How to Make a Paper Squishy in 7 Easy Steps

A paper squishy needs two copies of one drawing plus wide clear tape and a soft filling like cotton or scrunched plastic bags. You cover the paper in tape so it gets a smooth plastic skin. Then you cut out both halves and tape them together with the stuffing inside. Your first one takes about half an hour. Kids from around six can do most of it alone while a grown-up cuts the tiny parts.

What you need

Plain printer paper works fine for a first try. It's usually 80 gsm and will tear sooner or later if you squeeze hard, so thicker paper at 100 to 120 gsm lasts longer. Grab colored pencils or markers and a pair of scissors.

The trick most good guides share is two kinds of tape. Wide clear packing tape (about 4.8 cm or 2 inches) goes over the paper and turns it into a squishy skin. A narrow clear tape joins the two halves around the edge because it bends around curves more easily. One roll of wide tape will do if that's all you have.

For the filling, cotton wool or polyester stuffing from an old cushion is the classic. Scrunched plastic bags and kitchen roll work too, and you probably have both in a drawer already.

Pick or draw a design

Food shapes are the easiest place to start. A stick of butter or a slice of toast has a clean outline and no thin arms that rip when you stuff them. Butter and dumplings are among the most searched paper squishy designs right now, and cheese blocks and phones come up a lot too. Animals with round bodies come next. Save tiny ears and long tails for your third or fourth try.

Printable templates will follow here.

Set your printer to 100% or "actual size" and switch off "fit to page" whenever you print a template. Otherwise front and back come out at slightly different sizes and won't line up. Drawing your own works just as well. Draw the front and trace the outline onto a second sheet for the back.

Step by step

1. Color in both halves. Markers smudge under tape so let them dry for a few minutes or use colored pencils.
2. Lay strips of wide tape over the colored side of each drawing. Let them overlap a little so no paper peeks through.
3. Smooth the tape from the middle outward with a fingernail or the edge of a ruler. That pushes the bubbles out.
4. Cut out both shapes and leave a thin paper border around the line.
5. Put the halves together with the colored sides facing out. Join the edges with short pieces of narrow tape and leave a gap about two fingers wide.
6. Push the filling in through the gap a little at a time. A pencil gets it into the corners.
7. Tape the gap shut and give it the first squeeze.

Taping the back of the paper too makes it last longer but a bit stiffer.

Which filling feels best?

Cotton and polyester stuffing spring back fast and feel fluffy. Scrunched kitchen roll and thin strips of plastic bag come back more slowly, which gets you closer to a real slow rising squishy. Several DIY guides also suggest poking one tiny air hole with a pin so the air leaves and returns more slowly. We haven't timed these fillings ourselves yet, so treat this as a rough idea.

Don't overstuff it. Too much filling makes the squishy hard and pulls on the seams.

No tape or no cotton at home?

Lots of people search for a paper squishy without tape or without stuffing, usually because the roll ran out. Without tape you can glue the edges with a glue stick or craft glue. It won't get the shiny skin and it tears sooner. It still squishes though. The closest swap for packing tape is self-adhesive book-covering film (contact paper in the US, sticky-back plastic in the UK) because it covers a whole sheet in one go.

Plastic bags or tissues can stand in for cotton. Small pieces of a clean kitchen sponge or foam offcuts from a parcel also work. Leave out rice and water beads. They trickle out of a torn seam and small children can put them in their mouths.

When something goes wrong

A seam that keeps tearing usually means too much filling or tape pieces that are too long. Take a bit of stuffing out and patch it with shorter strips. A squishy that feels hard needs about half its filling pulled out. Wrinkly tape happens when you smooth from one side to the other, so start in the middle next time. Front and back that don't match almost always come from a scaled print. And smeared colors mean the marker was still wet when the tape went on.

Craft safely

Small parts like ears are easier for an adult to cut. Paper squishies are not for children under three because tape and little bits can come loose, and nothing from the craft table goes in anyone's mouth. Keep superglue and hot glue away from kids. A paper squishy doesn't belong in the microwave or on a radiator, and it shouldn't get wet.

Some guides make squishies from balloons filled with flour. Stay close to younger kids if you try that one. US rules make latex balloons carry a warning that children under 8 can choke or suffocate on uninflated or broken balloons, so clear away burst pieces right away. Our guide are squishies safe? covers bought squishies as well.

Paper squishy or a real one?

A paper squishy makes a fun afternoon but it doesn't last long. After a few days of hard squeezing the tape creases, the corners go soft and the filling flattens. A foam squishy works differently. The foam rises back after every squeeze and keeps doing it for a long time. Our slow rising squishy guide explains how that works.

If butter is your favorite paper design, there's a ready-made one too. The butter stick squishy sinks deep under your thumb and rises back slowly. More shapes sit in our butter squishies and slow rising squishies. And if you want to know what other kinds are out there, start with types of squishies.

FAQ

Can I make a paper squishy without a printer?

Yes. Draw the shape by hand and trace it onto a second sheet for the back. Simple outlines like a butter block or a cookie are the easiest to draw freehand.

Can I make a paper squishy without tape?

You can glue the edges instead or cover the paper with self-adhesive book film. Without any coating it feels softer but tears much faster.

How long does a paper squishy last?

That depends on how hard it gets squeezed. With lots of squeezing every day it can look worn after a few days. On a shelf it lasts much longer.

Can I wash a paper squishy?

No. Water soaks into the paper and the filling and won't dry out properly. Wipe the taped surface with a barely damp cloth and keep the seams dry.