Family Tides
On a sunny afternoon inside Coastal Creations Studio in Ocean City, laughter spills across the room as children dance, gather for story time and crowd around a table to pour glitter into jars.
From the outside, it might look like an ordinary play session. But beneath the giggles and messy crafts, children and their caregivers are learning how to talk about feelings — big, small and everything in between — at The Nature & Nurture Lab.
The monthly workshop, designed for children ages 0 to 9, explores emotions while helping kids practice communication, build coping and social skills, and learn tools they can use in real life.
“Each month I have a different theme,” said the workshop’s founder, Abbey Sangmeister, an Ivy League-educated licensed professional counselor, life coach and subconscious change expert who has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults.
Most classes blend music, movement, play, storytelling and a hands-on activity designed to help children understand and express their feelings. One class might have kids creating “mind jars” while listening to a story like “Moody Cow Meditates,” while another might focus on learning breathing exercises through play.
Caregivers join in as well, building connections with their children while learning how to use such tools at home.
Sangmeister, who earned dual master’s degrees in school counseling and mental health counseling from the University of Pennsylvania, has a private therapy and coaching practice and is also the founder of Evolving Whole.
While her professional training informs The Nature & Nurture Lab, she said entering motherhood has also shaped the program in meaningful ways.
“I always knew I wanted to be a mom. Life just kind of happens — I was focusing on grad school, and then my career,” Sangmeister said, explaining that as she entered her thirties, she still had not found the right partner to settle down and start a family with.
Sangmeister decided to pursue motherhood on her own, becoming a single mother by choice through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Though she was told the chances for immediate success were slim — only an 11% chance one round of IVF would be effective — but one round was all it took.
“Now I have a 3-1/2-year-old,” she said, noting that she also supports clients who are on their own fertility journey, are single mothers, or are becoming single mothers by choice.
“I think in becoming a mom, I’m just seeing kids in a different light, and I think I’m surrounded by kids in different ways, too, that just is helping that part of my practice grow,” she said. “But also, all the work that I did before becoming a mom as a therapist informed my kid and now the work that I do. So, it all kind of comes together.”
Creating The Nature & Nurture Lab was not necessarily about filling a specific gap, she said, but about offering something she believes families need.
“It’s something that I feel is really important, and I know just hearing from other parents who are like, ‘Hey my kid is overwhelmed,’ or sometimes witnessing it and witnessing it from my own child, I don’t want parents to feel like their kid is the only kid that’s going through that, which is why I wanted to do this as a group,” she said.
That caregiver element also helps bridge a common gap many parents experience. While many are eager to help their children understand their feelings or better regulate — often turning to books or online resources — putting those ideas into everyday practice can be challenging.
“When you’re reading those books, they’re all great. There’s so much amazing information — you can get lost in it. It’s finding what individually works,” she said, noting that having support is important.
“You might be trying to break generational cycles in the midst of raising a child, and you’re kind of going back and forth because it’s really easy to fall back into what was taught of you, but you’re trying to do it different,” she said. “That’s where I think it’s so important to have support, whether it’s close friends who can keep you accountable and you can talk through and have really honest conversations or getting support from someone who has that background and education who can say, ‘You’re coming up against this thing with your kid. Here’s another way to look at it,’ or ‘Here’s another approach.'”
As children participate in activities together and learn from each other, caregivers also have an opportunity to connect and share their experiences.
“The other piece I really wanted is community. I feel like there are so many parents looking for it,” she said.
Looking ahead, Sangmeister hopes to expand the program into schools and other community spaces.
For March, The Nature & Nurture Lab will focus on bravery and courage. April’s workshops will explore big feelings, helping children develop the vocabulary to talk about emotions and understand how feelings move through the body.
Upcoming sessions will be held at 10 a.m. on March 25, April 18 and April 22 at Coastal Creations Studio in Ocean City. To register or learn more, visit evolvingwhole.com and sign up for the newsletter.
