube,^[2] have been sold in the U.S. for many years. Their virality online largely began with the LeBron James Toy that TikTokers began filling with water or other liquids.

For instance, TikToker^[1] @take.ls.or.give.ls uploaded the earliest known video of this on August 13th, 2021, in which he filled the LeBron James toy with water in a sink and slapped it. The video gained over 6 million views and 862,000 likes in four years.

Other viral toys and brands, such as Taba squishies and axolotls, have prominently garnered attention in the 2020s with the rise of the squishy toy trend.

For example, on April 15th, 2024, YouTuber Doctor Squish, a YouTube^[3] channel dedicated to reviewing and covering such products, uploaded a video about axolotl squishies under the title "Axolotl Squishy HAUL!! Huge Ugly Cute Review." The video received over 335,000 views, 5,200 likes and 420 comments in roughly a year.

On August 16th, 2024, YouTuber NerdECrafter posted a review of Taba squishies, noting the products were becoming a trend on TikTok in the title of the video ("TABA Squishy? WEIRD SQUISHIES Trend TikTok Shop"), receiving over 299,000 views, 8,500 likes and 590 comments in 11 months.

Spread

Videos of people reviewing, making or playing with squishy toys continued to spread online throughout the 2020s, particularly on TikTok and YouTube.

For instance, on October 11th, 2022, TikTok^[4] user @monkeeshop posted a video of the viral monkey or gorilla squishy toy, receiving over 394,000 likes and 4,300 comments in roughly three years.

On November 2nd, 2022, TikToker^[5] @sydwiseman posted a video of My Squishy Little Dumplings, another well-known squishies brand of toys, receiving over 29,800 likes and 80 comments in roughly three years.

On January 18th, 2025, the YouTube channel ASMR Toys & Party uploaded an ASMR unboxing video of a Taba squishy, receiving over 295,000 views, 3,300 likes and 300 comments in six months.

Microwave Squishy Toys Trend and Accidents

On January 14th, 2025, Inside Edition's YouTube^[7] channel covered the story of an 8-year-old girl named Gia who microwaved a NeeDoh toy, causing it to explode and shower her face with hot gel. The video covering the incident, titled "Girl Burned After NeeDoh Toy Explodes in Microwave," received over 302,000 views and 6,000 likes in six months.

On March 19th, 2025, Inside Edition reported on another story on its YouTube^[8] channel involving a 7-year-old girl named Scarlett Selby, who similarly suffered numerous burns when she microwaved a NeeDoh squishy toy. The video received over 822,00 views and 11,000 likes in four months.

On June 11th, 2025, reports emerged that an 8-year-old boy named Parker from Utah had suffered third-degree burns when attempting a viral trend that involved microwaving the squishy toys to make the gel inside squishier, resulting in the product exploding and showering his body with the heated gel. Parker's mom, Cathy Tenney, told local news outlet KTVQ^[6] about the incident:

They had heard on YouTube Shorts … that if you put these squishy balls in the microwave for 30 seconds, it’ll make them extra squishy. The gel from inside exploded on [Parker], with no shirt. I just heard a blood-curdling scream.

On July 16th, 2025, Tyla^[9] reported on the incident involving Scarlett Selby from March, titled "Girl left in coma after copying squishy toy trend she’d seen online," noting that she was left in a coma from the accident involving the squishy toy. According to her parents, Scarlett had similarly put the NeeDoh cube into the freezer and then microwaved it in an attempt to make it more malleable after seeing videos of other people doing it on TikTok.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References