How Kristen Bell Is Using Marbles to Raise Well-Behaved Kids

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are the epitome of parenting goals. While the power couple likes to laugh their way through life, when it comes to raising their kids, make no mistake—they mean business. Last month, the pair announced an exciting endeavor with the launch of Hello Bello, a plant-based baby line sold exclusively at Walmart. Inspired by their midwestern roots, it’s the couple’s attempt to give every parent access to high-quality essentials that are good for babies, the planet and your budget. The Bump was able to sneak in some time with the duo to ask them for insider information on Hello Bello, as well as their best parenting hack (spoiler alert: you’re going to want to try this bad boy out!).

“We weren’t just dying to create a baby line or business. We were dying to have our friends and family living in the Midwest have accessibility to quality baby products that we have out here in LA boutiques,” Bell exclusively tells The Bump. Ensuring families never have to choose between their baby or their budget was their “singular goal of the company.”

One of the biggest goals rolling out the line was total transparency. Bell and Shepard want every parent to know exactly what’s in their products before using it on their kids. Besides their straightforward packaging, you can also find out every single detail about the products on the Hello Bello website. “You can dive deep and understand what’s in [it] and where it comes from—and why you don’t have to be concerned.”

The dynamic duo may be making their mark in the baby space, but at the end of the day, their first job is being parents to their two children, because raising tiny humans is no small feat. Luckily, they have a few tricks up their sleeves for when the going gets tough. Their greatest secret? Marbles.

“One of Kristen’s really good hacks that I had little faith in is marbles as a reward system,” Shepard explains. “It’s a great way to focus on positive reinforcement.”

Here’s how it works. Every time one of their kids does a good deed or pitches in around the house, they can add a marble to their jar. Once the jar is full, they get to pull something from the “mystery box” at home. But, here’s the real kicker, the kids have learned to care less about the prize and more about their pride in themselves.

“What shocked me is there’s less interest in the mystery box reward system as there is in just filling the jar…Accumulating marbles has become such a sign of pride, that they’ve honestly forgotten to cash in their marbles for a prize,” Bell shares.

Not too shabby. Fellow celeb mom Jessica Alba also has some of her own secrets to getting her kids to help out. See what she had to say the last time we caught up with her here.