Sparky and Shady for Early Years
Families Program
For children
Gives children language for what’s happening inside them.
Supports emotional regulation in kind ways.
For parents and carers
Helps parents stay calmer and more confident in tricky moments.
Reduces self-doubt about parenting decisions.
For connection
Reduces power struggles.
Helps families build skills for healthy relationships.
Wellbeing and behaviour support for children aged 3-8
A practical online program that helps children build self-awareness, self-regulation and healthy relationships. It gives families shared language and simple behaviour support strategies for everyday life.
Sparky and Shady for Early Years - Families Program
Helping your child feel safe, strong and connected
Sparky and Shady helps children understand big feelings, tricky behaviours, body signals, choices and repair, while giving parents and carers wise and kind language to use in real moments at home.
Some families receive free access through their early childhood service or school. Families can also purchase annual access directly.
When behaviour gets tricky
Parenting young children is beautiful, busy and sometimes completely overwhelming.
Children can behave in Shady ways when they are tired, hungry, worried, overstimulated, seeking connection, struggling with a skill, or trying to meet a need in the only way they know how.
Sparky and Shady helps families look beneath behaviour and respond with more calm, confidence and connection.
It does not ask parents to be perfect. It gives families simple words and practical steps you can use to stay kind, calm and connected.
Meet Sparky and Shady
Sparky
Sparky represents the calm, loving, wise part of us.
It’s the part that helps us feel safe, connected, and able to think clearly.
Research in psychology and neuroscience shows that connection, compassion, and calm nervous system states support learning, behaviour, and wellbeing. This is what Sparky helps children access.
Children often experience Sparky as a feeling of warmth, reassurance, or “everything’s going to be okay”. When Sparky is present, children are more able to listen, learn, recover after mistakes, and solve problems calmly.
Shady
Shady represents the protective, reactive part of us.
It’s driven by stress, fear, overwhelm, or unmet needs.
Shady can show up as tantrums, yelling, crying, hitting, pushing, kicking, pinching, shutting down, refusing, running away, and “I don’t care” behaviour.
Shady isn’t bad. Shady is trying to keep us safe.
Children rarely choose Shady on purpose — it’s an automatic stress response. While children are in Shady, they can’t think their way out of it, they need calm and connection first.
When big feelings show up
Sparky and Shady explains behaviour and gives you simple steps to use in the moment.
Families learn a clear, repeatable response for tricky situations:
Safety – Boundary – Connection – Support (SBCS)
- Safety
Keep everyone physically and emotionally safe. - Boundary
Calmly name the limit.
“It is okay to be angry. It is not okay to hit.” - Connection
Regulate yourself first.
Bring calm, and connect with your child. - Support
Help your child’s body and emotions settle, then problem solve and repair.
This approach helps children move out of Shady (stress response) and back to Sparky (calm, connected, able to think). Over time, children begin to recognise these patterns themselves and strengthen their emotional regulation skills.
What's included
You’ll receive 12 months access to the Families Program which includes five core lessons and nine short videos, plus practical tools you can return to again and again.
Morning, daytime and bedtime audio meditations to support calm, confidence and sleep.
Simple strategies for big feelings, tricky behaviours, conflict and repair.
The five lessons
1. Connect with Sparky
Meet the loving, brave and kind part of you. Sparky helps you make wise choices.
2. Train Shady
Get to know the protective part of you. Learn how to train Shady when Shady overreacts or gets too loud.
3. Look After Your Body
When you feel bad your body might need something. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired?
4. Feel Your Feelings
It’s human to feel bad. You can learn to handle your BIG feelings in kind ways with help.
5. Love Yourself
You are the only you in the whole wide world! Learn how to speak kindly to yourself and be your own best friend.
Sparky and Shady for Early Years - Families Program
14-day guarantee
If Sparky and Shady doesn’t feel right for your family, contact us within 14 days and we’ll happily refund your purchase.
Testimonial
“The earlier we develop emotional intelligence and awareness in our children, the less mental health issues they will experience in later life. I highly recommend Sparky and Shady to all parents looking for strategies to build resilience in their young children.”
Dr Nicola Holmes
GP Specialising in Mental Health