What To Expect:
Children learn through play and playful interactions like storytelling, pretending, and making music! Please join us for a hands-on day of professional learning and community connections that will help Connecticut-based providers learn new ways to engage families, leveraging the magic of play! You will:
- Learn about Sparkler’s Tune Up method with educator/musician Benjamin Weiner. Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle childhood challenges from sharing to saying “sorry.” Learn how you can use the Tune Up curriculum to strengthen learning, family engagement, and early childhood programming on 9/25; then participate in a 10-week (virtual) coaching series to help your program implement the Tune Up curriculum. (Learn more about Tune Up and the curriculum.)
- Experience the art of oral storytelling with Dr. Raouf Mama, a professor at Eastern Connecticut State University and award-winning storyteller and best-selling author who shares traditional folktales from his native Benin and around the world.
- Discover play-based learning strategies with the Sparkler and 211 Child Development teams, featuring practical ideas for supporting children’s development through everyday play.
Logistics:
The Day of Play will take place at the Meriden Public Library (105 Miller St, Meriden, CT 06450) from 10 AM – 3 PM on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Eligible participants will earn 3 hours of professional development hours. The event is FREE to attend and LUNCH will be provided. Following the event, there will be a free, 10-week virtual coaching series (starting Oct. 2) to help CT programs implement the Tune Up program. We will send the meeting invitations to those who register.