11.

SPIN PAINTING

Buy an inexpensive salad spinner or find a used one. Add some paper plates and a few bottles of tempera paint. After your child opens the gift, show him or her how to make a spin painting by putting a paper plate on the bottom of the spinner, adding a few tablespoons of different colors of paint, and giving it all a good spin.

12.

TILE PRINTS

Buy a few 12" X 12" squares of 1" X 1" or 2" X 2" plain white ceramic tile squares from any flooring or home improvement store. Leave them joined by the backing material that holds them together. Add a child's paintbrush, a few bottles of tempera paint, and a pad of paper. After your child opens the tile print gift package, show him/her how to create tile prints. First, place paints in a muffin tin or on any palette, and ask your child to paint each small tile square, mixing colors as he or she paints. Next, press a blank piece of paper on top of the tiles, and peel it back carefully to uncover repeated prints in a pattern of squares, each with different colors and designs. Wash the tiles and use them over and over. This works great with fabric paint to create tile prints on cloth placemats, potholders, T-shirts and more.

13.

ART GALLERY

To begin an "art gallery," locate a bulletin board, some inexpensive frames, or a blank scrap or memory book. Add one or two pieces of your child's artwork and then wrap the "gallery" for a special gift that shows that you notice and value his or her art.

14.

ART STUDIO

Create your own art studio for a budding artist by first filling a portfolio (that can be used for storing artwork later) with different types of paper: white and colored paper, construction paper, grocery bags, used manila envelopes or folders, newsprint, tag board, or any other "canvas" that a child can fill. Next, add a box filled with paintbrushes, a muffin tin for a pallet, tempera paints, water colors, crayons, markers, glue, chalk, or other non-toxic materials for drawing and painting. The portfolio and artist's box together make a gift worthy of the next Michelangelo.

15.

GLUE ART

Collect supplies to make a wealth of collages. Locate a storage box and fill with: Treasures for gluing: cotton balls, feathers, buttons, sequins, beads, scraps of fabric, paper, lace, wallpaper, ribbons, pictures from magazines, or anything that young hands can easily glue. Backgrounds to glue onto: paper plates, old cardboard, wood scraps, boxes, or anything on which you can glue items. Glues: school glue, colored or glittered glue, glue sticks, or paste--non-toxic, of course.