Please find answers to commonly asked questions about Sparkler. If these answers don’t help, you can email us for help: support@playsparkler.org.
Overview
Sparkler is a parent engagement and developmental screening tool available to Connecticut families with 0-5 year olds and to providers serving those families.
Sparkler is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
Sparkler’s mission is to help parents, caregivers, and providers harness the science of early childhood brain development to help children thrive in the early years and beyond.
Sparkler’s vision:
- Equity. ALL families will have easy access to developmental screening, information, referrals, and support for their children.
- Knowledge and Action. ALL families will have the tools they need to understand how their children are developing, and to spark healthy early development and connections through play.
- Working better together. Organizations will work systematically with each other and with the families they serve to engage and support ALL parents, caregivers, and young children.
Currently the app is available for families in English, Spanish, and Chinese (Simplified Characters).
Sparkler is free to families because it is paid for by organizations (e.g., governments, schools, non-profit organizations) serving families.
Sparkler treats families’ data carefully, preserving their privacy and keeping data safe and secure. Sparkler does not sell or rent any of the child’s Personal Information to any third-party for any purpose — including for advertising or marketing purposes. Third-party advertising does not happen in Sparkler. We use the information we collect from to provide families with the best Sparkler experience. We ask parents to share information that is necessary in order to provide them with the correct play content and screenings based on their children’s age. We ask for contact details (such as email and phone number) in order to contact and support families.
Sparkler is made available to parents and caregivers through Sponsoring Partners, defined in our Privacy Policy. Sponsoring Partners include, but are not limited to, early childhood centers, daycares, schools, school readiness organizations, school districts, health care organizations, home visiting agencies, and social service agencies (collectively “Sponsoring Partners”). These organizations have independent relationships with the parents and caregivers, and are making Sparkler available to the parents and caregivers as a supportive service. These organizations are subject to The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), or similar policies that align with the limitations and responsibilities laid out in Sparkler’s Privacy Policy and associated terms of use.
In signing up for Sparkler, parents often consent to sharing their information with the Sponsoring Partner serving them or their family, which gives the partner the ability to see the family’s information, engage with the family, and support the family.
Here is Sparkler’s Privacy Policy privacy policy, which outlines how Sparkler protects families’ data.
Please learn more by reading Sparkler’s policies
Mobile App Features for Parents and Caregivers
The Sparkler mobile app for families is available on iOS and Android. Here’s the link to the App Store to download Sparkler onto an iOS device. Here’s the link to the Google Play Store to download Sparkler onto an Android device.
Sparkler’s mobile app offers parents with young children (prenatal – age 5):
- Developmental screening (ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2) to check in on a child’s development
- A (customizable) library of 2000+ playful activities
- A (customizable) library of evidence-based tips for parents
- Connection with professionals (teachers, healthcare providers, home visitors, care coordinators, etc. who can help)
Sparkler serves parents/caregivers with children from prenatal through age 5.
Sparkler is an app for PARENTS — it’s meant to guide parents to help them help their children. It is not an app for children.
Families will see new content in the app as their children get older.
Here’s a video of the registration process. Families follow the following steps to register:
- Download the app from the app store or google play store.
- Open the app on a smartphone or tablet
- Click “create a new account”
- Enter your access code to link up with your program.
- Enter your email and password.
- Create account: Enter first name, last name, address, ZIP, and phone number
- Create a child profile: Enter first name, last name, pronoun, date of birth (or due date), prematurity if under 2, and picture
- Optional profile questions
- Sponsoring Partners, Privacy, and terms
Sparkler assigns play content and screenings based on children’s ages. For children under two, the correct screening is determined by the birth date and the child’s prematurity. In order to see the correct screening and developmentally appropriate play content, it’s important for parents to share the correct birth date and prematurity at registration. If a parent makes a mistake, they can change their child’s birth date: Settings >> My Account >> Child’s Profile >> Change Date of Birth.
It takes a couple of minutes to register for Sparkler.
Yes. Families can link up with multiple organizations, sharing their info with multiple schools, home visitors, or other organizations.
Here’s how to add a new organization:
- Go to Settings (the gear in the upper right corner of the home screen)
- Click on My Account
- Click on the child’s name
- You’ll see the cohort or cohorts your child is part of under “Cohort.”
- Click on the name of the cohort(s)
- To add, click the blue word “Add” In the upper right corner and type the code into the box, press submit
- Press “back”
- Press “confirm changes”
Here’s how to delete an organization if you move or are no longer affiliated with an organization:
- Go to Settings (the gear in the upper right corner of the home screen)
- Click on My Account
- Click on the child’s name
- You’ll see the cohort or cohorts your child is part of under “Cohort.”
- Click on the name of the cohort(s)
- Swipe right to left and press “remove” to remove one of the cohorts, and confirm you want to remove the cohort
- Press “back”
- Press “confirm changes”
Sparkler’s play and parenting tip content was created by experts in early childhood education and development.
Some content is original and some is adapted from local or national partners. For example, Sparkler offers adaptations of “ASQ intervention activities,” created by Brookes Publishing (the publisher of the ASQ) as well as summaries of the CDC’s Learn the Signs, Act Early milestones.
Sparkler licenses the Ages & Stages Questionnaires from Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., the publisher of the ASQ. It makes the ASQ available to families who sign up linked with a partner organization that is paying for the screening to be available to families.
Please learn more about the ASQ here.
Yes. Mom and Dad, Parent and Caregiver, Parent and Grandparent, etc. can link with each other in Sparkler. This allows two grown-ups involved in a child’s life to collaborate.
Only the primary account holder (the first parent who created the child) will see the screening and messaging, but all linked caregivers can see and contribute to the child’s history of play with Sparkler.
To link:
- Go to settings
- Go to My Account
- Press “Add New” in the upper right
- Invite an Adult
- Follow the steps!
Yes, a parent can have multiple children (prenatal – 5) in Sparkler. They can add (or delete) child profiles in App Settings.
You can add a new child any time: Settings >> My Account >> Add New >> Add a Child. If your child is in a different cohort than his/her sibling, be sure to enter a new cohort code to link with the new program.
Under “Connect” parents can receive (or send) messages to Sparkler and their provider who they are linked with in Sparkler.
When a provider sends a message, the parent receives it as a push notification. The parent’s response goes to the dashboard, where the provider can see/respond.
A parent/caregiver must be online to initially download the Sparkler app and to receive messages or upload a new ASQ, but they can play and take ASQs while offline.
If you are using English and want to see the app in Spanish, click the gear in the upper right corner to access settings. Tap on “Language” in the menu. Switch languages and confirm to see everything in the app in the other language.
Sparkler Dashboard Features for Providers
Schools/home visitors/family resource centers/healthcare providers/other professionals can use Sparkler’s Dashboard to monitor and engage with families. They can:
- Download data & reports
- Understand individual families’ engagement/needs
- Send and receive messages
- Identify play activities/parent tips to support early childhood development
Providers sign into the dashboard here: https://app.playsparkler.com/dashboard/login
Sparkler participating programs will be provided logins and passwords. If you need help, ask your supervisor or email support@playsparkler.org.
First, be sure that you’re using a modern Web browser like Chrome or Safari, ideally using a laptop or desktop computer. You can also access the dashboard from the browser on your iPad. Go to the following URL: https://app.playsparkler.com/dashboard/login.
Your name is your email address and the password is something you have set that’s unique to you. Please be sure to check the second box so that you affirm your commitment to upholding Sparkler’s privacy policy and terms of service. Checking this box is required in order to sign in.
If you forget your password, please click on “Reset Password” to reset.
You have access to the families you work with. If you’re a teacher, you should see the children in your classroom. If you’re a home visitor, you should see your families. If you’re a school leader or supervisor, you might see multiple cohorts representing the different groups you oversee.
Your name is your email address and the password is something you have set that’s unique to you. Please be sure to check the second box so that you affirm your commitment to upholding Sparkler’s privacy policy and terms of service. Checking this box is required in order to sign in.
If you forget your password, please click on “Reset Password” to reset.
On the main dashboard screen, you can see overall numbers for the families you oversee. You can use the small arrows in the white rectangles to show different lengths of time so you can easily see trends within the week, month, or longer periods.
On this screen, you’ll see:
- The number of parents in your cohort/group who have created accounts and the number of child profiles they have.
- How engaged your families are with PLAY in Sparkler. Play is when a family finds an activity, and presses the blue “We Did It” button. This records that a play has been completed and then you’ll see it on your dashboard.
- Play card ratings: if the family has completed an activity and pressed “We did it,” they have the option of rating the activity. They can say if the child liked or did not like the activity. They can say if the parent thought the activity was too hard, too easy, or just right for the child.
- At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see ASQ trends, as well as an overview of follow-ups in your program following screening. You can see how many people have completed ASQs, how many (both parent and teacher ASQs) are pending (meaning available now to complete). You can also see how many on track, monitor, and refer scores your families have received and which domains have led to those scores.
For each child, two ASQs are available: One to be completed by the parent and one to be completed by a teacher/provider. So if zero families and zero teachers had completed their current ASQ-3s, you would see: 2 x (# students) = # of ASQs available.
Go to the CHILDREN tab and click on Bulk Send to send a message that goes to each of the families you serve or to individual accounts (depending on what you select). You can make the message that goes to each parent customized to their child’s name with brackets.
If you write [Child] in brackets, the parent will see the child’s first name in the message; if you write the male pronouns in brackets, the message will appear to the parent with the child’s pronouns.
For example, if you write: “Ask [Child] what [his] favorite part of the story was?” a parent might see: “Ask Mia what her favorite part of the story was?”
If you type the message in English and Spanish, the parent will see it in the language turned on on his/her Sparkler app.
Training Video: Learn how to use MESSAGING in Sparkler
You can also send messages to an individual parent by clicking into the child’s profile page from the list of children on the CHILDREN tab and then clicking to coaching.
On the CHILDREN tab, check the box called “Show only unread messages.” You can also scroll all the way to the right and press the down arrow to sort by most recent under the column called “Last message From Family.” This will allow you to see the most recent messages from the families you serve.
You can use the Library to find activities and tips that meet families’ needs. If you are serving a child of a particular age, you can find activities for that age child. You can also filter by the skill you want to work on with the family. Once you find something, you can press send to share it with a family or multiple families that you serve. You can also find TIPS for parents by clicking on the “tips” tab at the top. Learn more from this video webinar.
On this part of the dashboard, you can download reports for families or you can download CSV files of all of your families’ results. You can also filter the table and/or complete a facilitated ASQ with one of your families.
When a family completes a screening using Sparkler’s mobile application, their provider who is responsible for following up should follow these 6 steps:
- Program: Receives ASQ results notification (via email).
- Program: Review the child’s results and consider your recommendations.
- Reach out to — and connect with — the family to talk through results and recommend next steps.
- Complete follow-up form in Sparkler’s dashboard to record your recommendations.
- Share the ASQ results & your recommendations electronically with the family (via dashboard by pressing the blue “envelope” on the Child’s ASQ profile). Use templates (if desired) to send your recommendations to the family in writing.
- Share suggested activities/tips via Sparkler’s Library with the family to help them address any areas of concern.
More About the Mobile ASQ in Sparkler
Sparkler offers a convenient digital version of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, a research- and time-tested developmental screening tool. ASQ helps parents and the people serving them learn about children’s strengths, celebrate progress, and access support if needed.
Sparkler works with organizations serving families to make the ASQ-3 and the ASQ:SE available. A family will see the first screenings when they sign up, and they will be notified as their child grows older when new screenings are available.
Developmental screening can help parents, caregivers, teachers, healthcare providers, and others understand and support children’s early development.
- Screening helps parents and those who serve young families learn about children’s development.
- Developmental screening is part of well-child visits for many children, and is often used as a first step in understanding children’s development.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends developmental and behavioral screening for all children at 9 months, 18 months, and 24 or 30 months.
When parents first create their account, they will see the first ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 that their child is eligible for. They’ll access it by clicking the icons at the top of Sparkler’s home screen. In the future, when their child ages up into the next age band, they will see the icons again at the top of the home screen and can click in.
A parent/caregiver might not see an ASQ for different reasons:
- They already completed the current ASQ.
- They signed up NOT using a code or with a partner that does not pay for mobile screening. (If you look in app settings, you can see what org you’re currently linked with. If you aren’t in the right place, please email support@playsparkler.org.)
- The child is under 2 months old. The first screenings become available at 2 months, so the child might be too young.
- The child’s prematurity affects the correct ASQ to administer until age 2. If a child was born prematurely, the parent will not see the screening until later. You can calculate the correct screening here.
If a family is not seeing the ASQ and you still aren’t sure why, please reach out and Sparkler’s staff can help: support@playsparkler.org.
Here are the five areas of development that the ASQ-3 asks parents to answer questions about:
- Communication: Your child’s language skills, both what your child understands and what he or she can say.
- Gross Motor: How your child uses their arms and legs and other large muscles for sitting, crawling, walking, running, and other activities.
- Fine Motor: Your child’s hand and finger movement and coordination.
- Problem Solving: How your child plays with toys and solves problems.
- Personal-Social: Your child’s self-help skills and interactions with others.
The ASQ:SE measures a child’s social and emotional development. It asks parents to respond to questions about seven core behavioral areas.
Developmental delays, learning disorders, and social-emotional problems are estimated to affect 1 in every 6 children. Only 20 – 30% of these children are identified as needing help before school begins.
Studies have shown that children who receive early treatment for developmental delays are more likely to graduate from high school, hold jobs, and avoid teen pregnancy.
“Early detection and intervention for children with developmental delays or disorders, is recognised as an essential part of good health care to optimize outcomes for children and families,” wrote Ramesh Lamsal, Daniel J. Dutton, and Jennifer D. Zwicker in BMC Pediatrics in 2018 (source).
The CDC has a program called Learn the Signs. Act Early., which helps parents understand the importance of early intervention. The CDC’s milestones are adapted and available in Sparkler for families under “Tips for Adults.” Learn more from the CDC here.
If a family completes an ASQ on Sparkler, the questionnaire is scored automatically and immediately, according to the rules for ASQ scoring that you’d follow if you were scoring the ASQ manually. Here are the rules for scoring ASQ-3. Here are rules for scoring the ASQ:SE-2.
Other Common Questions
If a parent hasn’t entered your program’s access code, they are not linked with you and you cannot see them in your dashboard. The good news is the parent can move into your program. Here’s how:
- Go to App Settings
- Go to My Account
- Tap on the Child’s name and see what cohort(s) they are part of
- You can click in to add/delete a cohort, using your program’s code; this will link you with the program.
If you need help, please reach out.
Please reach out to Sparkler for support. We are currently building new Dashboard features, which will give site-based leaders self-management tools that will allow them to create/delete other Sparkler administrators in their program or create/delete classrooms.
Stay tuned! In the meantime, if you need help, please email support@playsparkler.org.
Sure. The activities are designed for parents and children to play together but many can be adapted for use by providers working with individual children or groups of children.
If you sign into the dashboard with the wrong password 5 times in a row, we lock you out to maintain security. Please respond to the email we will send you to confirm that you want your account unlocked.
In general, you can use “reset password” to get a new password.
Most commonly, this happens when the parent already has an account using the same email address. If you aren’t sure what is happening, we can help if you email us at support@playsparkler.org.
Parents/caregivers tend to engage the most when they are working with a supportive program that sets clear expectations. Sending messages and reminders via Sparkler helps. Letting families know that you’ll be suggesting activities and looking at their progress can also help.
We are happy to discuss or include you in an upcoming training on this topic.
If you’re having a problem, please try to take a screenshot or video of what is happening and reach out to support@playsparkler.org. It is often useful to share what type of device you are logging in from and what email address is associated with your account.
We aim to address problems within a day unless it’s something that requires a big fix.
Do you still have a question? Please reach out to us: support@playsparkler.org