There has been a large increase in pressure placed on parents to entertain their children. After-school programs are not as accessible. The sports and clubs that were once helping parents manage their work and childcare aren’t available. This leaves parents responsible for guiding their children through their schoolwork and finding ways to entertain them after work hours, all while maintaining their own responsibilities. The lack of in-person social interaction also changes the way children are learning and developing their social and emotional skills. For parents that are looking for solutions to these issues, A Little Spark is a great solution. It is a fully-illustrated chapter book, an ideal family read(listen) aloud for families with kids between 3 and 8 and solo readers aged 8 and above.
A Little Spark – a Week-Long Activity to do with the Family
A Little Spark is an interactive, multi-sensory, illustrated chapter book that holds children’s attention, provides great lessons, and keeps children engaged. There are beautiful illustrations to help bring the text to life, an audiobook with delightful performances of each character, and an album of songs (that can be accessed through QR codes). The book was awarded the Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal for best in family media. This book is a great way for parents to bond with their children and spend quality time together.
Helping the Parents
With A Little Spark’s beautiful blend of illustrations alongside great entertaining content, parents can turn reading the book into a week-long activity by reading a chapter or two per night. The book’s use of music and art make time spent reading into an interactive multisensory and intimate activity with the family. The 10 chapters can be read over a week, relieving parents struggling to try to find ways to entertain their children in the evenings.
Helping the Children
Children would previously have school social interaction to teach them social and emotional lessons. They are now “learning” via video, which doesn’t allow them to learn other vital life lessons. The on-site school provides much more than the fundamentals of reading, writing, and mathematics. Being at school with other children teaches kids proper social skills and provides social, emotional tools for navigating the world.
As part of the “test market” efforts, a pilot project with a Grade 1 class in Dallas. The teacher read the book, and the class listened to the music and discussed the lessons – the teacher, parents, and the kids loved it.
The goal moving forward is to develop a Be That Spark program for parents and educators to help develop positive character traits in kids utilizing the lessons from the book as a tool to help them engage in discussion with their kids.
Helping the Family
Taking the time to come together and spend quality family time in the same room doing the same activity will help the family unit strengthen. It’s not uncommon for families to be in the same room yet not truly “be together.” With the constant and easily accessible distractions such as TV, headphones, cellphones, and tablets, quality time has been diminished. A Little Spark was designed to use technology to enhance the learning experience rather than replace it. Sitting together and reading a book will allow the family to come together and spend much-needed dedicated time with each other.
From the Author of A Little Spark, Chris Parsons, “The overall theme, or what I would call the key-takeaway, is the idea that we all need to look for ways to ‘Be That Spark.’ We need to engage and find ways where we can make a difference in the lives of those around us.” Parsons adds that those opportunities are plentiful. We need to find them and react. “There’s a line in the theme song that says ‘no more selfies, turn your camera out. And make a connection, that’s what this is about.’” Teaching your children to be generous with their time and be kind is an essential task, and now parents have a fun, interactive book to help develop the importance of giving early in their child’s life.
A Little Spark is a fun and interactive way to share these lessons with your children. You can find the book on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble. For all kinds of fun content, check out the website – Bethatspark.com and follow on Instagram & Facebook @bethatspark.
