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The Needoh Gumdrop (link to their official site) belongs to a category of toys broadly known as “fidgets.” As the name implies, this is a group of objects meant to help you channel your excess nervous energy into simple, soothing motions like spinning, popping, clicking, or, as in the case of the Needoh Gumdrop, squishing.
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My kids call them all “squishies” which is accurate. Squishies have been the subject of intense interest in our household; we got our older kid a Needoh advent calendar. But until recently, I thought of them just as kids toys, which to be clear is 100% how they are marketed.
Most of their squishes I find, if I am being honest, kind of gross. A lot of Needoh’s products have a slight stickiness to their surfaces, which gives me the ick. I don’t need something that reminds me of the existence of slime or my kids chewed gum, both items that find their way into my hands a little too often already. And they are mostly pretty “loose” in the sense that they squish easily and don’t offer a lot of resistance, leaving me with the sensation of squeezing a sandwich bag filled with glue. Not exactly satisfying. Fidgetsm in general, haven’t ever held much appeal for me—because they’ve been marketed to kids, perhaps, or perhaps because I am just a boring adult who has lost the ability to recognize fun when I see it.
But the Gumdrop is different, in two key ways, that appeal even to a boring adult like myself: One, the outer surface is textured and grip-like, and not remotely sticky. And two, it’s a much firmer kind of squishy. It operates like a non-Newtonian fluid (or oobleck), so it feels hard and solid if hit, but malleable when slowly squeezed or prodded.
Our younger kid noticed — rightly — that I’d been gravitating towards her orange Needoh Gumdrop at home, just every now and again squeezing it absentmindedly as we went about our day. And so on a recent trip to the local toy store to buy her older sister a hanukah gift, she convinced me to buy one of these for myself. The store had just one left, in blue (my color), which felt like a fate ordained by some squishy god, so I went for it.
Now I don’t get through a day of meetings without it.
It’s a cheery companion on my home desk, refracting the light nicely, and then when I’m speaking on calls, it’s there in the background, getting squished flat or kneaded into a more fluid-like state. It has become the suprising balm I didn’t know I needed. You may not think yourself a fidget-er, but I think we all are, in fact it may just be an essential human trait, fidgeting, but you might never know if you don’t buy yourself a Needoh Gumdrop, which I absolutely think you would enjoy.
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