When I was in fifth grade, I learned to crochet. It wasn’t easy to learn. I had never done anything like it before. I felt all thumbs, and it wasn’t always easy to conceptualize what it was I was supposed to do. With time, I did learn, and I made a small purse. My teacher coached me through almost every row until it was done. I still have that purse.
The next hurdle was learning to read actual directions. Yikes. It was like reading Greek. I had learned how to crochet, but without a teacher constantly at my elbow or being able to read the directions, I couldn’t really use my new skill. To learn to read directions, I had to go back to the beginning and learn to connect the skill with the actual execution of a pattern.
The same is true for the Spark Station. You may have heard me mention it, but hearing about it and actually creating and using one are two different things. This April, I’m going to give you the instructions you need.
Why The Name Change
When I decided I needed a new name for this amazing family connection tool, our youngest child was having her first baby. We were all excited about it.
When a new baby comes to a family, a lively search for a name ensues. The mother-to-be probably has a few she has carried in her head since she was a girl. The father may have a football hero or two with names he really likes. Our daughter and her husband went through quite a list looking for the perfect name.
The question is, how to choose a name? For our first child, we watched a movie. Two weeks before our due date, we still had no names picked out. Back then, you didn’t know which you would have, so you had to have two names ready. We were watching a Disney movie, and, in the credits, we saw the name Jodie. Eureka, the perfect name – perfect for no other reason than that it sounded good, and we liked it.
With all our other children, we went through a similar scientific process. One was named after a best friend, one was named after a song I liked, one came from the Bible, another was named…and that’s how it went. Later, I realized each name had a meaning and energy attached to it. Maybe we should have put more thought into choosing them, but you can’t go back and change a child’s name. For better or worse, it is what it is.
Fortunately, that’s not true in business! I knew I wanted to change the name of my family connection tool and searched for the perfect one for over a year. I wanted to make the change for several reasons.
•My printer said he loved my Closet Mastery Course, teaching how to use the tool, but had to look inside because he wondered if I was training people to come out of the Closet.
•When people asked me what I did, and I told them I showed parents how to create a Closet to connect as a family, I got confused looks and then the inevitable “So, how does a clean closet help them connect as a family?”
•Many parents told me they loved the tool but didn’t have a closet to use and were stuck.
•It seemed odd to call the tool The Closet and then tell people they could use a box, a bag, a drawer, or any container they liked – or even no container at all.
The name was problematic. I needed a name that spoke to what the tool was all about. I wanted a name descriptive of what made the tool so effective in helping families connect and making learning fun.
The Spark Station. I love that name. Let me tell you what the Spark Station is and how it can change the way your family connects.
The Spark Station
The Spark Station is about what’s inside, not what holds it. It can be a box, a plastic tub, a drawer, a closet shelf — or no container at all. It’s a place for cool learning and connection materials that inspire your children and bring your family together.
It’s designed to allow children to choose from several activities and topics of interest and engage with them in their own way. When used correctly, it’s very helpful in relieving the tension that comes when parents require children to stay together as a family on a Sunday afternoon, learn about a topic they may be struggling with in school, or stop arguing on a boring Saturday afternoon.
The Spark Station isn’t just one thing. It looks different in every family, and sometimes there is more than one, depending on the activity. Take the Sunday Box, for example, a box filled with cool stuff that helped a real family gather on Sunday afternoons. That’s the beauty of the Spark Station. You can showcase things your children are already interested in, you can gather to learn something new together, or just have fun. It keeps interesting and inspiring materials close at hand, so children and families have a magical and exciting place to learn, play, and connect.
There are Rules for Success
Whatever your Spark Station looks like, it’s only available at certain times. It isn’t a space that children can access anytime they want. Doing this preserves the sense of anticipation that makes it sing to kids, like a siren’s song. In Leah’s family, their Spark Station (The Sunday Box) was only available to the family on Sunday. Another family that homeschooled used their Spark Station during their school hours. Another family made their Spark Station available for an hour after school so kids could unwind. This builds value and interest in the content.
During the time you have set aside to learn, play, or be together as a family, you gather together for the amount of time you have pre-determined and open the Spark Station.
Not every child will want to engage with the content every time it’s available. They should be free to play with whatever takes their fancy — or even just read or write instead. They need to remain with the family, but they don’t have to engage with the Spark Station contents. When that happens — and it will — don’t be discouraged. I know, you worked hard on that Spark Station! But this is normal. In almost every family I’ve mentored, we’ve had to talk about this. Allow your children the freedom to decide.
The Spark Station is a tool that helps parents inspire their children, at all ages, to love learning, to experience new things, and to connect as a family. It brings scheduled, consistent moments of discovery and joy into your home — and those moments matter more than you know.
