Charlotte Warns After Squishy Toy Burns 10-Year-Old Bella

A squishy toy stunt sent 10-year-old Bella to hospital after a NeeDoh cube burst in her face during a TikTok challenge. Bella’s mother, Charlotte, said the injury left bright red skin, a scald mark, missing skin and blisters.

Charlotte said Bella was referred to the burns unit and would not be able to have her face in the sun for at least 2 summers. She also said doctors were not sure whether Bella would scar.

Bella and Charlotte

Charlotte said the incident happened when Bella was at a friend’s house. She said the toy had been frozen and then microwaved for several seconds as part of the viral challenge, before the friend squeezed it and it burst onto both children.

“It looked like she’d been whacked in the face,” Charlotte said. She added: “When she came in, I could see straight away her face was bright red….I could see the scald mark and there was skin missing and blisters.”

NeeDoh and TikTok

The challenge centers on NeeDoh, a squishy stress cube made by the Massachusetts toy company Schylling. Schylling says the goop in some versions is made of Maltose or 100% Malt Extract, while the Nee-Doh Groovy Glob contains polyvinyl alcohol gel, or PVA.

TikTok says it does not allow the display or promotion of dangerous activities and challenges or violence. Charlotte wrote on Facebook that Bella “is a very lucky girl, this didn’t get in her eye.”

Charlotte's warning

Charlotte said the post was meant to warn other parents. “Please talk to your kids of the dangers — if you Google it, there’s been so many kids with horrific burns from doing this,” she said, adding: “This post was to raise awareness of one of the current ones with a very popular toy at the moment.”

The case leaves parents with one practical takeaway: the toy and the challenge were treated as harmless by the children, but Bella’s injuries were serious enough for a burns unit referral and weeks of sun avoidance. Charlotte’s warning is aimed at stopping the same freeze-and-microwave stunt before another child squeezes one of the cubes.