Let's take a time-out from time-outs. Kids are going to test our limits - it's in their job description. But instead of dreading how to respond, parents can seize the opportunity to create activities that are educational and engaging.

Yes, punishments can be fun.

Creativity expert, professor, father and former daycare provider Rustin Wolfe applies his scientific techniques to some of life's smallest - but most exasperating - problems weekly at MinnMoms.com.

Here's one of his creative solutions:

Bed Timing

Question: My kindergartener is a master procrastinator at his bed time ritual. How can I get him to move things along?

Behavior: Stalling going to bed.

Problem: Parent is ready to get on with the evening, and child will be crabby in the morning.

Solution: Logical consequences. No need for the parent to be emotional - no anger, no i-told-you-so. It's simply a matter of following through with what happens when your instructions are not followed in a timely manner. I wouldn't even use the word punishment. Don't talk to him about anything except the thing you need him to do - it would only reinforce his procrastination. I like to hold a reward like reading some books until they're done. The sooner the child finishes doing what he's supposed to do, the more of the reward he gets. If he takes too long, the reward goes away until the next night when he'll get another shot.

Activity: By structuring things up

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front, the onus is on him and you can play the good cop, cheering him on instead of nagging. Since you're already using the word "ritual," I'm guessing you already have some structure in place. So for you, the next step may be to make that ritual more engaging. Since expediency is a problem, how about timing him? You can do this for specific tasks or for the ritual in its entirety. Let him know if he's done better or worse than the previous night. Feedback can be incredibly effective even when there's no explicit punishment or reward.

Want Rustin's solution for your child's challenging behavior? Post a question at MinnMoms Connect.

Read last week's problem and solution in the MinnMoms.com Expert Advice archive. Who is Rustin Wolfe? Education: Rustin Wolfe is an Associate Professor in the Doctor of Education in Leadership program at St. Mary's University of Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago, where he worked under Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of "Flow" and "Creativity." Rustin received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, with a major in Sociology and an individual major titled "Divergent Thought and Behavior." Rustin is a certified facilitator in Creative Problem Solving.

Childcare experience: As an undergraduate, Rustin worked as the lead teacher of a before/after school program. He has coached children of elementary age through college.

A month after he began working in daycare, Rustin knew something had to change or he'd burn out. The bad behavior was getting to him. Despite his good intentions, the kids kept breaking the rules. And he came to dread discipline. So, that's precisely what he changed. Rustin decided to let go of the traditional time-out in favor of more creative punishments. He figured out how to - in a twisted sort of way - look forward to the next opportunity to come up with a novel consequence.

Rustin set up rules: the punishment had to be a logical consequence, it should try to undo the wrong that had been done, it should prioritize the facilitation of future behavior over punishing past behavior, and it shouldn't be intentionally boring.

Philosophy: Time-outs are for when we can't think of anything better. Every moment is a learning opportunity. Rustin challenges parents and caregivers - himself included - to ask themselves: How can we take advantage of the opportunities before us when a child misbehaves?