• It is cold outside, and that means more restless kids inside. It doesn’t have to be a tragedy though, just keep a few crafty tricks up your sleeves, and you will survive the winter. A good stand by activity for us is what my kids call, magic paint.

    There are a few ways to approach this. You can take some white paper, and a white crayon and draw pictures on it without your kids knowing. Write them secret messages, or just a simple love note. When you are done, let the kids paint over your hidden pictures with water colors. The water color paint will not stick to where the white crayon is, revealing your drawings. For the first time doing this activity, this is the most fun in my mind. I love watching my kids freak out and get excited when they start discovering the messages I wrote.

    When they are finished with that, you can show them how it is done and let them make their own secret messages. Beware though, this very well might spawn a game of spies.

    I think it would be fun to do this on canvas and write my kids names in big letters. After they paint, and the letters are visible it would make a great addition to the artwork in their bedrooms. If you are somewhat OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) like me and get fussy about color schemes, only allow them to use the colors that match their room when painting.