Tissue Box Fun for Babies

As any parent will tell you, babies love tissue boxes. Everyone seems to have a tissue box fun story that goes along the same lines – I left the room for just a few seconds and when I came back the baby had crawled over, pulled the tissue box down and had proceeded to pull every tissue from the box until they were surrounded by a pile of tissues with the most delighted look on their face. If you have ever sat and watched a baby do this it is priceless. You can almost see their little minds ticking over thinking how magical it is that every time they pull one out, another one appears. And they are just so soft and floaty. And then wait for the moment that they realize they can rip each tissue into even smaller soft floaty pieces. It is almost worth buying a cheap box of tissues just to watch them pull them all out, except that once you let them do it they will always want to do it.

Yes, it is all great fun until you realize that you now have a lounge room covered in tissues and no, folding them all up and putting them back in the box just doesn’t seem to work and is a waste of time. Is this tissue box fun now?

So I came up with a solution that is a little bit more complicated than just leaving the tissue box up high. I made a baby tissue box that is never ending fun.

How to make your own Tissue Box Fun

Step 1. Keep an old tissue box when you have finished with it. It will probably end up getting squished and torn so you may need to keep replacing it each time you finish a real box of tissues. If you want something sturdier you could use an empty plastic wipes container, cover a tissue box with material to reinforce it or make your own box.

Step 2. Take an old muslin cloth wrap, or a new one, and cut it up into little squares or rectangles roughly the size of a real tissue.

Step 3. Pull out your crafty box full of bits and bobs and add some interesting decorations to half of the pieces. Some ideas are:

• Sew on colourful buttons – be sure they are securely attached or they could be a choking hazard
• Sandwich something crinkly like thick plastic between 2 pieces and sew together.
• Sew a strip of material on with a different texture i.e. silk, corduroy, lace
• Sew on a ribbon with a small bell
• Sew a line of dangly ribbons along one edge

Be creative – it is all about different textures, feels and sounds. Whatever you do, be sure to make it safe for baby – avoid choking hazards and anything that may strangle them.

You can also sew a small hem on each one or just a zigzag stitch around the edges to stop them fraying if you like.

I recommend only decorating half of the pieces so that when they do find an exciting one it is like finding treasure, if they are all decorated it isn’t as exciting.

Step 4. Pop all of your finished pieces into the tissue box and sit it innocently on the floor for them to find. Then wait for the tissue box fun to begin.

Step 5. Watch in delight as they pull them all out of the box. When they reach the end, quickly pop them all back in the box and repeat. Be prepared to do this over and over until they get bored. You can even make a game of putting them all back into the box when they reach the age of ‘posting’ things.

These are multipurpose little cloths. We use them to hide toys under and go hunting for them - sometimes there is nothing under them, then the next one may have a block, or a small toy. This also helps teach object permanence - sounds fancy but it is important. We throw them up in the air and let them float down over our heads and try to catch them. My older daughter also loves to use them as little blankets for her dolls. It is tissue box fun for everybody.

You may like to keep in mind that it is handy if they can be machine washable. Between sticky hands and chewing on them they will get a bit messy so if you want to be able to wash them make sure any decorations can be thrown in the washing machine.

Has your tissue box ever been emptied?