Stim toys

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Please can I ask a similar question?... Do you (everyone) have sort of 'visual' and 'spatial' stim toys, that give you the equivilant pleasure and relaxation as fiddle toys do, but just looking at them or by fitting pieces into place?

I have this: http://www.oompa.com/baby-toys/category.cgi?item=HA2247 It's a colourful block pattern 'puzzle' made of geometric shapes that fit into a wooden tray or can be stacked, lined up, sorted into colours etc. This sort of toy is to me like cat-nip is to a cat. I crave it and get a kick out of it, like a visual/tactile high but it's never quite satisfied. I go to toy shops to admire the toys on the shelves. I try not to get drawn into consumerism.

I mostly crave educational wooden toys because these tend to have simple, clear lines and block colours anf they are inherently tactile due to a general usage of simple mechanics rather than batteries as plastic toys often have. Also they often have unquenchably satifying play patterns, like lining things up, sorting, stacking etc. I am impulsively attracted to bead frames, shape sorters, activity centres etc. Which I usually keep quiet, being 24 years old. I keep this under control by collecting pictures of them, through catalogues and magazines, then scrapbooking them. This gives me the visual kick of seeing all the colours and mechanics of the toys and is a tactile activity in itself, as I sort the pictures into types and glue them in neatly. It's as close as I can get to actually playing with the toys. I own a few of these types of toys, but only smaller and affordable versions. I am intelligent and age-appropiate in other areas, but this has always been one of my things.

I have never articulated this like this before, so thanks for letting me do so, even though it'll be boring for some people to read. It's great for me to write it.

Hey.
I often wrap and unwrap my feet from around a chair leg. If i'm in a meeting i've fouind some physiotherapy putty that is amazing . It's like playdough but doesn't smell and is snoother. It also gives my fingers a good workout. If I can't use that I just have to doodle or chew my nails.

Slap braclets make nice stim toys. I stim on my Timon stuffed animal all the time by sniffing him and rubing his nose.

I have been reading this thread cause I sell stim toys. (I am also a parent of an autie) I love some of these ideas! But guys, you may not have to hide them so much. Some people jangle coins/keys in their pocket, lots of people chew on pens and straws, my dh plays with his lanyard badges, etc. Just say it helps to concentrate, or reduces stress, or something. Look at all the desk toys people have!

I constantly pick at a certain spot between two teeth with the tip of my tongue. No way to get a picture of that, sorry.

I tend to clack my teeth together sometimes to, in a rocking motion, side to side, usually to the rhythm of a song playing in my head. No pics of that either. Don't recall ever using objects though.

When I was younger, I had an annoying tic in the back of my throat that drove everyone nuts. I thought I had stopped that a long time ago, but my wife says I still do it from time to time, though not that noticeably. I think she's the only person that hears it anymore. I didn't even know I still do it at all anymore.

Well my favorite is meditation balls used by the chinese to create health....I can rotate those things all day log in my hand...plus if you get them moving fast enough the ball inside the balls make a musical whirlly chiming sound.
But since the chinese started putting lead in stuff, I have not yet found any made in the US or anywhere but China, so I resort to less facinating things like taking my shoe off and flopping it up and down at the end of my toes...clicking pens, bouncing my leg,
when no one is looking... licking the back of my hand, and popping my knuckles.
my other toys are whatever I can get my hands and can make spin, click, snap, pop, or thump. Sometimes I really annoy ppl with this.

I miss my bing wa balls thats what I call the meditation balls

I actually have a "stim pet". Whenever I'm on the computer I put one of my hermit crabs on my desk. It mindlessly crawls away, I mindlessly put it back in the same spot, it mindlessly crawls away again and the cycle repeats. I figure it is a symbiotic activity because I get something to do with my hands while my hermit crabs get exercise

Oooo. My dogs are "stim pets." I like for them to sit with me so i can rub their fur, play with their soft ears and paws, and i like to hold them near my face so that i can smell them.

I bite my nails and doodle--both of which can be embarrassing in big professional meetings. I'm looking for something less obvious, checking the cell phone has become a stim but there are meetings and times when that isn't okay either. If anyone has suggestions for under-the-table stuff that fits in a pocket, I'd love the advice!

Thinking of getting some pocket stones. I used one for a while when my work environment felt very toxic, and it seemed to help. Hate things in my pocket, though, makes clothes more uncomfortable. Used to make rosary bead bracelets out of natural stones because I liked to fiddle with them (and people don't bother you about rubbing prayer beads--it tends to manufacture personal space ). Maybe I'll get a geocube and try wearing it as a bracelet!