Kids buy pop-its, simple dimples, fidget toys in latest trend fuelled by Tik Tok and YouTube
Parents who lived through the fidget spinner craze of 2017 and the carpet-ruining slime craze of 2018 have a new trend to contend with.
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PARENTS who lived through the fidget spinner craze of 2017 and the carpet-ruining slime craze of 2018 have a new trend to contend with – pop-its.
Inspired by Tik Tok and YouTube, kids are spending their pocket money on the bubbled sheets of silicone quicker than Chinese factories can churn them out, sending toy stores into an ordering frenzy and sparking a proliferation of shopping centre pop-up pop-it stalls.
Basically a reusable version of bubble wrap, pop-its come in various shapes and colours, allowing kids – or adults – to push the bubble from side to side. That’s it.
With names that read like a list of illegal party drugs, the latest range of trending fidget toys also includes simple dimples, rainbow push, smooshos, pea poppers, infinity cubes, stretchy strings, mini squishies, mesh and marble fidgets.
The toys, available for under $10, are spruiked as helping people with stress, sensory or anxiety issues to focus themselves, and are also marketed as a way to improve fine motor skills.
Mat Dickie, manager of Mr Toys Toyworld at Australia Fair, said pop-its were selling out every time they arrived in stock, with hundreds selling across the Gold Coast in recent weeks.
“We first started hearing about them from people coming in after watching them on Tik Tok,” he said.
“It was really big in America first and since we started selling them here, we can’t keep them on the shelves.
“They’re available in all sorts of shapes and sizes – the rainbow style is most popular at the moment.”
As well as buying the pop-its, kids are making their own, with DIY pop-it videos raking in the views online.
Mr Dickie said most pop-it buyers were between 5 and 15 years old, but a few adults had bought them to keep on their office desks as a stress relief tool.
“I think Tik Tok is the big driver of demand, but people also like the texture, it’s kind of like bubble wrap,’ he said.
“And they could make good mini ice cube makers for when the craze is over.”
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