What to Get a Squishy Kid This Christmas

The first Stormberry trading mat was a piece of notebook paper.

My daughter drew it in pencil. A grid, an X, a plus sign and a check mark, so she and her friends could trade squishies "the official way." Then it got lost in her backpack. So she drew it again. Then that one got lost too.

After one too many copies, I asked why nobody made a real one. Nobody had a good answer. So we designed one ourselves, right there at the kitchen table, and we haven't stopped since.

I'm starting with that because it's the most important thing I know about squishy kids. They take this stuff seriously. Like, peace treaty seriously. Which makes shopping for them a lot harder than it looks.

So here's our list. Nothing on it is sponsored. It's the stuff that holds up in a house where squishies get squeezed, traded, lost, found in the dryer and traded again.

A quick honest note. Some of these links go to Amazon. If you buy through them, we earn a little, which helps keep a small family business going, and it doesn't cost you anything extra. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

New this week

Updated October 22, 2026. Squishy trends move fast, so we keep this part fresh.

Everyone already knows about the butter squishies and the dumplings. These are the collector picks we're watching instead, from the Amazon charts and this year's hot toy lists.

Brand new

Squeeze Please Gems

From the same brand as our favorite marshmallows. There's a three pack that comes with a little collector display case, and Sugar Gems on their own. Both are on preorder right now, and the Sugar Gems come out November 9. (Speaking of the marshmallows, they're the top new release in squeeze toys on Amazon right now. Our kids called it.)

Brand new

Squishmallows MallowMees

Squishmallows' new line of actual squishies, slow rise and solid, and people are hunting for a rare gold one. Wave 2 just hit the US. They're not on Amazon yet, so look for them at your local toy aisle or on TikTok Shop.

Trade bait

Nook Nooks blind boxes

Tiny light up animal home scenes in a blind box, with a rare glowing one to hunt. And if they end up with doubles? Trade them.

Movie favorite

KPop Demon Hunters Squishmallows

Derpy the tiger and Sussie. If your kid has seen the movie, you already know. The little 8 inch ones are stocking size.

The squishies they're actually asking for

The kids’ pick

Ask in our house and you'll get two answers. Both kids will point you to the Squeeze Please marshmallows, which really do smell like toasted marshmallow and cotton candy. My son will also hand you a Minecraft jelly cube. (Yes, I know it's a cube. Apparently a cube with Minecraft glitter inside is a completely different thing.)

Kid favorite

Squeeze Please Marshmallows

Slow rise marshmallow squishies, and each one has its own scent. Sweet, Toasted and Cotton Candy Swirl. You can get the three pack or singles. Thousands of people bought them last month alone, so we're clearly not the only house that's hooked.

Our son's favorite

Minecraft and Sonic Jelly SquishMe

Squishy jelly cubes with glittery character heads floating inside. They're blind boxes, so you never know which one you'll get, and 1 in 48 hides a real gold plated piece. If that isn't trade bait, nothing is.

Worth the hunt

NeeDoh

The name every kid knows, and the hardest one to find. NeeDohs have been selling out all year, and fakes have rushed in to fill the gap. If you can find them, the Gumdrop and the Gummy Bear are the ones to look for. (Not the Nice Cube. Our kids have strong feelings about the Nice Cube.) We wrote a whole post about the shortage, which ones are worth hunting for and how to spot a fake. Read it here.

Great NeeDoh swap

Top Trenz Sugar Squishers

Charlie the Capybara, Abby the Axolotl, Penny the Bear, Gigi the Frog. Gel filled animals with fuzzy little caps and a sugary squish that scratches the NeeDoh itch. This is what we'd grab when the NeeDoh shelf is empty.

Viral this year

Butter or crunchy?

This is a real debate, and kids take sides. Butter squishies are shaped like sticks of butter and squish slow and smooth, like pressing your thumb into softened butter. Crunchy ones crackle when you squeeze them. If you don't know which side your kid is on, get one of each. You'll know by lunchtime.

Dumpling squishies

Yes, squishies shaped like dumplings. At some schools they're basically currency right now. The jelly ones are soft and slow and strangely calming to squeeze, and the Christmas versions are out.

Trade currency

A big bag of minis

The least exciting thing on this list, and maybe the most useful. Minis are pocket change in the trading world. A kid with twenty tiny mochi animals in a pouch can do a lot of business.

What we'd skip. The giant bargain packs with a hundred squishies and hardly any reviews. A lot of them smell like the inside of a new tire, and kids figure out fast which ones nobody wants in a trade.

For the kid who trades

Remember the notebook paper? That's what our Swap Spot mats are. The same X, plus and check kids were already drawing, on something that doesn't disappear into a backpack.

If you haven't watched kids trade yet, here's how it works. Each kid puts an offer on their side of the mat. The other kid answers with an X (no deal), a plus (add something) or a check (deal). That's it. It's simple and it's fair, and it cuts way down on the "that's not what we said" moments.

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No deal
+
Add something
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Deal!

Our colors, and the kids they seem to find.

I design our mats, and my kids are right there at the kitchen table adding ideas and designs.

The Original 12 x 18 is great for dumplings, NeeDohs and regular squishies, a few at a time. The XL 14 x 24 has room for jumbos and bigger trades with lots of pieces. US shipping is free, and joining our email list at stormberry.net gets you $7 off your first XL. It's a small list run by a small family, and we'll keep it worth opening.

Beyond squishies

Keyboard clickers

Little clicky keys with characters on them, plus a keyboard to snap them into. The clicking is the whole point. So, fair warning, is the noise.

Very tradeable

Tiny blind box collectibles

Glow in the dark Smiski figures and Calico Critters Very Berry Babies. (We're a little biased toward anything with "berry" in the name.) Small, collectible and made for trading. Buy from official sellers, because the fakes have found these too.

Cards and minifigures

For the Pokémon kids and the LEGO kids. Sleeves cost almost nothing, and to a card kid a bent corner is a real tragedy. With minifigure blind bags you will get duplicates. That's the point. Duplicates are what you trade.

For the collector (and the parent stepping on squishies in the dark)

Every collection hits a point where it stops fitting anywhere. And every trader needs a way to get squishies from point A to point B without picking up half the lint in the backpack. These help the most.

No lint

Clear hard shell zipper cases

This is how squishies should travel. The rigid shell keeps them from getting squashed, the zipper keeps the lint out, and kids can see exactly what's inside. The set we like comes in eight colors, so every kid can have their own.

Trade day ready

A hard case with a handle

The same latching cases people use for board game pieces and craft supplies. Snap it shut, grab the handle, and the whole trade kit goes from the house to the car to a friend's kitchen table. The Double Deep has eight little compartments for sorting, if your kid likes a system.

An over the door shoe organizer

For home base. Holds a ridiculous number of squishies, and kids can see their whole collection at once.

There are more ideas in our storage post.

Advent calendars

Worth the hunt

The NeeDoh Squishmas Advent Calendar

24 teenie NeeDohs, one a day until Christmas. It's the one everyone wants, so keep an eye out for restocks.

Other squishy advent calendars

Easier to find and still a lot of fun. A tiny squishy behind every door turns all of December into a countdown, and gives them a reason to get out of bed on a school day.

Two real things before you buy

Fakes. There are a lot of knockoff squishies out there this year, and some aren't made to the same standard as the real ones. Stick to the brand's own store or Amazon directly, and be suspicious of any "NeeDoh" that costs way less than it should.

The microwave thing. There's a trend going around online where kids heat squishies in the microwave, and kids have ended up in the hospital with burns. It's worth a two minute talk at dinner, even if you're sure your kid would never.

And the little ones aren't for little ones. Minis and minifigure pieces are a choking risk, so if there's a toddler around, they live up high.

One more thing

Squishies don't stay perfect. They get a dent from the bottom of the backpack. They go a little sticky. The pink one fades a bit from riding around all winter.

That's what a loved toy looks like. The best gifts in this whole squishy world are the ones that look a little beat up by February, because it means they got used.

Tell us

What's the most lopsided trade your kid has ever made? Send it to us on Instagram or TikTok. We have a feeling some of them are legendary.

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