At Slumberkins, we are thrilled to unveil our new loyalty program, an innovative approach to celebrating the emotional and social growth of children. The end goal isn't a trophy or medal to earn recognition for a task. This program introduces achievement badges that signify much more than a completed task; they represent milestones in a child’s journey toward emotional wellness and foundational skills. As we introduce this initiative, let's dive into the deeper significance of these achievement badges, acknowledging the essential role they play in nurturing a child's development.

More Than Just Rewards

The heart of our loyalty program lies in its ability to foster crucial emotional and social skills through engaging educational tools. Each achievement badge, carefully crafted with the child’s growth in mind, is a step forward in their emotional education. The concept of "Beyond the Badge'' emphasizes the lasting impact of these milestones, where each earned badge is a gateway to new levels of understanding, empathy, and self-awareness.

“While achievement and progress are important, we also want to emphasize that emotional growth and learning are not linear,” said Kelly Oriard, Co-Founder & Family Therapist at Slumberkins. “There is no end to the learning and value we can get from our lived experiences, which continues for a lifetime. The skills you’re learning are meant to serve as a toolkit that allows you and your child to navigate the ever-changing world with confidence,” she continued.

The Role of Caregivers

Caregivers are the pillars in the developmental journey of a child, guiding them through the complexities of emotional learning. As part of the Slumberkins family – or SlumberFam – you are encouraged to actively engage with and understand the skills linked to each badge. By recognizing the depth of these milestones, caregivers can reinforce critical emotional skills, extending learning beyond the confines of the program.

Exploring the Achievements in the Slumberkins Loyalty Program

Complete Crew Collections

Each of our creature collections, or “Crews,” teaches little ones valuable life skills through specific tasks that support their emotional growth. Our approach to the badge system is more like a collaborative game rather than a competition. Our 15 creatures ladder up to three crews: Caring Crew, Confidence Crew, and Resilience Crew. Each Crew builds upon the skills from the last, supporting your child developmentally as they grow in their relationship with you and themselves. 

• Caring Crew: teaches children the essential skills related to emotional connection, safety, and identification.
• Confidence Crew: reinforces children’s belief in themselves and their ability to face challenges.
• Resilience Crew: remind us all that we can get through hard times, and we don’t have to do it alone.

By completing a crew collection, your little one is arming themselves with the skills necessary to face life’s challenges – no matter the situation or circumstance. 

Sample Each Crew 

If completing a crew, or all of them, seems like a daunting task, starting with just one is a strong start! By completing the achievement of sampling a creature from each Crew, you’re building well-rounded, foundational skills for your little one. 

Experience Therapeutic Play

Play is the language of children; it’s how they learn, grow, and express themselves.

It’s how they make new friends, connect with caregivers, relieve stress, and heal from hurt. For kids, play is just like conversation is for adults. You can have mindless conversations or vent about your day to someone, but if you go to therapy and bring those same conversations, the intentional nature of the therapeutic relationship allows you to have the space to have a lasting and impactful experience for your emotional learning and processing. 

Therapeutic play is when we join or engage in play with our children with the specific intention of supporting and nurturing their emotional learning and processing. While therapists do this in their offices, the same concepts can be used by parents in the home to strengthen their connection and emotional learning with their child. 

Our play kits have been intentionally designed to guide you in experiencing this type of intentional therapeutic play. Multiple categories of play allow children to express themselves in different ways. Through our four kits, we have harnessed the power of different modalities of play to engage children and give you insight into the skills and supports that each modality is supporting. 

Through two achievements, you can start to bridge the gap between your child’s play and the reality of their emotions and experiences. Either try one of our kits to earn a discount on your next order, or try all four to unlock additional bonus points. 

Test Your Skills with Pillow Sets

Once children have a basic understanding of the skills in each Crew, they can move towards more advanced ways of blending and using these skills in action. These sets build on the learning of the emotional skills into advanced use of their tools in new situations. 

Ideas and concepts are addressed through the lens of multiple emotional skills represented by each character in the stories. The creatures come together to achieve a common goal or gain wisdom that was already present within themselves all along. Each story uses a metaphor to help kids grasp situations that will repeat throughout their lives and how they can use their skills to support them in approaching these moments.

Our pillow sets offer a way for kids to learn about their feelings in a safe and supported way. It gives both the reader and the child language that sets them up for success in working together to support those feelings.

Through two achievements, you can put your child’s skills to the test with our pillow sets. Either try one of the pillow sets that most resonate with your child to unlock a discount on your next purchase, or try four of them to unlock bonus points.

Ultimate Snuggles

When you reach the point of ordering at least one of each of our core 15 creatures (in Kins or Snugglers!), you’ll unlock the Ultimate Snuggles achievement. We’ve hand-crafted our 15 creatures to represent essential skills children need to become caring, confident, and resilient children. 

Beyond the Badge: Building Lifelong Skills

Our loyalty program is more than a momentary achievement or reward system; it's a foundation for building lifelong social-emotional wellness skills. The journey towards emotional maturity requires consistent practice and reinforcement, with family playing a pivotal role in nurturing these skills. 

Celebrating Growth, Not Just Goals

In the pursuit of emotional wellness, the focus should be on celebrating growth and the journey itself rather than just the attainment of badges. Recognizing and praising the effort and progress in children’s emotional development is crucial in cultivating a supportive and understanding environment where they can thrive.

Creating a Supportive Space

To nurture emotional wellness effectively, creating a conducive home environment is vital. Parents and caregivers must embody the principles of emotional intelligence, acting as role models in the development of these essential skills. 

Incorporating the values and skills associated with each badge into daily routines and family activities can significantly reinforce emotional wellness. Practical engagement with these skills helps to ground them in the child’s experience, making the journey of emotional growth a tangible and integral part of their life.

A Lifelong Journey Together

The launch of our loyalty program marks the beginning of a collaborative journey toward nurturing the emotional wellness of our children. By going "Beyond the Badge," we embark on a path of meaningful growth and development, laying the foundation for a future where every child is empowered to navigate the emotional landscapes of life with confidence, empathy, and resilience. Together, we celebrate not just the milestones but the enduring journey of emotional growth that shapes the beautiful, complex tapestry of our children's lives.