The little boy trotted into the pool area in front of his father, then stopped short. His small face cracked into an unbelieving grin, and he pointed ecstatically. Then he broke into a laugh.

In front of him, another child’s head peeped out of the mouth of a giant frog. Then the child, with gleeful cries, slid down the small incline that was the frog’s tongue and splashed into the shallow pool.

Everyone laughed.

The new Vermont resort of Jackson Gore, a recent add-on to Okemo Mountain, offers a beautifully planned vacation experience focusing on kids. While it has been several years in the making, the resort was fully open this year for the first time, and it proved delightfully well designed for families. CHAIRLIFT.JPG HERE

First, of course, is the skiing. The resort is linked to Okemo mountain, which now offers 117 slopes, trails and glades, 97 percent covered by snowmaking. On a Monday in March it was surprisingly uncrowded, perhaps because it only recently opened; in that way, it rivaled nearby Ascutney, http://www.ascutney.com but with many more amenities. (Check out my review of that resort.)

At Jackson Gore, the orientation to kids is obvious: Lessons for little ones are built in, and it was a common site to see a trail of small snowplowers following an experienced teacher. A plethora of parents led their own youngsters down the easier trails, calling encouragement and comforting  those who tumbled. Little snowboarders were almost as common as little skiers.

And there were numerous small ways in which the slopes were kid-friendly. One example were two child-sized “jumps” on one of the easiest trails from the top of the Jackson Gore mountain. Little ones screamed in delight as they hopped over this safe-as-houses obstacle, sometimes in tandem. I’ve never heard the word “awesome” so often.

But the true brilliance of Jackson Gore lies in what happens for you and your kids when you’re not skiing. First, lunch: The Roundhouse cafeteria, conveniently situated smack at the bottom of the slope, offered a menu that extended well beyond the expected burgers and pizza, including oven-baked cod with lemon cream sauce, vegetable lasagna, club and Caesar sandwiches, salad and grill stations, a breakfast station with hot food and muffins, and a huge variety of beverages (for liquor, simply go next door to the Coleman Brook Tavern bar).

And as evening approaches and the lifts close, the fun for you and your kids is just beginning. Your first temptation on weekends: right next to the lift is the tubing park, where for a few dollars you can grab a tube, ride up a moving sidewalk and slide down a carefully shaped hill. One evening last month, the delighted screams came as much from the parents as the kids.

For littler ones, the resort has hit on another simple yet ingenious scheme. At the base of the mountain is a kid-sized mound of snow, pierced by short tunnels made by large pipes. Children already bundled up for skiing climbed their way to the top, then slid to the bottom, screaming happily. The more enterprising borrowed trays from the Roundhouse and used them for improvised sleds. The tunnels provided laughter and thrills.

Meanwhile, parents fetched drinks from the bar and relaxed nearby around a large outdoor fire surrounded by rustic wooden chairs. The curve of the buildings meant the smoke and ash were a little unpredictable — a hood over the flames would be a nice addition — but the setting was delightful.

Next you could whisk up to your spacious, kitchen-equipped room in the main lodge (no such building exists at nearby Killington, http://www.killington.com which I have also reviewed, http://photoandtravel.com/spotlightsdec05.html), and grab your bathing suit for a visit to one of two pool locations. The one with the frog is in a separate building, the Spring House, sharing quarters with a small but adequate gym and a couple of racquetball courts. Or you could stay in the main building and swim from an indoor to an outdoor pool overlooking mountains and the lodge buildings, and adjointed by two outdoor Jacuzzis.

Time for dinner? Shuttle buses can take you to Okemo, and nearby Ludlow offers numerous options. But if you just want to stay put, Jackson Gore offered two choices, Siena, an Italian eatery where meals were prepared in a huge brick oven while customers watched, or Coleman Brook Tavern, offering American fare that was adequate if not sensational. Again, both focused on making families comfortable, with many large tables. At Coleman Brook, smores were available for dessert, and you could toast the marshmallows right at your table.

Kids still not ready for bed? Take them ice skating at the nearby Ice House (which becomes a tennis and basketball court in summer). Then relax in your room with a DVD to get ready for tomorrow’s skiing.

Happy traveling!

Captions: 1. One child’s pool features a frog whose tongue is a water slide. 2. Jackson Gore is Okemo Mountain’s newest skiing area. 3. Many parents introduced their kids to the delights of skiing on Jackson Gore’s kid-friendly slopes. 4. The Roundhouse, a red building centrally located in the base lodge, provides much more than the expected burger and pizza lunch. 5. One of the ingenious ways Jackson Gore caters to kids is the sliding hill next to the base lodge. 5. The Coleman Brook Tavern offers family-style dining. Photos by Thomas Simonet.