Today's parents are busy! Yet even busy parents want to bond with their children and it is more important than ever to do so. Here are some ways to spend quality time with your kids.

Remember how it felt when someone read to you as a child? If books and songs are part of loving parent-child interactions from an early age, children associate their presence with all of the positive feelings of being held and loved, says Sharon Greenip, spokeswoman for Zero to Three, a nonprofit Web site whose mission is to promote the healthy development of infants and toddlers. "Both reading and singing offer language, communication, a chance to share in a relationship and the opportunity to practice thinking and movement skills," says Greenip.

She explains that soon after birth, a baby can pick out his mother's voice from other voices. Then, just a bit later, he knows his father's voice, too. Looking forward to hearing his parents' voices is a sign of his connection to and trust in them.

"Begin reading and singing on the day your child is born," says Carol Fiore, of Tallahassee, Fla., past president of the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC). She says the first book can be any type of picture book, an alphabet book or a wordless book, where the parents make up the story. "A wordless picture book really allows a parent to use her imagination to bond with the child," says Fiore.

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