The right shape is half the success of your first squishy. Plump, rounded pieces forgive crooked cuts, paint easily and feel great to squeeze; pieces with thin points tear, complicate the painting and frustrate. This list brings ten tried-and-approved shapes for beginners, in order of difficulty — start with the first and work your way down as your confidence grows.
Before choosing, it's worth keeping the basic foam recipe open in another tab: it's what turns any shape on this list into an actual squishy.
Level 1 — Impossible to get wrong
1. Round bread roll
The absolute classic. A plump disc with a domed top: two refining cuts and done. Paint it beige, dab some brown on top (the gradient technique from our painting guide) and it looks just like real bread. It's also one of the shapes with the best slow recovery, as we explain in the article on slow rising.
2. Jelly cube
A cube with rounded edges. The easiest cut on the list — four straight lines and a light sanding of the corners. Vibrant colors (lime green, red, orange) and a sheen of diluted glue at the end give it that jelly look.
3. Simple ball
An imperfect sphere is perfectly acceptable: in the hand, nobody notices. Great for practicing circular sanding. It becomes an orange, a tomato, a soccer ball or a planet, depending only on the paint.
Level 2 — One more cut, much more charm
4. Drop
A ball with a rounded "peak" on top. The peak should be plump — a skinny drop is a thin point, and thin points tear. Painted blue it becomes a raindrop with a little face; painted red, a strawberry (dot the seeds on with a toothpick).
5. Cloud
Three or four bumps joined on a flat base. Cut it as a rectangle first and sculpt the ripples on top afterwards, sliver by sliver. White with rosy cheeks never fails.
6. Watermelon slice
A plump half-moon. Green on the rind, white on the inner line, red on the flesh and black toothpick seeds. Four colors, all in large, separate areas — excellent practice for painting by regions.
7. Donut
The first hole of your career. Make the hole before refining the outer contour: carefully twist the tip of the scissors in the center and widen it little by little. Pink frosting dripping over the beige dough, plus sprinkles in little colored dots.
Level 3 — Almost intermediate
8. Ice cream cone
Two glued pieces: the cone (a plump triangle with a crosshatch texture scratched into the fresh paint with a toothpick) and the scoop. Use white glue for the join and let it dry well secured, as in the repair guide — the gluing technique is the same.
9. Ball kitten
A ball with two short, wide triangular ears. A long ear is the first thing to tear on an animal squishy; keep them chubby. Face painted with a fine brush: two dots, three whisker strokes, a triangular nose.
10. Chubby star
Five well-rounded points — think of a cartoon star, not a geometric one. Trace the template from a printed drawing if you don't trust your freehand. Yellow with little cheeks, it's the most "store-bought"-looking piece on the whole list.
Three rules that apply to all of them
- Chubby is good. When in doubt, make everything thicker than seems necessary. Extra foam can be trimmed later; missing foam doesn't come back.
- Paper template first. Draw, cut it out of paper, judge the size in your hand and only then trace it on the foam.
- One shape at a time. Making the bread roll three times teaches more than attempting three different shapes — the progress between the first and third piece is plain to see.
If the activity is with children, the level 1 shapes are the ideal ones — and the cutting should follow the age recommendations in our safety guide.
And after the ten?
When your star comes out nice and round, you're ready for composite shapes: a layered hamburger, a unicorn, a snowman. The principle is always the same — break the figure down into plump volumes and glue them together patiently.
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Want ready-to-print templates? The ebook Homemade Squishy, currently in production, will include full-size templates of these and other shapes. Subscribe to the blog to follow the progress and be notified at launch.