Going stir crazy and need to occupy a toddler? Look no further than a box of tissues. Seriously, that’s it. This is what I call a “sacrificial tissue box” and sometimes it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

Put the box on the ground with the first tissue sticking out, and your toddler will immediately think they’ve gone to heaven. Veronika pulled out only a couple at first, and tried to clean the floor.

Then she discovered the great joy of pulling out one after another, making a big pile.

Then we got silly. I put some on my head and pretended to sneeze them off, which she quickly imitated.

You can also pick up big handfuls and have them drift down like “snow”.

She also lifted a tissue to her face and pretended to blow her nose just like mommy. “Mommy nose!” she said.

Aside from those interactive moments together, the real beauty of the tissue box is that it can occupy a toddler solo for quite some time.

The game needn’t end just because the tissues are gone. Re-purpose the box by stuffing in tissue paper. For this version, I started out with the tissue paper wadded up.

These were hard for her to pull out though, so we ripped each portion into smaller pieces, which she could stuff in and pull out again.

Scarves would work, too!