# Back-to-School Friendship Sets Thomas & Friends Fosters Socio-Emotional Skills in Pre-Schoolers By Laura McQuarrie | Published 2021-08-06 | Life-Stages Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/back-to-school-friendship References: [businesswire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005398/en) & [WinwithThomasAndFriends](http://www.WinwithThomasAndFriends.com) There are plenty of [back-to-school friendships](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hey-bestie) that are waiting to be made when kids return to the classrooms this fall and there's a special Thomas & Friends Friendship Set that was created to ease kids back into in-person learning and being with their peers. The sweepstakes from Thomas & Friends is focused on helping preschoolers build [socio-emotional skills](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/emotional-baggage-by-solobo-toys) such as being kind, caring and brave, which is more important than ever as kids make the transition to being back in school after an unprecedented year and a half. The set features five trains, including Thomas himself, each of which represents a different tip for the back-to-school season. Ashima is all about [curiosity and social awareness](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/buddy-bench1), and Nia celebrates creativity and self-management, for example. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 1.2/10 - Popularity: 20% | Activity: 7% | Freshness: 10% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Alpha - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Life-Stages](https://www.trendhunter.com/life-stages) > [Youth](https://www.trendhunter.com/youth) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Back-to-school Friendship Sets:** There is an opportunity to develop more back-to-school friendship sets that embrace inclusivity and empathy, and take into account the unique socio-emotional needs of children. - **Socio-emotional Learning:** Socio-emotional learning is becoming more important than ever for young children adjusting to post-pandemic classroom environments, with huge opportunities to expand this field of learning and development to new horizons. - **Educational Toys:** There is a constant need for innovative educational toys that not only entertain kids, but also help them learn and grow in various areas of physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Toy Industry:** Toy companies can explore the potential market for more integrated, educational toy sets that develop socio-emotional skills along with other physical and cognitive skills. - **Education Industry:** Education experts can focus on the rapidly growing field of socio-emotional learning and work towards developing age-appropriate and inclusive curricula that meet the changing needs of young children today. - **Child Development Industry:** Child development specialists can collaborate with toy makers and educators to create more innovative and personalized learning tools that promote holistic growth and development for young children. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Empathy-Building Play Programs](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-barbie-school-of-friendship.md) - [Hybrid Educational Toy Designs](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/big-little-feelings.md) - [Friendship-Focused Election Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-friendship-bus.md) - [At-Home Emotion Toolkits](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/creatures-full-of-feelings-parenting-toolkit.md) - [School Bus Playsets](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/school-bus-playset.md) - [Emotional Well-Being Dolls](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/heartfuls.md) - [Educational Plush Toys](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/slumberkins.md) - [Train Simulations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/thomas-friends-game.md) - [Branded Creativity-Focused Workshops](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/creativity-workshop-series.md)