Doctors are sounding the alarm about popular sensory toys after multiple children have suffered horrific third-degree burns when the toy is misused.
The NeeDoh Nice Cube has become the toy of the moment. The stress balls, which are filled with a thick gel substance, are squeezable to make them more malleable.
While the toy’s manufacturer explicitly warns against microwaving or freezing the products, a viral social media challenge shows young people trying to warm them up to make them softer over time.
Doctors have warned that the challenge may result in life-altering injuries, including third-degree burns, skin grafts and medically induced comas.
The Nice Cube in particular contains a natural sugar-based filling that expands rapidly when heated. This increases internal pressure, potentially causing the toy to explode.
Multiple reports of horrific injuries have surfaced in the last several months. One Missouri girl, for example, let out a ‘blood-curdling scream’ as her face and chest were covered with burns.
And a boy from Illinois was left with excruciating injuries on his face and hands after putting the toy in the microwave.
Medical experts believe that the issue is not the cube itself but the social media environment challenging children to go against company precautions and put themselves in dangerous situations.
Toy company Schylling Toys, which manufactures NeeDoh toys, have a warning on their website that reads ‘Do NOT heat, freeze, or microwave, may cause personal injury’
‘Parents need to be aware of this trend and all dangerous social media challenges because they can pose a serious risk to children, and the children participating are not yet mature enough to recognize the danger for themselves,’ Dr Alica Webb, a pediatric emergency physician at Children’s of Alabama, told the New York Post.
Toy company Schylling Toys, which manufactures NeeDoh toys, has a warning on its website that reads ‘Do NOT heat, freeze, or microwave, may cause personal injury.’
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‘Ensuring the safety of our consumers is fundamental for Schylling. We are disappointed to see there has been a trend on social media demonstrating misuse of our NeeDoh® products,’ Schylling told the Daily Mail in a statement.
‘Misusing a NeeDoh® product by microwaving, heating, or freezing is dangerous and could cause injury to the consumer.
‘Schylling is working with social media companies such as TikTok to remove influential content containing NeeDoh® product misuse.
‘Additionally, Schylling has included a safety warning on NeeDoh® packaging and our all e-commerce listings to help combat product misuse.’
While the challenge is circulating on social media, TikTok has said it doesn’t allow content that shows or promotes dangerous behavior, while YouTube has stated the safety of users is the ‘utmost priority.’
Webb explained that when NeeDoh toys explode, they can cause ‘burns to the face, eyes, mouth, body and can even cause internal damage if the hot substance is swallowed.’
Dr Michael Cooper, director of Burn at Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital in New York City, also noted children are more vulnerable to severe burns than adults because their skin is thinner and more delicate. This allows heat to penetrate into deeper layers in less time.
‘Even a brief contact with a hot substance can cause significant tissue damage,’ he told NY Post.
In Missouri, seven-year-old Scarlett Selby’s father claims she put a NeeDoh cube into the freezer and then allegedly microwaved it for a few seconds.
But when she took the toy out, he claimed it exploded, showering her face and chest with scalding goo.
Scarlett Selby (pictured above), 7, was left in a coma and inflicted with third–degree burns after the NeeDoh Nice Cube she microwaved exploded in her face
Scarlett’s mom Amanda Blakenship (pictured) claimed her daughter had seen clips of people microwaving NeeDoh cubes on other people’s social media accounts and wanted to try it out for herself
The dad, Josh Selby, 44, told Kennedy News he raced over to her when he heard a ‘blood-curdling scream’ and desperately tried to claw the sticky substance off her skin and clothes.
The machine operator said he rushed Scarlett to the hospital where doctors placed her in an induced coma over fears the burns on her mouth would cause her airways to swell up and close.
‘It all happened so quickly. I heard her scream and it was like a blood-curdling scream. It had exploded all over her chest, mouth and chin,’ Selby told Kennedy News.
‘My first thought was to try and wipe it off her. Whenever I touched her, my hand stuck to her. It was really thick and sticky.
‘I ripped her shirt off of her because it was stuck to her shirt as well. I took her as quickly as I could to the hospital.
Nine-year-old Caleb Crubb (pictured above) was left with severe burns to his face after he microwaved his NeeDoh toy on January 20, 2026, his mother told local media
Caleb’s mother claims he was left with second-degree burns to his face, hands (left), and another behind one of his ears (right)
‘I was a complete mess. She spent a week in the hospital and for three days of that she was in the coma. I don’t think I could speak to anybody without crying the entire time,’ Selby added.
Scarlett’s parents claim she was placed in a medically induced coma and given a feeding tube for the duration of her week-long stay in hospital due to her lips being so badly burned.
Doctors decided against performing a skin graft on her, her parents said, but she may need one in the future as she’s been left with ‘profound’ scars.
‘I would have never thought of something exploding outside of the microwave like that,’ Selby said. ‘For that to happen to my daughter was the hardest thing that I’ve gone through. I’ve told absolutely everyone to throw them out if they have them.’
Caleb (pictured above before the accident) spent two days in the hospital and did not need skin grafts, but could develop scars from the burns, his mother claimed to local media
And earlier this year, nine-year-old Caleb Grubb from Illinois microwaved his NeeDoh Nice Cube, which allegedly exploded on his face and hands, leaving him with excruciating burns, his mother Whitney Grubb told the Chicago Sun Times.
Grubb said her son suffered second-degree burns to his face, hands and behind his ears. His eye was also allegedly ‘completely swollen shut’ after the toy exploded.
He spent two days in the hospital and did not need skin grafts, but could develop scars from the burns, Grubb said.
‘When I asked what happened, he told me that a friend at school told him about putting it in the microwave,’ Grubb told the Times.
‘It wasn’t anything malicious, it was just kids sharing stories, and unfortunately, he decided to try it.’