NeeDoh craze creates long lines and dramatic chase for viral toy
Squishy lovers are clearing shelves and standing in long lines to get their hands on NeeDoh, a colorful and squishy toy.
Squishy toys have become a hot topic on social media, sending more children to hospital burn units and raising alarm among parents, doctors and even the companies behind the viral toy trend.
The injury stems from a video encouraging people to soften squishy toys in the microwave, often with stress and fidget products containing soft gels. Doctors say that when the toys are heated, the gel inside expands rapidly, sometimes causing the outer layer to rupture and splatter the burn material onto the skin.
In one of the latest cases, a British child heated a fluffy toy in the microwave with a friend before it exploded, causing severe burns and potentially permanent scarring on his face, his mother Charlotte told the BBC. The girls were watching this trending video that is going viral on social media.
“When placed in the microwave, the gel inside heats up rapidly and builds pressure until the toy explodes, often immediately after being lifted or squeezed,” board-certified emergency medicine physician Steven Varassis told Parents.com.
Varassis added that the nature of the gel makes it particularly dangerous. “Because the hot, thick substance sticks tightly to the skin and the gel is in contact with the skin for a long time, it can cause second-degree burns, which are deeper and more damaging than hot liquid injuries,” he explained.
Charlotte said her 10-year-old daughter Bella “completely broke down in tears” after the squishy toy exploded and “looked like she had been punched in the face”, adding: “You could see the burn marks, the skin was chipped and there were blisters.”
“One of the scariest things ever”
Charlotte said she didn’t know that using squishy toys in the microwave was widespread until other parents contacted her after she shared Bella’s experience on Facebook.
“When I searched, I saw videos of children and adults showing how ‘fun’ it was to put toys in the microwave to make them more elastic,” she told the BBC.
Among those who responded was Gemma Wells, who shared a photo of her child with burns on her face. “It was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced,” Wells wrote. “It was traumatic.”
Wells, Charlotte and their children are just part of a growing number of families spending time in burns wards after squishy toy explosions.
4 cases in 1 month
In January, 9-year-old Caleb Chavola was taken to a Chicago-area hospital after a squishy toy exploded when he heated it in the microwave, spraying a gel-like substance all over his face.
Caleb’s mother, Whitney Grubb, told ABC7 that burn material got on his skin. “Basically, the right side of his face was melting,” Grubb said.
Caleb told the show that she wasn’t aware of the TikTok trend, but that her friend heated her squishies in the microwave and “she didn’t get hurt.”
Loyola University Medical Center, where Caleb was treated, said Caleb is the fourth case it has seen in the first month of 2026.
“We see TikTok challenges all the time with negative outcomes,” said Kelly McElligott, Burn Outreach Coordinator at Loyola University Medical Center. “Hurt people aren’t necessarily posting TikToks. They’re just looking at fun things that look cool.”
1 week in burn unit
In Indiana, 12-year-old Kelsey Dybala suffered severe burns to her neck and face after heating a squishy in the microwave for one minute at five-second intervals.
“All of a sudden I heard, ‘It’s on fire! It’s on fire! It’s on fire!’ I thought, ‘What have I done?'” Kelsey’s mother, Stacey, told local media outlet WTHR.
Kelsey said she had seen many videos on TikTok and YouTube of other people heating up squishies in the microwave. “I’ve seen a lot of stories about how putting it in the microwave makes it softer,” Kelsey says. “We were really starting to see that people were doing it and people were encouraging it.”
Kelsey ultimately required skin grafts and surgery for second-degree burns on her jaw and third-degree burns on her neck. She spent a week in the burn unit at a local children’s hospital.
induced coma
One of the earliest and most medically difficult stories came from Missouri in March 2025, when 7-year-old Scarlett Selby was placed in an induced coma for three days. Scarlett’s father, Josh, said his daughter first froze the toy overnight and heated it in the microwave the next day.
Josh said he knew Scarlett had heated the toy in the microwave. However, shortly after removing it, Mr. Selby heard his daughter’s screams and realized that the toy had exploded and her body was covered in searing gel.
When doctors arrived at the hospital, they opted to put Scarlett into a coma, fearing that the severity of the burns to her mouth would cause her airway to swell and become blocked. She also had a feeding tube put in and ended up in the hospital for a week.
“I absolutely told everyone to throw it away if they had it,” Selby said of the NeeDoh brand Nice Cube that caused her daughter’s injuries. “This product is like glue, so it’s basically hot glue that explodes and sticks to your body. Once it gets on you, there’s no way to remove it.”
hidden danger
Squishy toys have been around for a while, but they’ve taken off recently, thanks in large part to the popularity of a brand called NeeDoh.
Charlotte from the UK pointed out that her daughter’s Squishy was “unbranded”. Caleb of Chicago, Kelsey of Illinois, and Scarlett of Missouri were reportedly burned by the Needo Nice Cube.
These toys are generally marketed as “non-toxic,” but their popularity has led to more and more companies stocking their shelves with their toys, making it difficult to know exactly what’s in them.
Furthermore, Consumer Reports points out that toy companies are not required by U.S. law to disclose the ingredients or material composition of their products.
But in the end, it is not necessarily the toxic or allergenic substances that send children to the hospital, but rather the melting temperature of the viscous substances inside.
For example, Charlotte said Bella’s toy had an “outer layer of silicone” that hid the red-hot gel inside. “They couldn’t feel the heat inside so her friend squeezed it and that’s when the heat hit them both,” Charlotte said.
NeeDoh maker says viral trend is ‘unfortunate’
USA TODAY, one of the best-known companies in the industry, asked NeeDoh’s parent company, Schylling Inc., about reports of people being injured by the products NeeDoh helped popularize.
Schilling said in a statement that he is “disappointed” that people misusing the product has become a viral trend. The company has since added a “safety warning” to all NeeDoh packaging and e-commerce listings in hopes of educating consumers.
“Misusing NeeDoh products by heating them in the microwave or freezing them is dangerous and can cause harm to consumers,” Schilling said, adding, “We are partnering with social media companies like TikTok to remove influential content that includes the misuse of NeeDoh products.”
TikTok echoed that sentiment, telling the BBC that content depicting dangerous or harmful behavior violates its guidelines and will be removed from the platform.
Drew Pittock can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.
