LANSING - To help boost infant and toddlers' development and literacy skills, the Department of Human Services and Early Childhood Investment Corporation distributed 17,000 R.E.A.D.Y. kits free to providers caring for children under the age of 30 months.

The kits, called Read, Educate and Develop Youth or R.E.A.D.Y., provide important information about child development and brain growth, with a special emphasis on language and literacy skills for young children. Each kit contains a combination of visual, audio and written materials for learning activities that help children succeed beginning at birth.

"Learning begins the moment a child is born," said Department of Human Services Director Marianne Udow. "These kits help caregivers nurture and develop a young child's natural curiosity with tools that make learning fun. This investment in our children's future will pay large dividends when they reach school ready to learn."

Caregivers at child care centers, group homes, and family homes, and day care aides and relative care providers who care for children under the age of 30 months will receive the kits. Funding for distribution of these kits was earmarked from the Child Care and Development Fund.

Child care providers who have not received a free kit or who would like to order additional kits, may call (800) 214-8961. Additional information about the kits or on-ine orders can be located at www.emc.cmich.edu/READY