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MARQUETTE -- Making friends and touching your toes.  Those don't sound like skills vital to the careers of small tots, but play groups, like the one at the Marquette Alger County RESA today, are developmentally important.

"If they don't know how to get along with other children in their class, on the playground, sharing, taking turns; it makes it difficult to establish a learning environment," said Early Childhood Consultant, Barb Nelson.

It's all in a study released by the state's Early Childhood Investment Corporation, which found that investing in preschool programs results in fewer students requiring special services.

Great Start Collaborative Director, Kathy Lammi, says the state should take a hard look at the benefits of Pre-K programs before cutting the $90 million budget.

"Because it affects those kids for life," said Lammi.  "It affects their ability to have school success--not repeat grades, to be able to continue school, finish school."

One parent at play group says it's helped her twin boys adjust to playing with others.

"They both have a condition where they had speech delays," said Ishpeming resident, Tina Nelson.  "Since they've been going to play group, their speech has just blossomed.  They've been more social with other kids."

And while knowing their numbers and alphabet aren't the most important things to learn before Kindergarten, education experts say reading to a child can make a big difference.

"As they're exposed to words, they're able to have a vocabulary of 20,000 words when they hit Kindergarten as opposed to 3,000 words when they're not read to," Lammi said.

Since experts say that 85 percent of kids' development happens before they reach age five, investing now is one way to enhance Michigan's future.