Sensory Squids

Buckyballs are my favorite desk toy. For about $34.95 (a little pricey, but worth it if you can afford it), you get 216 little magnetic balls which you can squish, pull, wrap around your finger, or make into neat shapes. Their sleek metallic appearance fits in even in really conservative office environments, and they come with a nice little transparent cube carrying case. 

My favorite thing to do with these is to hold two chains of buckyballs near to each other and feel the magnetic force pulling them together. I also like to squish them around; they make a very satisfying clicking noise. I’ve also figured out how to make a sphere, a cube, and even a companion cube-type shape.

Please keep in mind that these are NOT for small children or anyone else who might inadvertently swallow them (such as an adult with a tendency to absent-mindedly put things in their mouth). Swallowed magnets will send you to the ER. 

Pros: shiny, clicky, addictive, appropriate for almost any office environments, and can be used at varying attention levels (from absent-mindedly squishing them to making them into complex shapes).

Cons: Expensive, not safe for small children, and probably not great to keep around electronics (I’m constantly accidentally putting them next to my phone or iPod; hasn’t killed them yet though).

Overall: Five stars. I love these things!

I ordered this from Amazon a few days ago and just got it today, so it will make a good introductory post. 

Teething Bling is a line of chewable necklaces aimed at mothers of teething babies. They sell a range of soft plastic pendants designed to look classy while remaining safe to chew on. I got the copper-colored one shown above.

For: Something to chew on instead of grinding your teeth, chewing your lips, biting your fingers, etc. Also could probably used as something smooth to touch if you like things like that; it’s got a bit of a velvety yet smooth texture. 

Pros: While a close look reveals that the pendant is plastic, it’s pretty good at camouflaging into the rest of an outfit. The fact that it’s on a necklace pendant means that you can’t drop it, you don’t have to put it down on something gross (ew!) when you don’t want it in your mouth just now, and (unlike the bracelet-y chew toys I’ve also tried) it’s less likely to come into contact with all of the dirt that your hands usually bump into. This means that you don’t have to be constantly washing it before putting it back in your mouth. And at $18.99 on Amazon, it’s relatively inexpensive as jewelry goes!

Cons: The color I got couldn’t easily pass off as not being made out of plastic, at least on a close look (solid colors might actually be better). And the safety clasp is sort of nice, but if you use it you can’t really shorten or lengthen the cord. It’s also a bit gendered, although I’ve seen men wearing necklaces much like some of the ones on this site. And you have to buy it online, which I find sub-optimal for jewelry purchases.

Overall: 4 stars.