Children's art kits that allow plenty of room for creativity not only offer kids a fun time, they help develop their fine motor skills and boost their creative confidence. Part of Balitono's wonderful Paint the Wild series, the Nature Tic-Tac-Toe Kit gives kids the opportunity to paint a butterfly-shaped tic-tac-toe game board and wooden game pieces any way they choose. When they're done, they not only have the chance to display their masterpiece, they can actually use it to play the classic and simple game of tic-tac-toe.

Included in the kit is a solid, handcarved game board that is shaped like a butterfly (it's just under nine inches wide), ten wooden playing pieces (five ladybugs and five flowers), seven pots of acrylic paints, a varnish, and two paintbrushes. Simple instructions and suggestions are given, but the beauty of the kit lies in its simplicity. Children can paint their game any way they please. Our testers mixed colors to get the tints they wanted. When they made "mistakes", correcting them was simply a matter of letting the paint dry and doing touch-ups.

Our only complaint is that we wish there was another pot of varnish. Otherwise, the kit offers kids a wonderful rainy-day project. Since the finished product is a functional (and fun) game, kids can take pride in their artwork and enjoy playing tic-tac-toe at once.

Other kits in the Paint the Wild series are available. We had a chance to sample the My Keepsake Clock Kit, My Pretty Dresser Kit, and Paint it Wild Puppies. Each features well-made wooden models and decent-quality paints. The clock is a working, battery-operated clock, and the dresser has three working drawers and a small, swivel mirror. Both the clock and dresser kits come with stencils of basic designs, and the finished dresser is ideal for storing children's jewelry (just be sure kids remove the drawers before they apply the varnish).