Imagine this: you are 10-years old, and your art teacher or summer camp counselor takes out a bottle of glue and shaving cream — you instantly know what you are about to make. ‘
The DIY slime craze may have died many years back (with occasional in and out phases), but a very similar item has recently become extremely popular: NeeDoh.
NeeDoh is best described as a dough-filled thermoplastic rubber sensory toy — think stress ball meets clay-like butter slime. Many of them are shaped like foods or objects, being somewhat translucent. Some of the most popular NeeDoh toys are the “Nice Cube” and “Gummy Bear,” which of course come in a series of different colors.
Fidget toys became extremely popular after the onset of slime-making and the comeback of the fidget spinner in 2016-2017, with the rise of the “squishy” shortly after. It is safe to say that NeeDoh is another fad of the 2016 revival.
People are even cutting their NeeDoh toys open to make putty, and while labeled as non-toxic, this is not recommended. Unfortunately, there are more similarities to the slime craze than maybe originally thought.
Flashing back to the 2010s, slime was often made with the chemical borax, which posed many problems for children. Along with being a skin irritant, in the worst cases causing chemical burns on skin and eyes, if borax is ingested by children it can result in severe vomiting, diarrhea, shock and even death, according to an article updated by Healthline in 2023.
Cutting open NeeDoh can result in similar skin irritation, but a more dangerous trend has emerged in which children are microwaving their toys to make them more squishy or pliable.
Caleb Chabolla, a 9-year-old from Plainfield, Ill., experienced second-degree burns on his face and hands after he microwaved his NeeDoh, according to an article updated by CBS News on Feb. 2.
Loyola Medicine, the hospital Chabolla was treated at, said four other patients were treated for burns from NeeDoh, according to CBS.
Schylling, the company that produces NeeDoh, has since issued a warning against microwaving, heating or freezing their toys.
According to CBS, a TikTok USDS Joint Venture spokesperson said the app redirects users looking for dangerous challenges to their SafetyCenter, and that videos promoting danger violate the app’s guidelines and are removed by the platform when found. However, kids still came across the challenge.
This is not the first time a dangerous challenge has spread over social media, however. A less positive moment from the late 2010s, but a defining incident nonetheless was the “Tide Pod Challenge.” Children and teens on various social media platforms were eating the laundry detergent-filled pods, and suffering severe health complications, often resulting in hospitalizations. Ingesting Tide Pods can also notably cause death.
While fads and trends can be intriguing to children, they can also be extremely dangerous if blindly followed. NeeDoh is just one example of a DIY project or challenge ending horribly wrong. However, if you still want a “Nice Cube” after reading this, I wish you luck trying to get your hands on one and remind you to be safe!