#i had a tutorial for the rollable bit

[samayla]

Guess who just figured out how to make the rollable dice toggle visible/invisible for building the dice pool!!

[stimtoybox]

[image description: two photos, the first taken on a red watermelon slice pillow sitting on a blue, white and black night sky quilt cover, the second taken just on the quilt, of a wide variety of stim toys. Each toy is described and discussed underneath the read more cut below.]

Anon asked,

What are your favorite stim toys and why? 

I’ve made this a photo post, anon, as I dislike how Tumblr compresses images when you insert them into an ask or text post.

I’ll work my way through everything photographed above, top to bottom, left to right. Note that I am mostly into fidget toys, that chronic hand pain does impact what I can use, and that I prefer toys that offer texture in addition to movement. This isn’t a general stim kit, just things that I like using, and everyone’s stim needs will differ depending on their health, situation and sensory likes/aversions.

This is a very long post even by my standards. I’ve given a description of each item as I discuss it, so I’m going to place everything under a read more cut:

Orange-red prickle/massage/sports ball: the textured ball is great as a distraction from my pain, as it gives a rough, harsh, pressing sensation without causing damage to my hands. I’d recommend this for folks who seek out pain sensations, as it’s as close as I’ve gotten to finding it in a non-harming toy.

Orange/aqua/pink/yellow/red fleuro mesh stress ball: it’s filled with plastic pellets, so it has weight and crunch, while the mesh offers a much more interesting texture than that of a conventional stress ball. Great for tossing.

Hama bead loop: a loop of hat elastic threaded with fifty-four different coloured perler or Hama beads. It’s like a lightweight Tangle you can twist and coil, with the rougher sensory input of the spaces between the beads catching your skin. Another good toy for people who like harsher or pain sensations without wanting to cause damage, as long as you don’t twist it too tightly around a finger or wrist.

Disney Tsum Tsum Elsa: a small, easily portable plush with lots of textures (plush-like hair, blue dress, cape, suede belly, her embroidered face) and a pocket of pellets in her belly for crunching and squishing.

DIY chain fidget: an oversized chain fidget made using 50 cm clip rings and strips of black felt sewn into chain-like pieces and stiffened using glitter glue. The large size makes it so much easier for me to use than the the standard 30 cm split ring fidgets. I hope I’ll have the time to do a proper tutorial on these one day - they’re a bit involved to make, but they work so well. Great for just idly flipping back and forth in one or two hands.

DIY marble maze: a marble maze made from aqua owl-print flannelette, pink minky fleece backing and purple chain stitching. These are so soft to touch and not too difficult to handsew, and they give the lovely tactile stim of the different fabrics combined with pushing a marble through the maze formed by the stitching. Harder to use in public than a Tangle, but a staple for many stim kits.

Bright pink stretchy squish ball: one of Stimtastic’s squish balls. It’s soft, mouldable, rollable, stretchy. Like playdough without the smell and with greater portability. It’s also a lot softer on my hands than putty or dough, which is fabulous. I truly love these. Third favourite toy, maybe?

Blue, yellow, green, orange and pink hedge balls: these are great for rolling, pulling and squishing. I love the texture and pressing the fronds into my skin, and the size means they’re easily portable.

Green and cream Slinky Tangle Glo: it’s an Original-sized Tangle that glows in the dark like nothing I’ve ever seen. So cool.

Red, purple, blue, green and yellow crocheted stress ball: a small stress ball stuffed with plastic pellets and crinkle paper for crunch and scrunch. As a fidget toy it has the weight and texture of the crocheted skin plus the sound of the paper crinkling. Not so good for public stimming, but amazing to fidget with.

Blue, green and purple Twiddle: it’s longer and looser than a Tangle, but it scrunches together nicely and is great for idle fidgeting. I mostly ball it in a hand and scrunch it, but it also works as a puzzle as well, if you prefer pulling it apart.

Wooden nut and bolt: this is a craft piece I found in Daiso, but it’s great for quiet fidgeting, and the grooves/rif provide great texture for stroking.

Yellow and rainbow tie-dye plastic tri-shaped spinners: I like spinners because they have the sound and vibration aspect - I seldom look at them while they spin. I just hold them and enjoy the feel of the movement. My fingers are long enough that I can hold one arm bearing between thumb and pointer finger and flip the spinner around, so there’s multiple ways I can fidget with these.

Chewigem Desert Rose Dog Tag pendant strung on a purple rattail cord: this is my favourite chewable so far because it’s thin and springy and not too wide. I love it’s smaller size. I want one not in pink.

Orange teardrop makeup blending sponge: these are such a great and inexpensive squishy alternative. They’re not slow-rising, but they’re soft, portable and great to touch and press.

White and pink Zuru Fidget Cube in blue Zuru Prism: I use this toy least often out of everything photographed, and I mostly stim with it by rolling the gears and ball on my face. It makes my pain flare more than anything else here, so I have to be careful with it, but I really do love the gears and roller ball.

Black Tangle Jr, worn rose-pink Tangle Jr Fuzzy, yellow/clear/pink/blue Tangle Jr Textured and translucent orange/translucent yellow/translucent purple/yellow Tangle Jr: Tangles are my favourite stim toy, easy. They’re easy to use, portable, colourful and good for unthinking stimming. I like that they offer texture or flocking in addition to movement, and they’re the type of toy that doesn’t draw too much attention in public, as an adult stimmer.

White and silver mermaid sequin pillow: this is my second favourite stim toy, easy! Lots of texture, the visual stimming of watching the sequins change colour and being so gentle on my hands all combine to make this absolutely amazing for me. The only downside is that’s not always a particularly good public stim toy, but that it never hurts me to swipe the sequins absolutely makes up for this.

Blue and cream Daiso embroidered hedgehog duster: there’s lots of these sorts of dusters and mop heads around (although most aren’t shaped like animals) and the chenille fronds are great for running one’s hand through.

Glass jar holding green kinetic sand: I’ve had to stop using kinetic sand for a while to see if it’s the reason for my dermatitis flares, but it is another silent, pain-free stim toy that’s great for occupying one’s hands while watching TV. Not very portable, unfortunately!

There’s more toys I like, and I’ll probably remember something else that should have made it to this list after it posts, but that’s most of them, anon!

- Mod K.A.