a couple of things everyone should know about watercolor painting with three- and four-year olds.

1. Try to get paintbrushes that are all the same color. Children will not believe that the color of the handle will not make a difference. And they will all want the pink one.

2. That little girl with the look of Lucifer in her eye? She is going to dump the dirty water. Then she's going to paint the wall. Finally, she is going to attempt to paint you.

3. Yellow paint will stain your cuticles. Green and blue will stain them worse. All of the colors mixed together will create the worst stains of all.

4. Blot the painting before you hang it to dry, unless you like the spattered look on your floors as well as its aftermath as it is tracked happily through the room.

5. When washing the children after painting, be sure not to neglect their arms, faces, ears, necks, legs, feet, and stomachs, as the presence of paint in some of these locations will be more difficult to explain to the parents.