Thumsters is designed to help parents encourage positive behaviour and reinforce family values in a simple, effective way. The Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down system makes it easy to provide recognition and feedback, while also creating opportunities for meaningful discussions about behaviour.
Encourage Positive Behaviour with Thumbs Up
A Thumbs Up is a powerful way to acknowledge your child’s good choices, helping to build their confidence and reinforce positive habits. Kids love the fun visuals and sounds in Thumsters, and reaching a Goal Achieved screen becomes an exciting moment of celebration!
Provide Gentle Guidance with Thumbs Down
Sometimes, kids need guidance when their behaviour isn’t in line with family values. Instead of yelling or using punishment, a Thumbs Down is a simple, respectful way to let them know a behaviour needs to change. It also encourages open conversations about choices and how to handle situations differently next time.
Customising the Experience
Every family is different, and we understand that some prefer to focus only on positive reinforcement. That’s why Thumsters allows you to hide the Thumbs Down feature if you choose. You can turn this on or off anytime in Settings under ‘Hide Thumbs Down’.
How to Give a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
Giving a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in Thumsters is a quick and easy process:
Move to the Thumbs screen
Tap on the "Thumbs" icon in the bottom navigation
Select the child
Tap on the child’s tile enter the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down function.
Choose a Thumb
Tap Thumbs Up to recognise positive behaviour.
Swipe to reveal and tap Thumbs Down if needed.
Select a reason
Thumsters includes 26 built-in reasons (13 up, 13 down) to help track behavior. Thumsters Plus subscribers can also create custom reasons that align with their family’s unique values.
Assign the Thumb to a Goal
You’ll now see options to assign the Thumb value:
Assign All Goals – Adds the Thumb value to all active goals.
Send to bank (Thumsters Plus) – Saves the value in the Thumb Bank as Thumbucks for later use.
Assign to a Specific Goal – Applies the value to a single goal.
Confirm and Add Notes
Before finalising, you’ll see a confirmation screen where you can:
Review your allocations.
(Optional) Tap ‘Add a note’ (Thumsters Plus) to include details about the behavior. These notes will show on the Timeline (Thumsters Plus), visible in the Dashboard and Reports (Thumsters Plus)
Tap ‘Undo’ if you need to go back and make a change.
Finalise the Thumb
Tap Confirm to complete the process. If the Thumb value exceeds a Goal’s requirement, you’ll be asked whether to:
Send the extra value to the Thumb Bank (Thumsters Plus).
Discard the excess value.
Goal Achieved Screen
If a goal is completed, you’ll see the Goal Achieved screen, where you can:Close the screen if no action is needed.
Tap ‘Reward Now’ to indicate the child has received their reward.
Tap ‘Repeat This Goal’ to reset and continue tracking, useful for daily rewards like screen time.
Additional Features & FAQs
Can I Undo a Thumb?
Can I Undo a Thumb?
Once confirmed, a Thumb cannot be undone. This ensures accurate tracking and prevents changes that might affect reports and goal progress.
However, if a sibling mischievously allocates a Thumb (a.k.a. the dreaded SAT – Sibling Allocated Thumb 😆), you can balance it out by issuing the opposite Thumb. While this keeps things fair, it may cause a brief discrepancy in reports. To avoid accidental Thumbs, consider enabling Access Protection in Settings, which allows you to set a passcode or biometric lock.
Can I create custom reasons for Thumbs?
Can I create custom reasons for Thumbs?
Yes! Thumsters Plus subscribers can customise Thumbs Up and Down reasons to better align with their family’s values and goals.