Rainbow art.

• Position: Holiday Gifts Galore - Brief Article

* If it wasn't for Rainbow Art, we'd have a neat and tidy basement. When our young terrors were old enough to start creating with paint sets, we had no choice but to clear out a play area in the basement. Then came the Rainbow Art Paint Set ($19.95) from China via the QVC shopping network. Because it can be played with mess-free, they now are allowed to work upstairs, leaving the cellar for storage purposes.

The tray holds six nontoxic watercolor half circles that look like colored chalk (red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple). A child simply dips one of the six sponge brushes (that come in three different sizes) into water and rubs it on the color(s) desired, then applies brush to paper. This allows multiple colors to be applied simultaneously--thus the "Rainbow" appellation--without the colors mixing or smudging. The paint dries almost instantly, and the no-fuss carrying case holds...