Why Gen Z and Millennials are Obsessed with Childhood Toys

Translation result

Amid a tight job market and mounting academic pressure, adults in their 20s and 30s have become the primary buyers of tactile toys — small objects designed to engage fingertip sensations.

Experts say the trend reflects more than the calming properties of touch. For many young people, handling these items also triggers childhood nostalgia, a psychological shortcut that quickly eases everyday anxieties.

On May 25, retailers and toy makers reported that people in their 20s and 30s are increasingly collecting tactile toys and sharing information about them on social media. Enthusiasts often treat hunting for specific items across toy districts and testing different products as a hobby.

Tactile toys are not new. From mandeugi — rubber pouches filled with starch that offered a distinctive feel — to the slimes and “liquid monsters” that fueled children’s YouTube content in the 2010s, these playthings have long been popular. More recent sensations such as fidget spinners and push-pops (Pop Its) have also drawn attention.

Many in their 20s and 30s say the current craze taps directly into those early memories. Analysts note that children who enjoyed tactile play a decade ago have now grown into a core consumer group with spending power and are effectively buying back the pleasures of their youth.

On Instagram and other platforms, videos with titles such as “Why squishies are trending” and “Why people born in the 2000s play with squishies” have proliferated. Viewers have chimed in, agreeing with creators who observed that the kids who once played with slime are now adults reaching for squishies — comments like “I thought I wouldn’t do this as an adult, but I find myself reaching for one” and “The slime generation even handles them differently” are common.

When worries about jobs or school rise, many people in their 20s and 30s turn to tactile toys to revive comforting memories from childhood.

Young people interviewed in person said stress relief and emotional stability are the main reasons they buy these items.

Near Suwon Station, 27-year-old Jeong Yu-gyeong said, “While preparing for job hunting, I developed the habit of squeezing squishies whenever I get stressed. It reminds me of playing with liquid slime as a kid. Focusing on the texture clears my head, and if I see one I like, I buy it.”

On Anyang’s Beomgye Rodeo Street, passersby paused outside a row of variety stores to press keycap keyrings. There, 23-year-old Lee Jeong-won recalled that such toys were a major trend among elementary school friends and added, “Playing with them feels like going back to childhood, and it calms me.”

Experts predict the popularity of tactile toys — driven by a mix of a desire for comfort and nostalgic appeal — will endure for the foreseeable future.

Eun-hee Lee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said, “Young people’s consumption of tactile toys is closely tied to an unconscious desire to recapture the sense of security they felt when they played carefree as children.”

She added that as long as pressures persist in young people’s daily lives, the active consumption of nostalgic products for emotional relief is likely to continue.