The variety of participatory exhibits continually unfolding here teach as well as entertain children ages 1 through 12. Kids are invited to crawl through a giant fish to learn more about ecology, photograph their shadows, grow their own vegetables and then "serve" them at the juice bar and even travel around the world. Exhibits and special programming change frequently. Call ahead to find out what's new, but always know there is something going on that they will enjoy.

Museum and gift shop hours are 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Sunday. If you have a very young child, you might be interested in Toddler Tuesday. From 9 to 10 AM each Tuesday, the museum opens exclusively for children 3 and younger and their adult caregivers. Admission is $3 for everyone 2 and older, except the first Sunday of every month when admission is free. Memberships also are available. There is no admission to enter the gift shop, which is filled with an assortment of games, toys and books in every price range.

While the Madison Public Library's central branch (a.k.a. Central Library) offers the greatest selection of educational items and opportunities for children, all branches are wonderful places to visit (see our Literary Scene chapter). Something is almost always happening, except during the month of May when the children's library staff is kept busy making the rounds of area schools.

The Madison Kids Cafe series offers programs for school-age children, and the library has plenty of story-hour and video programming for preschoolers. There are books, CDs and computer software to borrow. Downtown, multimedia work stations allow children to experiment with a variety of computer programs on site. During the summer, the library sponsors reading incentive programs for young children and adolescents. Keep abreast of activities through the library's newsletter. Some programming requires registration. Call (608) 266-6345 for more information about youth services. All activities are free.

Hours are 8:30 AM to 9 PM Monday through Wednesday (until 6 PM Thursday and Friday) and 9 AM to 5 PM on Saturday.

What can kids expect to see at the Geology Museum? A blacklight mineral display and such intriguing vertebrates as a mesophippus (ancestral horse), saber-toothed cat, mastodon (Ice Age elephant) and an 18-foot mosasaur (marine lizard). The museum's extensive collection of fossilized invertebrates includes sponges, corals, snails, clams and cephalopods, including the squid.

A child growing up in Madison seldom makes it through school without several visits to this museum. But it's nice to go on your own, too.

Admission is free, although donations are appreciated. Hours of operation are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday and 9 AM to 1 PM Saturday. To arrange a group tour, call the number listed.

The fourth Saturday of each month at Space Place is saved for children ages 6 to 10. Beginning at 10 AM, a presentation is made on a space topic, after which children are invited to join in on a project. Kids always have something to bring home, whether it's a matching game on planet symbols or a homemade sundial. If you go, make sure you take enough time to view the exhibits and the display of satellites that have flown on space shuttles. Also, check out the computer games, including an astronomy version of Hangman.

The UW Space Place is southwest of the Isthmus, a couple of miles from the UW campus.

The Kids in the Crossroads series features singing, storytelling, dancing and other amazements.

Head over to the new, $2.9-million "cat house" to see a Siberian tiger up close. For small children, feeding the goats at the Children's Zoo (open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend) is always a treat. You never know what you're going to find at the Children's Zoo, but often you'll see bear cubs, orphaned white-tailed fawns, miniature horses, spider monkeys, macaws and at least one badger, Wisconsin's state animal.

The weather doesn't have to be nice to enjoy the Discovery Center and Herpetarium building, the zoo's educational facility. Learning stations with microscopes and magnifiers are surrounded by displays of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Many species are viewable underwater in simulated habitats.

The zoo is a favorite field-trip destination for area schools, but there are also summer zoo classes for children as young as 4. For older kids, a favorite is "Zoo Snooze," also affectionately referred to as "Bedtime with the Beasts." It's an overnighter in the Herpetarium. Can you imagine? Bedding down with snakes?

The best way to learn about classes, which fill up fast, and other special events taking place at the zoo is through the Vilas Zoological Society's Zoo News. But to receive a copy in the mail, you must become a zoological society member; call (608) 258-1460. For families, the cost is $25. A student membership is $15.

One more tip before we leave all the animals behind: The Vilas Zoo is one of the few places in the country where you can take a free camel ride, courtesy of Zor Shrine. The camels are there almost every Sunday during the summer months, from 10:30 AM to noon. Call ahead to make sure.

Although the Bolz Conservatory isn't a real rain forest, it sure looks like one. The 50-foot-high glass pyramid is filled with more than 750 tropical plants. It's also thick with bamboo arbors, home to free-flying birds and one man-made waterfall for good measure.

Special games for children encourage exploration as they learn about a tropical environment. For instance, on a "Safari Hunt," the clue to find the Papyrus is "Growing in shallow waterways, this plant made paper in ancient days." Looking for plants that produce many common foods -- lemon, cacao (the bean that makes chocolate), coconut, banana and cinnamon to name a few -- also can be fun.

On weekends, children can monitor a science project by bringing home a plant cutting from the "Snipping Garden," part of the Bottle Biology Exhibit that showcases root systems and what decomposition looks like at the bottom of your compost pile.

Sometimes it's nice to visit the conservatory in the middle of winter just to remind very young children with few winters under their belts what summer is like.

It's open 10 AM to 4 PM Monday through Saturday and until 5 PM on Sundays. Admission is $1 (children 5 and younger are admitted free), except all day Wednesday and on Saturday mornings 10 AM to noon, when it's free for everyone.

The Mad-City Ski Team is made up of about 100 adults and children. For more information, call the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau at the number listed.