How to Make the Paper Stress-Relief Toys That’ve Become Popular on TikTok
Currently, children are very interested in stress relief toys. It’s pleasant to fidget with them because they make funny sounds when you squeeze them. But you don’t have to buy them. Try making a squishy toy in the shape of a panda, or a simple dimple from paper.
5-Minute Crafts would like to help you make popular stress relief toys from paper.
A paper simple dimple
You’ll need:
- a square piece of paper
- pencils or felt-tip pens (to your liking)
1. Fold a square piece of paper in half and unfold. Fold it in half again in a different direction. Unfold.
2. Now fold the piece of paper in half along the diagonals. Unfold.
3. Fold the corners of the sheet toward the center, focusing on the previously folded lines.
4. If done correctly, you will get a square with 4 folded triangles, like in the photo above.
5. Unfold the sheet. Fold the bottom corner of the sheet so that its triangular end touches the horizontal fold you made in the previous step. Repeat with the rest of the corners.
6. Now fold each end inward again, as shown in the photo above.
7. The result is a square with a hole in the middle.
8. Turn it over. Fold the triangular ends toward the center focusing on the fold lines that run through the center.
9. Now you have a square with 4 folded triangles inside.
10. Turn it over.
11. Fold it in half to make the fold lines more prominent.
12. Use your hands to unfold the triangular pockets, adding volume to the craft.
The paper simple dimple is ready. You just have to color it. Now when you press on the center of the toy, a pop is heard. Now turn the toy over and press it again. You can do it as many times as you want to. You can glue 2 or 3 simple dimples together, or more than a dozen to make a pop-it.
A squishy panda
You’ll need:
- 2 A4 paper sheets (you can use 2 sheets in different colors)
- felt-tip pens
- transparent duct tape
- stationery scissors
- candy wrappers, packages from nuts and snacks, plastic wrappers, or any other material that can make a crunching sound
- a plastic folder (optional)
1. Draw a panda’s face on paper.
2. Cut out the same shape from another sheet of paper. This will be the backside of the toy.
3. Cover both cut-outs with duct tape on both sides.
4. Place the cut-outs on top of each other and glue them with duct tape around the outline, leaving a small hole. Through this hole, put various candy wrappers inside, and then glue the hole together.
The squishy panda is ready: now you can squeeze it and enjoy the crunching sound.
Tip: Gluing cut-outs together may be tricky. If so, put them in a plastic folder after step 2, then wrap them in baking paper, and iron it with an iron — the sides of the folder will stick together and securely seal the craft. Then you just need to make a small hole in the toy for filling and carefully seal it with duct tape later.
A cube snake
You’ll need:
- 2 sheets of colored paper
- a ruler
- stationery scissors
- paper glue
1. Cut out 2×2-inch squares from paper. You’ll need 6 squares in each color.
2. Fold each square in half along each of the diagonals and unfold.
3. Fold a corner of the square to the fold line along the diagonal. Now fold half of each end in half again.
4. As a result, you will get a shape like you see in the picture above.
5. Now, fold the left end so that its edge touches the end of the square on the right edge. And unfold it. This will give you the desired fold line. Then fold the right end in the same way.
6. Now press a part of this end to the right side.
7. Fold the left side of the workpiece onto the right side.
8. Take the lower right tip and fold it up.
9. Repeat the same with the other squares.
Attach 2 workpieces of different colors to each other as shown in the animated picture above.
You’ll get 6 workpieces. Now you need to glue the edges to the base of the workpiece on both sides. Then lay the workpieces out, one after another, as shown above, and glue them together, making a column.
The result will be an accordion made of the workpieces. Wait for the glue to dry. Now pull the ends of the craft gently, and it will stretch into a chain of cubes.
You’ll get a transformer snake, which becomes a chain of cubes, when out of the squeezed state, that makes popping sounds. It can easily be folded back. You can attach it to a keychain or your backpack to always have it on hand.
An infinity cube
You’ll need:
- colored paper (5-6 A4 sheets in different colors)
- a ruler
- stationery scissors
- transparent duct tape
- a marker (optional)
At first, you need to make 8 small cubes. You can fold them in the usual way or use ready-made ones, like for example, dice or wooden blocks from children’s games. If you like paper crafts that are a medium complexity, try assembling the cubes like the ones in the photo above.
1. Cut out 1.5×1.5-inch squares from paper. You will need 48 squares, 6 for each cube. There will be 8 cubes in total.
2. Fold a square workpiece as shown in the photo above.
3. Then fold the long edges of the rectangle inward, like in the photo above.
4. Do the same with each square workpiece.
Now take the workpieces and put them into each other to get cubes. Do it carefully, so that the crafts are straight. Next, start making a big cube.
1. Take 8 cubes. Combine 4 cubes in a group to make a square. Lay them out as shown in the photo above.
2. Now attach the 2 top cubes together in the middle with duct tape, like in the photo above.
3. Then attach the bottom cube to the top left cube, gluing them together with the sides.
4. Repeat the action on the right side.
5. Now glue the 2 lower cubes in the second group together from the bottom.
6. Then, attach the right cube that is located above to the lower right cube along the side.
7. Repeat the action on the left side.
8. Now join the top and bottom square groups on the sides of the bottom cubes, as shown in the photo above. Note that it’s best to apply duct tape on both sides to make the folding parts stronger.
The cube is ready! Now cover it with duct tape to make it more durable, and then decorate it with drawings.
A spring snake
You’ll need:
- colored paper (2 A4 sheets of different colors)
- stationery scissors
- paper glue
1. Fold an A4 sheet of paper in half, then 3 more times in half to make it look like an accordion.
2. Cut the sheet along the fold lines. You’ll get narrow strips.
3. Then cut the second sheet of paper in the same way. You will end up with many long strips of 2 colors. In our case, they are pink and yellow.
4. Now take 2 strips of different colors and fold them as shown in the photo above — in half, but at a slight angle.
5. Now insert one strip into another, as shown in the photo above. Pink strips point to the left, yellow ones point down.
6. Fold the left yellow strip up.
7. Then pull the top pink strip to the right through the loop of the yellow strip. This is how you secure the strips for braiding.
8. Now proceed to braid. Take the right pink strip and fold it down so that it goes through the center of the workpiece and separates the 2 strips in the lower-left corner.
9. Next, take the yellow strip, which is to the right of the pink one, and fold it up so that it separates the strips in the upper left corner.
10. Now take the left pink strip and lift it up so that it’s at a right angle to the lower yellow strip.
11. Then pull the yellow top strip to the right through the loop made by the pink strip.
12. So you have a new row. Continue to braid in the same way.
13. The strips will shorten as you braid, so remember to glue new ones in time.
Pay attention to what the braiding looks like throughout the entire process: fold 2 strips, then fold the fourth one, and then pull the last one through the loop. It’s more convenient to keep the center of the craft as a guide.
As a result, you’ll get is a spring that produces a pleasant crunching sound when stretched into a long chain.
This is how you can make the DIY stress relief toys that are so popular on TikTok nowadays.