Help Me Grow Marin

04/03/2026

We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Annual Maternal Mental Health Forum & Training, a meaningful day of learning, dialogue, and collaboration focused on supporting parents and strengthening families in our community.

This year’s forum brings together providers, advocates, students, and community members committed to advancing maternal and paternal mental health.

Register today to reserve your spot!

Event Highlights:
💜 Film screening of More Than Blue, a documentary on maternal mental health
💜 Facilitated group discussion following the film
💜 Panel discussion with local providers, moderated by Maria Ni**le (First 5 Marin)
💜 Training on engaging fathers and partners in perinatal mental health
💜 Training on substance use in pregnancy and postpartum
💜 Opportunities for networking and cross-sector collaboration

Event Details:
💜 Free community event
💜 Lunch provided
💜 Open to providers, students, and all community members interested in supporting families

This event is presented by Postpartum Support Center, First 5 Marin, County of Marin, and Dominican University of California. We hope you will join us for this important community conversation!

04/03/2026

03/21/2026

🌸☀️ ¡Le damos la bienvenida a la primavera! 🤩🌼 Aquí te compartimos algunas flores comestibles de distintos países. ¿Conoces alguna otra que sea de tu país? ¡Cuéntanos!

03/21/2026

Marin Mommies Newsletter - 🐰 Easter egg hunts, 🎨 Big Art Weekend giveaway, weekend events, and more!

https://mailchi.mp/marinmommies/newsletter-3-20-26

03/21/2026

Holding and manipulating objects is more than meets the eye! Did you know there are sub-components that make up the fine motor skill of in-hand manipulation? These aspects of in-hand manipulation play a powerful fine motor skill kids need for pencil grasp, shoe tying, clothing fasteners, opening containers, and so much more.

👉Finger-to-Palm Translation: The motor skills needed to pick up a coin and move it to the palm.
👉Palm-to-Finger Translation: Looks like moving a coin from the palm to the fingertips to insert into a vending machine.
👉Shift: Includes the adjusting a pencil up and down in your hand.
Simple Rotation: Needed for unscrewing a toothpaste lid.
👉Complex Rotation: Turning a paper clip within the fingertips.

Read more about these sub-skills and activities to improve in-hand manipulation:
https://www.theottoolbox.com/in-hand-manipulation-and-money/

03/21/2026

👇 Type NATURE to get our FREE GUIDE on Encouraging Outdoor Play in Children 👇

🌿 Something simple can have a powerful impact on a child’s brain: time outside.

Research shows that even a 20-minute walk outdoors can increase activity in brain areas linked to attention, learning, and emotional regulation 🧠.

When children move, explore, and take in natural environments, their brains often shift into a state that is more alert, more focused, and more ready to learn.

Nature does something screens and structured environments often can’t:

🌱 It gently engages the senses
🌬️ It regulates the nervous system
🧠 It supports attention and cognitive function

For many children, time outside isn’t just recreation — it’s brain support.

Sometimes the most helpful thing for a child who is restless, overwhelmed, or struggling to focus is surprisingly simple:

☀️ Go for a walk
☀️ Play outside
☀️ let their brain reset in nature

03/21/2026

Happy spring! 🌼 Here are simple ways to enjoy the season with your little one:

– Plant flowers
– Read together outside
– Go on a walk

Want more ideas? See https://bit.ly/4r7A4lM

03/19/2026

How can you motivate parents and caregivers to complete ASQ questionnaires without adding to their daily load of stress? ASQ users have shared some creative ways to boost ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 completion rates that you can adapt for your own program! https://ecs.page.link/1qKZK

03/19/2026

👇 Get the parenting and mental health advice from the world renowned experts you can trust. Type PODCAST below to get a link to listen to our top ranked podcast; or type YOUTUBE to watch it there!👇

💕 Childhood memories usually aren’t about the big things. They’re about the feeling of growing up with you.

Years from now, children won’t remember whether the house was perfect or every moment went smoothly. What often stays with them are the emotional experiences that shaped their sense of safety and belonging.

-> Did I feel safe?
-> Did someone listen to me?
-> Was I comforted when I was overwhelmed?
-> Did we laugh and play together?

Children build their understanding of the world through everyday moments — how we respond when they struggle and how they felt in our presence.

✨ It’s not perfection that shapes childhood memories. It’s connection and the feeling of home.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST

🎙️Learn more about how to help your child thrive in today’s world; subscribe to THE CHILD PSYCH PODCAST hosted by our co-founders, Tammy Schamuhn & Tania Johnson.

🎙️ This podcast brings you the top parenting & children’s mental health experts in the world. We will educate and inspire you with the most current research & strategies to help foster emotional resiliency & healing in your child or the children you work with.

🎙️Most importantly, we’re here because we need to raise a generation of children who don’t need to recover from their childhoods.

03/19/2026

Comment “CUPS” for the free Cup Stacking slide deck helping kids cross the midline for building the right and left sides of the brain.

Activities that help kids cross the midline build both hemispheres of the brain that can improve foundational skills for learning, emotional development, attention and focus, and more.

Kids who can’t cross the midline, or those who have not fully developed these skills, may struggle with the following:

🧠Handwriting development
🧠Reading and tracking words on the page
🧠Functional skills (zippers, buttons, tying shoes, eating)
🧠Emotional Grounding
🧠Attention and Focus
🧠Sensory Sensitivities

…and several other gross and fine motor skills.

The cup stacking slide deck provides new and fun ideas to help kids cross the midline at home, in the classroom or in a therapy setting.

Studies even show cup stacking activities improve reading test scores and cross-patterning development.

To download your copy of the cup stacking activities slide deck, comment “CUPS” and we’ll send you the link.