The program starts with the news that Habitat magazine is looking for kids who love animals to enter a contest. To fill out the four contest-entry forms, kids must explore a temperate forest, an African savanna, a rain forest, and a tide pool to gather animal information, photographs, and points. Each habitat has three screens, with gorgeous graphics and rich, ambient sound. Leafcutter ants, elephants, crabs, and 37 other creatures gladly share information about themselves and their environment. Clicking on certain animals will yield a catchy video (imagine crabs sounding like Green Day as they sing about limb regeneration) and games.

The games, which can be adjusted to three difficulty levels, give this program a seamless feel, adding depth to the educational experience. For example, when kids click on a beaver, the beaver launches into a detailed explanation of why it builds dams. The beaver then invites players to cut trees for a dam, adding that they must be small trees because beavers can't move larger ones. After the correct trees are gnawed down, kids can complete the dam by fitting the downed trees into a dam-shaped puzzle. After that, they're invited to gather mud from the riverbank, then help the beaver use his tail to pack the mud into the dam. Your child will play four games, hone spatial and sorting skills, and develop an in-depth understanding of the phrase "busy as a beaver." And this is just one animal in a program that has dozens of creatures to learn from.

Goal-oriented kids will love relentlessly progressing toward the various rewards the program offers, culminating in a quiz show called "The Animal Smarts Game" that can be played alone, or with a friend. Free-form exploration is also an option. We were impressed with the way JumpStart: Animal Adventures immersed us in exotic environments, and treated games as a teaching tool instead of an afterthought. (Ages 4 and older) --Anne Erickson

I have to mention that the game was a bit complex for my daughter when she first started playing it. (In addition to the mouse, kids are required to use arrow keys and the space bar for some games.)I was pretty sure I'd have to shelf the game for a few months and try again later. But I sat with her and showed her what to do. She caught on fast.