Virtual Books, Balls & Blocks | April 7, 2021
Virtual Books, Balls & Blocks Events
Featuring: Help Me Grow Onondaga, New York
Description: In March 2020, Help Me Grow (HMG) Onondaga was awarded a small grant to host Books, Balls, and Blocks events at local libraries and provide families with developmental tote bags for completing ASQ-3. Shortly after receiving the award, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HMG Onondaga’s ability to implement in-person BBB events. By June 2020, HMG Onondaga had pivoted to partner with libraries and with home visiting programs to make Books, Balls & Blocks a virtual event, providing parents with an interactive Zoom presentation about developmental domains and developmental milestones. Join this session to hear from HMG Onondaga share their story of going virtual with Books, Balls, and Blocks events, the challenges they faced, successes and lessons learned, and how this approach could be a real value even after we can return to in-person events.
More Resources
HMG Onondaga’s Books, Balls & Blocks Tote Bag Resources
• Notepad(4″x3″)
• Postcard
• Behavior Tipsheet
• Journey Tipsheet
• Toddler and Preschool Mindfulness Tip Flip Cards
• Infant Mindfulness Tip Flip Cards
• Developmental Activities Flip Cards
ASQ-3 Tote Bag
Materials are purchased in bulk and can be switched out based on availability; leveraging a tax exemption. Prices range and fluctuate.
Preschool (Ages 3-5)
- Lego
- Foam Blocks
- Take Apart Dinos
- Bubbles
Toddler (Ages 2-3)
- Laugh and Learn Puppy
- Bubbles
Infant (Birth-2)
- Melissa and Doug, 2 in 1 Talking Ball
- Bubbles
ASQ-SE Tote Bags
Infant (Birth-1)
- Baby Einstein Mirror
- Bubbles
- Behavior Tip Sheet (linked above)
- Journey Tip Sheet (linked above)
- Mindfulness Activity Cards (linked above)
Toddler (2-5)
- Feeling Mirrors
- Bubbles
- Behavior Tip Sheet (linked above)
- Journey Tip Sheet (linked above)
- Mindfulness Activity Cards (linked above)
CDC Materials
These free materials are added to every bag and matched up with the age of the child.
- Milestone Moments Booklets
- Baby’s Busy Day
- Where is Bear
- Amazing Me
Books, Balls, and Blocks Manual by Help Me Grow Utah
Description: Books, Balls, and Blocks is a family engagement strategy developed by Help Me Grow Utah to utilize a community setting to promote developmentally appropriate play, positive parenting, and developmental screening among families, while raising awareness of Help Me Grow. This manual was developed by Help Me Grow Utah, in partnership with the National Center, to outline the critical components of the Books, Balls, and Blocks model and guide Help Me Grow affiliates in adopting this model to enhance their Family & Community Outreach efforts.
HMG Utah – Books, Blocks, & Balls Instructions
HMG Alabama – Books, Balls and Blocks Description
Using Technology to Connect with Child Health Care Providers | April 14, 2021
Using Technology to Connect with Child Health Care Providers
Featuring: Help Me Grow Iowa
Description: This session featured the Iowa 1st Five Healthy Mental Development Initiative, Iowa’s Help Me Grow (HMG) affiliate, to learn about how this HMG system has adjusted operations during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that Child Health Care Provider Outreach continues even when in-person contact is challenged. Watch this presentation on creative strategies used by 1st Five to guarantee continued interaction with physicians. Learn about the supports needed to assure successful utilization of online platforms, successes in overcoming perceived barriers by practice staff, and how HMG Iowa plans to leverage these new strategies going forward.
More Resources
Strategies and Best Practices to Spark Child Health Provider Engagement
“Child Health Provider Outreach” is a crucial component of the Help Me Grow (HMG) model because pediatricians have near universal access to young children who can benefit from ongoing developmental surveillance and screening. Despite this important significance, many affiliates find it challenging to work in the pediatric sector at any phase of HMG system work. In this session, attendees will hear directly from pediatricians and pediatric outreach staff about effective strategies to engage providers in HMG system development and implementation at any phase of system work.
Help Me Grow in a Telehealth World
Hosted by Heather Little, Systems Director at the First 5 Association of California, this First 5 Learning Collaborative webinar features three examples from Help Me Grow affiliates inside and outside of California sharing how their systems have shifted and redesigned themselves to continue supporting health care during COVID-19. Help Me Grow Sacramento County, Washington State, and Connecticut present on key and critical work making adaptations to on-the-ground efforts to engage pediatric and other child health care providers in the midst of the pandemic.
View the recording
Presentation Slides
Text Messaging to Connect with Families | April 21, 2021
Text Messaging to Connect with Families
Featuring: Help Me Grow New Jersey
Description: Two communities from HMG New Jersey share their experience using text messaging, social media, and virtual events to connect and maintain supportive relationships with families. Hear how these approaches effectuated higher access to screening and completion rates than more traditional outreach. As a core strategy to message and connect, find out how HMG New Jersey uses texting to share community resources, promote upcoming events, and deliver re-screening notifications. Presenters share data and stories highlighting successes, challenges, and lessons learned in their experience using three virtual approaches synergistically in order to reach more families.
Additional Materials
Central Jersey Family Health Consortium Resource List
CJFHC Website
CJFHC Youtube Channel
Early Childhood Corner Youtube Channel
Early Childhood Corner Facebook Page
Virtual Family Fun Day Links
The Value of Play – Grow NJ Kids
Slime Making – Greenway Family Success Center
“Harry Bear & Friends Counts Fish”- East Brunswick Library (Read Aloud)
The Great Alphabet Hunt- Early Childhood Corner, CJFHC
Hot Chocolate & Paint- Bayside Family Success Center
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
“I like it When… Me gusta cuando”Middlesex County Council for Young Children (CCYC)
Kids in the Kitchen- America’s Grow a Row
The Rules of the Road- Safe Kids New Jersey
Sensory Bags- Pioneer Family Success Center
Mobile Family Success Center
“The Kiss that Missed” – Hunterdon County Library
Play-Doh Making – Trenton Library
Partnership for Maternal & Child Health of Northern New Jersey Resource List
PMCH Website
Early Childhood Specialist
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
ASQ Links
Passaic English: www.asqpassaic.org
Passaic Spanish: www.asqpassaicfamilias.org
Bergen English: www.asqbergen.org
Bergen Spanish: www.asqbergenfamilias.org
Hudson English: www.asqhudson.org
Hudson Spanish: www.asqhudsonfamilias.org
Union English: www.asqunion.org
Union Spanish: www.asqunionfamilias.org
Morris English: www.asqmorris.org
Morris Spanish: www.asqmorrisfamilias.org
Using Social Media to Reach Families | April 28, 2021
Using Social Media to Reach Families
Featuring: Help Me Grow Brevard County, Florida
Description: Using social Media has been a key strategy to the success of Help Me Grow (HMG) Brevard, FL and their engagement efforts with families in their community. HMG Brevard has developed marketing campaigns on several platforms designed to keep parents and community members informed of information and resources they can access through HMG as well as relevant events and activities that might be of interest to parents and their children. Join this session to learn about key strategies and lessons learned when using social media to connect with HMG stakeholders.
To support HMG affiliates in potential efforts to connect directly with each other to share ideas, problem solve, and learn collectively about strategies to leverage HMG infrastructure to advance community response to the pandemic, the HMG National Center has developed a HMG COVID Contact Directory.
The Directory provides the name and contact information for individuals serving as a best point of contact for matters related to HMG’s role in local COVID response. The Directory also provides some context around the ways in which each system listed has shifted traditional HMG efforts to meet the new context requiring social distancing.
If you would like your HMG system to be added to the COVID Contact Directory, please reach out to Sarah Zucker at Szucker@connecticutchildrens.org.
