December 2021 - Sparkler

Events

December 10, 2021 by Admin 0 Comments

Sparkler Connecticut Events

Let’s Get Together! Please add our upcoming events to your calendar — or contact us to learn more!

January 12, 3 PM – 4 PM: A special session to help you engage the families in your community. We’ll learn from each other some practices that work in sharing Sparkler with families. Sign up.

January 14, 10 AM – 11 AM: Please join us to answer questions — big and small — about how you can use Sparkler to support the families you serve. Representatives from Sparkler and 211 Child Development will be there to discuss your issues and help you find solutions. Sign up .

January 24, 12 PM – 1 PM, Child Find and Sparkler: School district representatives will gather and learn from each other what Sparkler can do to support their work! Sign up.

January 26th 6 – 7 pm, Welcome to Sparkler for Families Learning Session: Interested in learning more? Email us: Sign up.

Play Activities

December 10, 2021 by Admin 0 Comments

Featured Content For December

Resolve to Play

This is the time of year to make resolutions. Imagine if we all resolved to PLAY every day with the children in our lives in 2022!

Parents can find hundreds of playtime activities in Sparkler to fuel learning on the go. Help your families find this month’s featured activities — from creating DIY sensory snow globes to playing with light and shadow. Suggest these fun activities to the parents of babies, toddlers, and littles to help families make playing part of their daily routines!

If you sign into the Sparkler dashboard, you can visit the Library to find and share these activities and tips to individual parents or groups of families. (If you need a refresher on how to use the Library to share content with families, please watch our short webinar.)

For Everyone:

New Year’s Dreams: Imagine the coming year — What are we dreaming of? What will you learn? What kind of person will you be? Write a letter to your baby or dream together with a bigger kid. Why? Sharing your dreams can build trust and keep you and your child focused on achieving your goals.

For Babies:

Jingle Jingle: Grasp and shake child-safe bells or other noise-makers. Why? Grasping and shaking toys will help strengthen and coordinate the small muscles in children’s fingers and help them learn about cause and effect.
Shadow Theater: Use a flashlight to make shadows on the wall or ceiling. Why? Creating shadows helps children learn to focus on high-contrast light and dark images. Watching shadows is also a great way to make tummy time more engaging!

For Toddlers:

Wrapping Paper Collage: Make art with newspaper or scraps from unwrapped gifts. Why? Tearing, snipping, and gluing paper helps children strengthen and coordinate small finger muscles.
Night Walkers: Use a flashlight and take a walk in the dark! Why? Seeing familiar spaces in new ways helps to grow children’s natural curiosity about the world around them.

For Littles:

DIY Snow Globes: Make your own snow globe or sensory jar. Why? Making snow globes is a fun and festive way to exercise little fingers, and once they’re completed, they can be used as a tool to support self regulation.
Cup of Light: Create colorful votive candle holders with a recycled glass jar and tissue paper. Why? Creating art with light sparks wonder and curiosity, and it’s a festive way to explore shape, color, and measurement.

Tips for Parents and Caregivers

This holiday season, encourage families to explore Sparkler’s parent tips called “Family Traditions.” Families can find this under Tips for Adults, or you can send it to them from your Sparkler dashboard-based Library.

You can help families start new traditions to support their children’s developing identity and sense of belonging.

News

December 10, 2021 by Admin 0 Comments

Sparkler Is Now Statewide in CT

Sparkler Now Available to Providers and Families Across Connecticut

In October 2021, OEC Commissioner Beth Bye stood with Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut United Way President and CEO Lisa Tepper Bates, and colleagues at the CT Department of Public Health, CT State Department of Education, and CT Department of Children and Families, to announce that Sparkler is now available statewide to families of children 0-5 and to education, social service, and healthcare providers serving those families.

“Families have been through a lot,” OEC Commissioner Beth Bye said. “This is the moment to help families connect about and get in tune with their child’s development. Sparkler helps parents to check in on how their child is doing against key milestones and provides activities to spark their early learning. Supporting our youngest citizens is important for individual families and for our entire state. Given the challenges of COVID, connecting families to information and supports is incredibly important.”

Read the press release to learn more.

You can also watch some news clips to learn about the announcement: State Offering Free App to CT Families to Help With Child Development (NBC CT), New app launched in CT designed to support early childhood development (News 8), and Sparkler app for parents and caregivers to measure child developmental growth now available in CT (Fox 61).

More About Sparkler CT

Early Results

Since the announcement, Connecticut has seen families sign up nearly 2,000 for Sparkler and has seen more than 1,600 ASQ-3s and ASQ:SE-2s completed via Sparkler.

Of the ASQ-3s completed, about half were on schedule in all categories; 28% had a “monitor” in at least one category; and 21% had at least one “refer.” Fine motor skills led to the greatest number of monitors and refers.

There has been a particular interest in the social-emotional questionnaire since the statewide announcement, with the numbers of completions nearly keeping pace with the comprehensive ASQ-3, which covers communication, fine motor, gross motor, problem-solving, and personal-social skills. Since October 2021, 78% of ASQ:SE-2s completed using Sparkler in Connecticut have scored on schedule on this questionnaire.

All families who have completed screenings have received feedback from Care Coordinators at 211 Child Development or from their CT-based program/provider.

Since October, Sparkler has also onboarded dozens of new schools, districts, and other CT-based providers, who are now using Sparkler to connect with and engage with families.

Information for CT Providers

Sparkler is free for Connecticut providers and free for families, thanks to the CT Office of Early Childhood. Providers using Sparkler with families include: day cares, schools, and school districts, family resource centers, school readiness organizations, healthcare providers, home visitors, DCF workers, and more. Sparkler allows providers to offer:

Developmental screening (ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2);
Play-based learning activities and tips for parents to help families support their children’s learning from birth through kindergarten; and
Connection — regular tips and two-way communication.

In addition to helping providers support and engage families, Sparkler also helps participating providers to comply with legislation and accreditation requirements:

In July 2021, Connecticut Governor Lamont passed legislation to support Child Find, which is related to Sparkler. The new law says if a child is ineligible for participation in preschool programs under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, they should be offered a screening for developmental and social-emotional delays using validated assessment tools, such as the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®. (ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 are both available to families for free in CT via Sparkler.) Learn more from the State Department of Education. Here’s the form from Birth to Three for families not eligible for Part B. Learn more from Birth to Three about Referral Eligibility.

Are you going through NAEYC accreditation? Sparkler can help you. NAEYC recommends that all children enrolled in an early childhood program should receive developmental screening within three months of program entry: Standard 4.C — Identifying Children’s Interests and Needs and Describing Children’s Progress. 4C.3 states: “Show that the children receive a developmental screening that evaluates language, cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, and social and emotional development.” NAEYC addresses the need for an assessment plan (specifically referencing the Ages & Stages Questionnaires) and the importance of communicating with families about all the areas of their child’s development, using both formal and informal opportunities to exchange information and to make them aware of confidentiality and disclosure policies.

More For CT Providers

Answer Questions & Get Involved

Are you a current provider working with Sparkler who wants to attend an upcoming training? Here’s our calendar. If you have questions, please check out our FAQ. You are also welcome to email us: support@playsparkler.org.

Do you need handouts, posters, and other materials to share Sparkler with your team or the families in your community — either printed or digital or both? Please fill out this form.

Are you from a CT program interested in using Sparkler in your school or program? Sign up here.

Are you a parent with young children interested in using the app? Learn how!

Blog PostsPlaying

December 10, 2021 by Admin 0 Comments

Play Powers Early Learning

Why is play so important? It is the fuel that powers children’s brain development — growing strong and healthy hearts, minds, words, and bodies.

Find out more about the science of play from our new early childhood play infographic.

Sparkler’s app has about 2,000 off-screen, playful activities that help parents and children play together from birth through kindergarten to develop their hearts, minds, bodies, and words.

If you have something to add, please email us: support@playsparkler.org. We’d love to hear from you.