Color Match: Create a Wooden Peg Board

What You Need:

• Block of wood
• Sandpaper
• Small hammer
• Roofing nails (flat heads)
• White paint
• Paintbrush
• Acrylic paint in primary colors
• Rubber bands (colored or plain)

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to help you sand the wood so it's smooth.
2. Paint the wood white together and let it dry thoroughly.
3. Pound two parallel columns of nails into a block of wood. There should be 4 to 6 nails on each side, depending on how many colors you're planning to work with.
4. Help your little artist use acrylic paint to color the nail heads. Begin with primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and then move on to secondary colors (green, orange and purple) if you wish.
5. Guide tiny hands to paint one color per nail head on the one side. Do the same on the other side, mixing around the order of the colors.
6. When all the paint's dry, it's time to play the color match game!
7. Set out rubber bands. Let your child connect the matching colors by attaching a rubber band on a nail head and stretching it across to the matching nail head on the other side.

As your kid grows, challenge her by asking her to "create" secondary colors by matching two primary colors. For example, ask her which colors combine to make green, and watch as she connects the blue and yellow pegs. This versatile, simple craft is sure to provide hours of entertainment for years to come.