Color Changing NeeDoh: out of stock. NeeDoh Groovy Shroom: out of stock. NeeDoh Nice Berg: out of stock. 

These squish toys are flying off store shelves and remain largely unavailable online. NeeDoh is the “super soft, super stretchy dough filled groovy glob” that consumers squeeze when they want to practice mindfulness, according to Schylling, NeeDoh’s parent company. They come in multiple colors, textures and shapes, including spheres, cubes, animals and food. 

As of May 26, every NeeDoh offered on the Schylling website was out of stock. 

“Right now, we can’t keep anything in stock,” said Anna Chow, owner of Cheeky Monkey Toys in Menlo Park and Los Altos. “Anything we get sells immediately.” 

The Menlo Park location received a shipment of NeeDoh Nice-Sicles on May 14 and announced the 4 p.m. drop on their Instagram. The shipment included about 350 popsicle-shaped squishes. 

They sold out in an hour and a half. Chow said the line went through the store and down the street to Menlo Cafe. Cheeky Monkey enforced a limit of one Nice-Sicle per person, and customers could not choose a specific color. 

According to Chow, most consumers are in middle school, but she also sees younger kids and adults looking for NeeDohs. 

“We had a few issues with people cutting in line or saving spots for friends. We had customers trying to get back in line to purchase a second one,” Chow said. 

Cheeky Monkey has been open in Menlo Park since 1999, and Chow and her husband bought the store in 2002. The NeeDoh craze began in February, she said.

“We’ve seen an increase in tactile toys, fidget toys over the last 10 years, and I think a lot of it has to do with kids don’t have as much interaction with physical things because they’re on their phone so much, so they crave that tactile sensation,” Chow said. 

A mom from Redwood City took her 12-year-old daughter and her friends to Cheeky Monkey for the Nice-Sicle drop. They arrived around 2 p.m. and were about 20th in line, she said. Her daughter and her friends all got a Nice-Sicle. 

Edie Bailenson, a sixth grader at North Star Academy in Redwood City, went to the drop with her friends after school. 

“I used to play with NeeDohs a lot, and then they became trendy again, so I started to want them more, and most of my friends have them too,” Bailenson said. “People on social media have been using them, which causes people to want them, and they’re also just really fun.” 

Bailenson uses NeeDoh as a fidget toy to help her focus in school. Her favorite is the Fuzz Ball Wonder Waves. 

“I don’t really have a preference on the color, but I also like the ice cream and the popsicle,” Bailenson  said. “People have their notifications on for when Target or different stores restock [NeeDohs], and then they go.”

The mom from Redwood City said her daughter pops her NeeDohs “pretty frequently” and tries to save and reuse them by putting the inner substance in something else. Bailenson said that you can fix a tiny hole with glue, but if the rubber surrounding breaks and releases the goo inside, “there’s really nothing you can do.”

“Some of them are sturdy, but some of their skins are super thin, so they pop immediately,” said Anya Van Haren, another North Star student. Van Haren was also at the Cheeky Monkey drop, and she bought a pink Nice-Sicle. 

Emily Tarinelli M.A. ’26 bought her first NeeDoh last year, a Dream Drop, and it broke a couple of weeks ago. 

“A real long lifespan for a NeeDoh,” Tarinelli said. “The ones with the firm squish maybe last a couple of months. They have a plug at the bottom that can rip apart the more you squish it, and depending on how aggressive you are with it, they [can] fall apart.”

Tarinelli said she used her Dream Drop to have something physical to focus on when she felt stressed or anxious. When it burst, she tried to order one off of Amazon, but they were selling for $30, instead of the usual $5 to $7. 

“That is ridiculous,” Tarinelli said. “I like NeeDohs, but I don’t like NeeDohs that much.” 

Media outlets have speculated about the reason for the sudden NeeDoh obsession. NBC cited a slow increase in NeeDoh-related social media content that led to scarcity and increased demand. Teens are also more susceptible to trends and peer pressure, turning NeeDohs into a “must-have possession,” The Atlantic reported. 

“I feel like for some people it’s a way to connect about something, even if they’re just little pieces of plastic,” Van Haren said. 

Chow warned about fake NeeDohs being sold online. If they’re not from a reputable company, she said, they could be untested and unsafe. Cheeky Monkey does not sell NeeDohs online, and Chow wants to preserve the tradition of in-person toy store visits. 

“We’re definitely a place people want to come to,” Chow said. “We want to make sure that kids have that experience of what it’s like to come into a store and choose a gift for a friend.”

Correction: This article has updated to reflect the correct spelling of Van Haren’s surname. The Daily regrets this error.