I was actually thinking about this topic the other day after seeing a commercial for that stuff on tv. It made me sad because it's fun to discover colors and creativity on one's own; not Crayola's version. I hate the idea of a mess though too. I don't have kids yet and I wonder what to do when I do. My friend has "craft day" once per week with her kids so that she doesn't have to deal with the mess every day...just the one. And she has a little area just for crafts and has firm rules for her kids in terms of what is allowed, etc. She puts a drop cloth down around the area so if a mess is made, it get's dropped on the washable cloth for easy cleanup. It all sounds good in theory. Good luck!
