I don't know about you, but last winter about put me under. Under nearly 100 inches of snow, if memory serves, and about as cold, miserable and slippy-slidey as I've ever been.

My family spent waaaaay too much time in the house with the heat cranked and the TV blaring. I went into this fall desperate to avoid the dire straights of last winter at any cost, so I started compiling a list of things I'm going to do with my family when the wind is howling.

The kids and I tested out No. 1 on my list the other day, and if you don't get there to see it yourself by Jan. 11, 2009, you are really missing out. We went to the Act/React interactive art exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and I know we'll be back again before it leaves.

Act/React is an explosion of light, sound, texture, color and movement -- and best of all, you're in control. Upon entering the exhibit, one of the first things you see is a large area sectioned off on the floor, which is artist Scott Snibbe's Boundary Functions. Step upon it, and you are sectioned off by light beams into your own little pod. As more people step on, more pods are divided off until you're looking at a crazy web of lines of light -- each containing one person. As you move, your pod moves with you. Jump, leap, do what you can, but you'll keep your own section. (Believe me, my kids tested this.)

Also in the same room is your chance to act out your own personal iPod commercial. Reflected on the wall are 16 squares, each containing the silhouette of someone else who's visited. You walk in front of a camera, and suddenly your silhouette is added to the screens before you. My kids were doing all sorts of body contortions and little boogie dances to see if it really was their actions showing up, making for a very active (and funny!) display.

We especially enjoyed watching some of the more staid-looking museum visitors drop their inhibitions and do the chicken dance for the screen.

Another room was filled with pieces by Camille Utterback, large paintings projected onto the walls.

As you move in front of the paintings and wave your arms, the image shifts. Colors change, brush strokes change, the whole texture of the work appears to change -- all under the control of your hands.

These were just some of the highlights of the exhibit, which features a wide variety of pieces to inspire your curiosity and creativity. Others pieces include a table that talks when you touch it (watch out for this one; you might not want your younger kids to hear some of what this table has to say); a floor that changes colors like flowing lava when you walk over it; and a room of light and sound.

All of these pieces encourage you to put your stamp on them and make them your own. 

If you go, plan to spend some time in front of each piece, and don't leave the kids at home. You'll want some partners for dancing around in front of all these cool pieces.

This is a perfect way to break up the "here comes winter" blues, and underground, heated parking at the museum makes it all the more pleasant.