Misdirected decorating

The bad behavior: Cara Dell'Apa, 3, is the queen of the misplaced masterpiece. She has painted the bathroom mirror with hand cream, colored the kitchen wall with markers and experimented with the mixed-media collage potential of talcum powder ground by hand into an Oriental rug. She does these things with no ill will, just a curiosity that gets the better of her time and time again.

At 2, 3, and even 4, many kids are old enough to get a thrill out of creating something with art supplies (and I use the term loosely enough to include hand cream and talcum powder) but not mature enough to consistently remember and heed the rules about where such art projects are supposed to take place.

The bright side: Though she sometimes gets frustrated with her daughter's behavior, Lisette Dell'Apa of Bethlehem , Pennsylvania , knows exactly where that kind of expression comes from: She herself is an interior decorator, constantly rearranging and redecorating her own house when she's not working on someone else's. "You can really see Cara's desire to create and accomplish something, but it's not like she can go rearrange the family room to satisfy it," Dell' Apa says. Her behavior shows that she already has energy and creativity in spades – just like her mom.

How to handle it: Make sure she has plenty of mom-approved opportunities to color, paint, and get her fingers good and dirty in her everyday life. Dell'Apa chooses toys and playthings that allow Cara to explore textures and colors, including hands-on, nitty-gritty kitchen activities.

When you catch your preschooler coloring on the walls or furniture, be sure you get her to help clean up the mess she's made. Having to deal with the consequences of misplaced art is eventually enough to make most kids decide it isn't worth the trouble.

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