Spend the day among nearly 3,000 animals at this gigantic zoo. The highlights? First, there's the popular Tropic World, a simulated tropical rain forest where monkeys, otters, birds, and other rain-forest fauna cavort in a carefully constructed setting of rocks, trees, shrubs, pools, and waterfalls. Next, test your "flying strength" in the Be a Bird House by flapping your "wings" on a machine that decides what kind of bird you would be, based on how you flap. We also like the Living Coast, where you can venture through huge glassed-in passageways to see sharks, rays, jellyfish, and turtles swimming by. Daily dolphin shows are a favorite even for adults. Walruses, seals, and sea lions inhabit a rocky seascape exhibit. Don't worry if you don't want to trek around the grounds -- you can hop aboard a motorized safari tram in warm weather ($2.50) or the heated Snowball Express tram in the cold (free).

The two best educational exhibits are Habitat Africa and Swamp. In Habitat Africa, you can explore two very different environments. See such tiny animals as klipspringer antelope, which are only 22 inches tall, and rock hyraxes, which resemble prairie dogs, in the savannah exhibit, which also has a water hole, rock formations characteristic of the African savannah, and termite mounds. If you look closely in the dense forest exhibit, you might be able to find animals like the okapi. The Swamp is about as realistic as you would want an exhibit on swamps to be, with a springy floor, push-button alligator bellows, and open habitats with low-flying birds vividly demonstrating the complex ecosystems of both southern and Illinois wetlands.

For hands-on family activities, check out the Hamill Family Play Zoo ($3.50, children $2.50), where kids can learn to care for nature by playing zookeeper, gardener, or veterinarian. The Children's Zoo ($1, children 50adults $3, children $2.50. $1, children 50adults $3, children $2.50) includes a petting farm, excellent animal shows, and the Big Barn with its daily milking demonstrations. Watch the dolphins show off and act silly at the Seven Seas Dolphin Show.