Snake Cube Fidget Toy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This fidget toy is one of the type used by a group of mental health professionals, researchers, and advocates in Chicagoin their work supporting the mental health of newly arriving immigrants in the late 2010s and 2020s.

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, large numbers of people seeking safety, jobs, and freedom arrived in the United States from Latin America and the Caribbean, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere. Many had fled dangerous situations and had challenging journeys to reach the United States. Once here, they worried about their families at home and about finding jobs in the United States. Meanwhile, they both received support from governmental institutions, nonprofits, and faith organizations, and heard public conversations concerned about immigration to the United States.

Concerned about the impact of these stressors on the newcomers' well-being, a group of professionals in Chicago established the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health in 2016 as a nonprofit organization with public and philanthropic funding. The Coalition focused on increasing education to frontline providers and increasing access to mental health services among culturally diverse communities.

In August 2022, Chicago received the first of more than 700 buses carrying migrants sent from Texas and Arizona to Democratic-led cities amid national debates over immigration policy. Between August 2022 and December 2024, over 52,000 newcomers arrived in Chicago. Many were housed in temporary emergency shelters through the city’s humanitarian response called the New Arrivals Mission.

The city of Chicago and state of Illinois asked the Coalition for help to train shelter staff in supporting the mental health of migrants as staff increasingly noted emotional distress among newcomers. The large numbers of shelter residents, language barriers, migrants’ lack of health insurance, and a shortage of mental health providers all created obstacles to access to care. Thus, the Coalition in partnership with Lurie Children’s Hospital Center for Childhood Resilience and the University of Chicago Crown Family School, reenvisioned care using a public health approach focused on training Spanish-speaking, non-clinical staff to provide basic mental health support.

Led by Rebecca Ford-Paz, PhD, and Aimee Hilado, PhD, LCSW, the team developed a two-part training called “Reimagining Mental Health Supports for Migrant Arrivals.” The first session taught shelter staff how to recognize and understand mental health symptoms and how to respond compassionately and appropriately. The second part of the training emphasized rebuilding community through informal hour-long gatherings called “Café y Comunidad charlas”—Spanish for “coffee and community chats.” These sessions provided opportunities for migrants to take part in community-building activities (such as singing), receive education about psychology relevant to their needs, learn basic emotional regulation strategies (such as relaxation techniques), and learn about staying healthy in a new country. The Coalition also designed signs for those with low literacy levels about how to foster their own mental health well-being or aid others.

Over the course of Chicago’s New Arrivals Missions, 878 frontline workers completed the training. The program was adapted into an online course available in English and Spanish.

Aimee Hilado, Ph.D., LCSW is a U.S.-born daughter of immigrants from the Philippines. She is a licensed clinical social worker and Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: fidget toy
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 22.5 cm x 1.3 cm x 1 cm; 8 27/32 in x 1/2 in x 13/32 in
• ID Number: 2024.0093.05
• catalog number: 2024.0093.05
• accession number: 2024.0093
• Credit Line: The Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.