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October 16, 2025 by Admin 0 Comments

Q&A: Learning Through Play in Early Childhood

Sparkler chatted with Jordan Dospil is a Senior Content Specialist at the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), where she creates curricula for the early childhood space. She has a background as an early childhood educator. Sparkler worked together with Jordan and the team at NCFL to create Play With Purpose, a playgroup program for families with young children.

How do you define play?

I think of play very broadly. For me, play is led by the child, keeps their interest, and it’s FUN.

Does play include reading or singing or other activities that don't involve toys?

Yes! Toys can be great, but I think they are completely optional for play. As far as that goes, I think play could even be something that never leaves our heads — that is completely imaginary. My older kids are big daydreamers and that can be a wonderful way to play.

Why is play important for children?

For so many reasons, but the top ones for me are learning and imagining. Imagining is the key to creative problem-solving that we as humans will always need. Aside from that, though, I think it’s essential for us to give kids the time and space to be kids and play is a huge part of that.

You're a mom and early childhood educator. What is the most effective way you've found to read with young children?

My favorite ways to read with young children are to use voices and sound effects and to get them moving during the book. So for sound effects, if a dog is talking in the book I’ll try to make it sound like a dog — barking and howling. If I have wiggly kids, I’ll get them to act out the book — like huffing and puffing to help the wolf blow the house down in “The Three Little Pigs.”

And what are some objects your family likes to use for "play" that aren't traditional toys?

Kitchen supplies are huge — my toddler loves to whisk anything, or use table knives to cut up cheese and things like that. But I think the kind of play we do most involves just ourselves. We play hand games like patty cake or Itsy Bitsy Spider. We pretend that we’re puppies or kittens, or we trade places and she’s the mommy telling me what to do. Last night we were making shadow puppets with our hands.

Sparkler and NCFL — where you work — created the Play With Purpose curriculum to help families "play with purpose" to support their children's early learning and development. What does playing with purpose mean to you?

To me it’s about activating the power of play. You know, kids are learning from us whether we mean them to or not — and they learn through play. I think of the times I’ve seen my kids pretend to go to work like they see me do, or repeat things I say. I’m not trying to teach them those things! But parents really are their child’s first and best teacher. When we can use play meaningfully to teach kids and strengthen our connections with them, that is so powerful.

You've coached many Play With Purpose playgroups over the years. What do you think are the main things that families gain from participating?

One of the big things I see is families recognizing their own power and capability in teaching their children. The other thing is making connections with other families, which can be so hard as a new parent and is so important.

Last week, we trained Play With Purpose playgroup facilitators in San Francisco! What do you think facilitators gain from facilitating these groups?

I think they learn some new ways to talk to families about the value of play and teaching them new tools to engage their children. For a lot of facilitators, it’s also a new way to connect to families in their community, which helps families access resources and support they need even beyond the playgroup.

Do you have any tips for families who feel like it's daunting to start playing? How can they get started?

I was one of those parents! I still sometimes struggle with imaginative play as an adult. My tips:

Start small — even just two minutes at a time can make a difference. (And it’s often easier to keep going once you start.)
There are many different kinds of play. Start out by trying what feels right or easy to you.
Sometimes a song or book can be an easier way to start because the script is right there. Let your child lead the way.
Follow their interests and their lead. You can even start by just sitting next to them while they play and watching and asking questions.

Learn about Play With Purpose in San Francisco

Interested in learning more about the Play With Purpose program in San Francisco?

Learn More and Play With Us!

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April 15, 2024 by Admin 0 Comments

Using Sparkler to Follow Up With Families After Screening

Let's Focus on Follow Up

The most important thing in screening is the follow-up: Making sure families get the answers/support/referral they need. If a young child is facing a challenge, we ALL want to identify it and help the family to access early intervention or other supports as soon as possible!

Steps of the Follow-Up Process

1. Review Results

Providers have the important responsibility of following up with parents/caregivers after they complete screening. The results don’t go to families immediately upon completion because it’s important to answer families’ question and provide clear next steps.

The educator, home visitor, healthcare provider or other person responsible for following up with a family will receive an email letting them know that a family has completed screening and it’s time to follow up with them.

2. Review the Results

If you get receive an email like this, it’s time to review the screening results. To do this, please sign into Sparkler’s Dashboard and go to ASQ Dashboard in the navigation. You can search for the child by name or Sparkler ID. By default, you’ll see the most recent ASQ completed. If the child might have aged up into the next age bracket, you should uncheck the “only show most recent” checkbox to see the previous (completed) screening.

You can see the results on the screen by clicking into the child’s name and using the accordion to see the scores or you can download the family-facing report wherever you see the symbol circled below (on the ASQ Dashboard or from the child’s ASQ detail page on Sparkler’s Dashboard). Look at the summary scores — and be sure to note whether the parent has expressed concern.

3. Reach Out to the Family

The family completed the screening using their Sparkler app, so you can send them a message via Sparkler messaging — which might be the best initial way to get in touch. We also encourage you to email them and text/call — using the information they have shared in the app. You can find this under the Adults tab in the Dashboard.

4. Complete the Follow-Up Form in Sparkler's Dashboard

As soon as a parent or teacher/provider completes an ASQ-3 or ASQ:SE-2, the follow-up form will pop up on the ASQ dashboard in the column all the way to the right. Filling out the form will help you track what you recommend to parents following screening. It will also help us bring consistency to the follow-up process, ensuring that parents/caregivers are receiving results/next steps — and it will kick off the “re-screening” process: If you recommend re-screening on a particular date, Sparkler will nudge the family and you to re-screen on that date.

You’ll see one of these three options:

Start New Follow-Up Report
View or Edit Follow-Up Report
Pending (No Screening Completed)

When you click into the report, you’ll see a series of questions that you can answer as you talk to a family following screening.

After completing the form, remember to press save!

5. Share Results & Your Recommendations With the Family

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you follow up with families:

Be timely!
Be clear about confidentiality: Make sure they know the conversation is confidential & decisions about their child are theirs.
Share the WHY: Use language like: “Screening helps YOU as the parent/caregiver to learn about your child’s development and become more knowledgeable about developmental milestones in the early years. It can show if your child might need further assessment but does not diagnose.”
Listen: What are the parents’ concerns or questions? Be open to parents’ ideas and perspectives on their child’s development.
Highlight the positives: As you review the results, highlight the child’s strengths.
Be sensitive and positive: Use positive language.
Be clear and precise: If there are areas of monitor/refer/concern, be clear with the family and explain what the score means.
Talk about the next steps of development: All parents are interested in what’s coming next. Talk with them about what skills to expect next. Provide learning activities they can try at home. Let them know when they can next rescreen (Sparkler will provide next screening when it becomes available.)
Collaborate & discuss: We are on a team with parents/caregivers, working together to help their children. Plan out next steps together.
Offer guidance/support: If a child scores at refer or monitor and/or the parent has concerns, offer clear recommendations for next steps.

Here’s more information from Brookes, the publisher of the ASQ, which can help you get ready to follow up with the families you serve.

6. After Your Conversation

After you speak with the family, here are the steps to follow:

Record your follow-up recommendations in the follow-up form on the Sparkler Dashboard.
Send the parent a message — either using a template in Sparkler or in another way — to summarize your conversation and next steps. You can find the templates when you click into a child’s name on the dashboard.
Send the parent their results electronically. They will receive an email where they signed up for Sparkler with a secure link so they can download their results.
If the parent had questions/concerns, use Sparkler’s dashboard to send them some age-appropriate activities that would help them to spark their child’s learning in areas of concern.
Follow up in a few weeks to check in on the family and see if they have additional questions/concerns or want new activities to try at home.

Questions? Please email support@playsparkler.org

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November 20, 2023 by Admin 0 Comments

CT: 15 Days of Play

Families in Connecticut with children 5 and under are invited to join the CT Office of Early Childhood and Sparkler Learning for 15 Days of Play — a special holiday initiative to promote fun and joyful play-based learning.

Who: Connecticut families using Sparkler with children 5 and under

When: From Nov. 23 to Dec. 8, 2023

How: Connecticut families who complete play activities in their Sparkler app can earn prizes while promoting human connection and learning across all the domains of development (heart, mind, words, body).

Prizes: Each time a family presses “We Did It” and shares a picture of a Sparkler activity they completed, they earn 1 point. The top player will win a $100 prize! Fourteen more will each win $30 gift cards. Families can repeat their favorite activities or play a new activity every day. The more they play, the greater their chances of winning!