Here's an item to add to the long list of reasons for looking at newborns with awe and delight - possibly even better than their incredibly tiny fingers and toes! Despite the complexity of the human brain as the core of our thought, motor, and sensory processes, an infant's brain at birth is significantly unfinished. The portions that handle our ability to remember, think, and manage our social and emotional behavior are underdeveloped. That is why children are so deeply affected by early childhood experiences and relationships - which provide input for the remainder of the brain's development - and, likewise, why it is so important for parents and other regular caregivers to make these experiences positive and enriching. As parents are well aware, many factors contribute to raising healthy, happy, and loving children, far too many to be adequately discussed here. This article focuses on just one of those factors -- play.

At no other time of life do we learn as much, or as naturally, as during the early childhood years. As adults, we often decide to learn some skill - to play tennis or speak a foreign language - and then choose a learning method, such as reading a book or taking lessons. Compare that learning with the one-year-old girl who starts speaking simple words one day, or the boy of 18 months who decides that today is the day he'll pull himself up to a standing position and try to take a step or two. When children "discover" stairs, they will spend hours climbing up and down to master that skill. Naturally we encourage these preliminary talking and walking behaviors, but the fact is that unless we actively discourage them, all healthy children will do the same. Children are born with an innate will to explore and learn. Newly discovered skills are practiced with a ferocity that may look like work, but also with an enthusiasm and joy that can only characterize play.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, approximately a third of new kindergarteners lack basic language skills, such as the ability to identify letters of the alphabet. Kindergarten teachers report that a similar percentage lag behind in the necessary social skills, such as self-control and respect for others. You can help ensure that your child is ready for school by engaging in play activities that nurture development of language and social skills.

Children learn best through their experiences with people they love and trust, building intuitive knowledge by watching and imitating. Hands-on interactive activities help them practice and refine their language, listening, social, and reasoning skills, and older preschoolers want to engage in these activities with other children as well as with adults. Give your preschooler opportunities for imagination-based play too, such as "what if" games. Multisensory activities are also important because young children learn about the physical world through all their senses, integrating sight, sound, and touch activities with language. In many kindergarten classrooms, computers play a significant role in providing multisensory activities - children can read and listen to stories as well as write their own, play word and math games, make videos, download pictures for web pages and storybooks, and learn about the environment through live online cameras.

You can provide the same opportunities at home with AOL® Learning Games, where learning and fun combine in a variety of engaging activities. Your child can develop and practice skills in language arts, reading, math, science, and social studies, as well as explore creative writing, drawing, and music.

And you don't have to be a member of AOL -- EVERYONE can take advantage of AOL® Learning Games! There's absolutely no commitment -- so take 30 days to try the product for yourself. Click here for your FREE Trial.

Check out other services too such as AOL® Writing Wizard, which helps students improve writing skills and AOL® Step by Step Math for improved success in math.

Debra Pryor has over 20 years of experience in the K-12 education market. She is the author of Technology in the Classroom; Ahead of the Trend Study: Youth and Education; The Ten Emerging Truths: New Directions for Girls 11-17; and Empowering the Next Generation Learner, and has been quoted on educational issues in USA Today, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times.

Deborah Meyers has over 30 years' experience in the areas of education, communication, and public information. As writer and project manager for Partners In Brainstorms, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in identifying current and future dynamics in the education market, she has contributed to numerous program materials for tweens and teens ages 11-17 as well as research reports on the K-12 education market.