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.
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.
Jingle Jingle is a musical way to strengthen the small muscles in babies' hands and fingers.
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.
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.”
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’sthe 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.
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!
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.
Sixty-one percent of American parents are concerned about their children’s social development during Covid-19. This is approximately the same as the percentage of parents who are worried that their children’s education will be negatively affected (62%). (Source: National Parents Union and American Enterprise Institute, June 2020)
“We are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.” (Source: American Psychological Association, Oct. 2020)
Nearly 93% of Households With School-Age Children Report Some Form of Distance Learning During COVID-19 (Source: Census)
Dr. Thomas Lickona wrote the book on raising kind kids: How to Raise Kind Kids. Now he’s sharing some winning strategies that Sparkler families can try to power up kindness in their own homes.
“You can coach kindness just like you would coach a sport,” he said. “You have to do it patiently. You have to demonstrate it, and then you give your child a chance to imitate what you’ve just demonstrated. Then you have to practice it, give positive, encouraging feedback, and then gradually back off and watch them do it with less help.”
Here are 11 specific ideas that Dr. Lickona (very kindly!) shared:
1. Talk the Talk!
Research shows that when parents tell kids they are “kind” and “generous” people (rather than praising a behavior as kind), kids start to think of themselves as kind people. Dr. Lickona explains, “They take pride in being that sort of person, the kind of person who shares, the sort of person who is generous.” Try saying: “You are such a kind big brother to help your sister find her teddy bear” or “You are a generous person! That’s why you shared your cookie.”
2. Give Kids Real Responsibilities
Consider giving your kids one chore for each year of age to help them learn to take pride in being helpful. Dr. Lickona notes that being helpful is at the core of kindness: “It means being aware of others’ needs, noticing them, helping without being asked.” He said kids are capable of a lot more than parents might realize at home: they can help care for siblings, clear the table, make beds, sweep…
3. Set a Good Example
Be kind to your family members, your friends, and other people you interact with. Ask others how they are, listen, and offer to help. Kids are watching and will learn from your example.
4. Make Sure Your Kids Pay Attention to Your Good Example
Your kids are watching you…but make sure they understand what you’re doing and why. For example, if you donate to a local library, you could tell your child, “I love books because they help us learn and imagine, and I love our local library because it helps all kids find books they’ll love. When I can, I give money to the library to help more kids read great books!”
5. Create a Peace Table at Home
Create a “talk it out space” or “peace table” where family members can go to go to solve problems. When two people arrive at the table, they should take two deep breaths. Each should talk about what he or she wants. Then each person should talk together about what’s fair, and compromise. This will help your kids learn that it’s OK to have conflicts … and then work them out with kindness and respect.
6. Share Real-Life Examples of Kind Kids
Dr. Lickona said sharing stories of kind things other kids have done can inspire your kids to think creatively about how they can help. For example, he shared the story of a 4-year-old neuroblastoma patient, Alex Scott, who raised $2,000 with a lemonade stand in her front yard to help doctors find cures for kids battling cancer. That lemonade stand has turned into a non-profit cancer research organization that has funded nearly 1,000 research projects at 135 institutions.
7. Read/Watch Kindness Focused Stories
It’s important to model kindness for your kids — but it’s also important to expose them to stories and characters (from books, TV, or movies) that show kids the goodness in the world. “When you see all those different examples, you then start to have a conversation: ‘Well, what can we do? What can we do in our neighborhood? What can we do in our community?’”
8. Be a Family on a Mission
Dr. Lickona said creating a family mission statement highlighting kindness helps families create a higher sense of purpose. “It becomes your reference point as a family, something that guides you is everyday family life. You really develop a sense of who you are as a family, a shared sense of purpose, a shared identity: this is who we are as a family, we care about these things.”
9. Clean Up Your Neighborhood
When Dr. Lickona takes his grandkids for walks, he tells them there are three kinds of citizens: the kind who litters, the kind who never litters, and the kind who picks up litter to make the community clean and beautiful for everybody. “That becomes part of their identity,” he said. “You can do this kind of thing at a very early age. And the wonderful thing is that kids will take pleasure in it.”
10. Volunteer Together
Find local causes — from helping at a soup kitchen to cleaning up a local park — that matter to your family and volunteer together. Kids will remember the experience, and it will help them learn how to empathize with others.
11. Support a Cause You Care About
Dr. Lickona recommends designating three family jars for coins: spending, saving, and giving. Your child can help to pick a charity where they can donate the “giving” coins once the jar is full.
Are there any other ways YOUR family likes to teach your kids kindness? Share your tricks on Sparkler’s Facebook!
