Ciao lovelies! Today I want to revisit a post I made about 2
years ago, regarding the (at the time) up-and-coming “slime trend.”
At the time I wrote the original post (CLICK ME!,) the slime
trend was relatively new, but was growing exponentially in popularity every
day. Many people still didn’t understand that at the core of this trend were neurodivergent
individuals and stimming. And I don’t know if anyone expected the trend to last,
or to take off like it did.
Of course, much more has changed with this trend in the last
2 years.
2 Years Ago – Slime was mostly handmade, or if it was store-bought
it was a more watery slime that doesn’t look like the “Instagram-worthy” handmade
slime.
Now- Children’s toy companies have incorporated slime into almost
everything. A great example of this is Num Noms toy brand. They released Num
Noms Dippers and Num Noms Shakes, two children’s toys centered around slime. The
shakes have 3 layers of different types of slime, and the dippers have one, waterier,
“dipping sauce” slime. It’s amazing to me that slime has taken off so much that
brands like this are now selling good quality slime in stores.
2 Years Ago – There was a distinct lack of sensory items in
stores.
Now- Stimming is everywhere. Chewing necklaces in all sorts
of very cute designs are available more easily and for more affordable prices.
(I remember getting my first “chewing necklace,” about 3 years ago, I had to
buy a teething necklace because there weren’t easily available chewing necklaces.
Now, we have amazing stores like Stimtastic, who sell all sorts of stims, including
Chewing Necklaces!) Other sensory items like mermaid pillows were developed and
became “trendy.” Now, it’s hard to go into a store like Target or Walmart and NOT
find something that could be used to stim. It’s fabulous how accessible
stimming has become.
2 Years Ago - Stimming was new to everyone, and nobody
really understood it.
Now- While people may not understand the nuances of
stimming, or the source of this “trend,” it’s become more acceptable. It was
growing in acceptance back when I wrote the original Slime Trend post, and it’s
great to see how far acceptance of stimming has come. Unfortunately, there’s
still a stigma on less “aesthetic” or “trendy” stimming methods like hand
flapping and rocking. But other types of stimming like chewing, for example,
have become more acceptable.
If I had to choose one accomplishment of the Slime Trend to
highlight, it would have to be the fact that this trend has exploded the demand
for more sensory products like mermaid pillows, orbeez, squishies, fidget
cubes, kinetic sand, and of course, more demand for slime.
Just like I praised it for two years ago, I am so grateful that
this trend took off, because it led to this boom in stimming popularity. I only hope that this part of the trend continues
to rise. It would be lovely to see other types of stimming become “normalized”
like slime did.
If you’d like to see an explanation on what stimming is, or
an analysis of the origin of the Slime Trend, please check out the post from
two years ago (Click me!) I even updated the images of that post recently, so please
check it out! To see another perspective on the stimming trend (to see how making
these habits “trendy” can actually hurt neurodivergent individuals), click HERE!
So now I want to ask you: What do you think of the
slime trend? Do you think it’s a good thing? If you had to highlight one
accomplishment from this trend, what would you choose?
Thank you for reading, remember to love yourself, stay awesome, and I'll see you in our next post!
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5 Comments
Absolutely love the slime trend, we have created a successful business out of my Daughters slime obsession. Check out our slimes on etsy!
ReplyDeletewww.Etsy.com/shop/Blissbalm
How awesome!! I'll be sure to check it out!
DeleteSlimmmmmeee its champ now but i play with it when im boreddddd
ReplyDeleteI love to play with slime when I'm bored too! Thanks for commenting!
Deleteok
ReplyDeleteType your thoughts here!