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Whether you have children of your own or you’re a kid at heart, it’s always fun to hear about the toys that are capturing kids’ attention. Parents often assume that their children want the latest high-tech gadget, but they sometimes forget how much tactile toys can entertain kids and adults alike. Take NeeDoh toys, for example. The company’s CEO says the brand has seen “phenomenal growth” over the last few years.
“We see this as a category of products that has been around for many years, and it actually is both a toy and a functional item for people. So that’s why I think it’s got a long life ahead of it,” Paul Weingard, the CEO of Schylling, the company that makes NeeDoh, tells Parade.
If you’ve never heard of NeeDoh toys before, he describes them as “handheld, fun to play with sensory products.”
The brand makes a wide variety of toys that delight both kids and adults, who Weingard says sometimes use them as a form of stress relief, similar to fidget toys.
Wondering what all the fuss is about? Parade chatted with Weingard to learn more about NeeDoh toys and what makes them so popular.
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What Is NeeDoh?
Weingard describes NeeDoh toys as a “range of products that are sensory or tactile kinds of products.”
NeeDoh toys come in a variety of shapes, sizes and textures, and they are designed to be “squeezed, stretched and played with in a broad variety of ways.”
Schylling
He says NeeDoh’s products are “part fidget toy” and notes that they’re popular with children and adults. The CEO regularly hears from customers, especially students, who use the toys to help them focus, keep their hands busy and relieve stress.
“They have a remarkable amount of therapeutic uses, even though we don’t prescribe them for those uses. I’m just amazed at the broad range of ways that NeeDoh fans are using the product,” he shares.
What Is Inside NeeDoh?
Each of NeeDoh’s products is produced with a unique set of materials.
“They’re filled with a variety of non-toxic materials. Each product lists the specific ingredient or filling on the package,” Weingard says.
The CEO notes that the same material can also be used in different ways.
“We can modify these basic ingredients in a number of different ways to give a whole variety of different experiences,” he explains.
Here are some of the more common materials the brand uses in its products:
Maltose sugar
Weingard describes “food-grade sugar” as the “main” filling for many of NeeDoh’s popular products.
“It’s very clear and has its own distinct quality when you feel it. That’s in some of our most popular products like our NeeDoh Nice Cube, our Dream Drop and quite a few others,” he shares.
PVA
“Our original NeeDoh has a super soft, white dough-like filling, and that’s a material called PVA, which is a very common non-toxic material found in all kinds of products like white glue,” he says, adding that the material is also found in cosmetics and a “broad range of objects and materials you find in a household.”
Cornstarch
This ingredient, often used in baking, is featured in the NeeDoh Snowball Crunch. “When you squeeze that ball, the cornstarch gives you this kind of a crunchy snowball feel,” Weingard states.
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Why Is NeeDoh So Popular?
Pinpointing why consumers gravitate towards a particular product isn’t an exact science, but Weingard has several theories as to why customers are so fond of NeeDoh’s toys. For starters, each of the brand’s products is unique, so they offer a “distinctive experience” for consumers.
“Everybody finds a particular feeling that they’re, I’ll say, obsessed with. And that’s the goal: to make them incredibly compelling. Once you pick them up, you just don’t want to put them down,” he explains.
The wide range of potential uses for the toys is also a possible contributing factor to their popularity.
“It surprises me how many children and students are using these to keep focus,” he states.
Additionally, the CEO has heard from adults who keep NeeDoh toys on their desks as a stress relief tool. Older adults have also shared feedback with the brand to explain how the toys have provided therapeutic benefits while navigating “stiffness or arthritis,” per Weingard.
“We don’t make any specific claims to that, but the experience and feedback of users is really amazing,” he says.
At its core, the company treats the product as a toy throughout the design process. Weingard says the team strives to make its products “whimsical, interesting and compelling” by playing around with different forms and shapes.
Do NeeDoh Toys Get Dirty?
Kids have a tendency of abusing their toys at times, so it’s only inevitable that they’ll get dirty once in a while. When that does happen, Weingard says the best course of action is to wash the surface of your NeeDoh toys with mild soap and water.
For some NeedDoh products, you can even apply a little cornstarch to the surface to “bring them back to their original texture with a really soft and velvety feeling.”
“For our clear products like our Nice Cube or Dream Drop, you could use cornstarch, but that will take away some of the clarity, so we just normally say wash them with mild soap and water and let them air dry,” he shares.
Overall, the most important thing is to avoid solvents or other household cleaners.
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Can NeeDoh Leak?
Since NeeDoh products are meant to be squished, it begs the question: Do they ever leak?
Weingard acknowledges that the brand’s products “do occasionally leak” since children can sometimes play aggressively with them. However, he notes that this is why NeeDoh uses “non-toxic ingredients” that meet “all testing standards” to ensure user safety.
“For the most part in regular use, they’re very durable,” he says. “I have a Nice Cube on my desk that I’ve been using almost every day for multiple years now, and it’s still very much intact,” he says.
Of course, it’s best to avoid intentionally cutting with the toys with sharp objects if you want to prevent leaking.
“Right now, we see a lot of curiosity out there, especially on social media, about what’s inside, and you see videos with people cutting them open and other kinds of videos of that nature,” he shares. “And of course we don’t encourage that, but you know, you can’t stop people from being curious about what’s inside.”
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Where To Buy NeeDoh
Similar to other toy brands, NeeDoh products are available at a variety of retailers. Customers can order directly from Schylling’s website or shop online or in-person at the following retailers:
- The Paper Store
- Amazon
- Walmart
Consumers may also find the toys at other retailers that don’t advertise them online.
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Source:
- Paul Weingard, CEO of Schylling, the company that makes NeeDoh
