Three Sure Fire Reward Systems for Children

We all love to be able to treat our kids to something special once in a while. But, when is the right time to do so? How often is too often to get them something special when stopping by the local store? The answer is different for every child, and the systems that we set in place for them to earn these rewards will be different as well.

Here are five different things that you can try at home with your kids as reward systems. This can help them learn basic responsibility at an early age. Whether they are earning an allowance for their good deeds or earning that new video game. There are long term and short term ideas that can work for any family.

1) Stars:

We have all heard of the Stars kids earn at school. This reward system can be very simply and inexpensively used for your son or daughter at home. Simply get some poster board from your local store and a pack of those colored star stickers. You can sit down with your kid or kids and decide how to decorate the new star board and where to hang it in the house so that it is easy for them to get to and see all the time as a reminder.

Before starting to use the star board set up the rules. How many stars do they need to earn before getting the reward? What will get those stars? What will the rewards be? When they reach their small goals section those stars off so they can start over. You can even use this to set up larger goals also. Say they get a hundred stars, they get a bigger reward. This is a flexible system and can be used every day.

2) Chore Boards:

Chore Boards are a great reward system for kids that are old enough to earn allowances. This may not be the best for the little ones running around. Simply get a white board that you can keep either on the fridge or somewhere easily accessible for your child. On the white board write down the days of the week and the chores there are to be done with a price next to it. Each child should have their own section on the board.

As your child completes the chore they put a check in the box on the day of the week. Then Mom or Dad checks the chore to make sure it was done properly. If it was the check mark stays, if it wasn't you either have them do it correctly or remove the check mark. This reward system gives your kids a sense of earning that allowance and also gives them the choice of how much allowance they are earning.

3) Marble Jars:

Marble Jars are of course another classic reward system to implement with your child. The idea is basically the same as the Stars. There is one catch to this system that is different. The stars can not be removed where as the marbles can be lost for bad behaviors. This may work better for your child in some cases.

You will once again want to set up the basic rules of the marble jar. How do we earn marbles? How do we lose marbles? How many to get a reward? And of course, what will that reward be? Once that is established you can start using it immediately. Kids love marble jars because they can put marbles in the jar themselves. Kids also hate it sometimes because they may have to take one out from time to time.

All three of these reward systems can work wonders with your kids. The key to any reward system is always consistency. The best system on earth will get us no where if we do not stick to our guns with it. Kids need to feel that structure and faith in what the plan is. Don't feel bad if the first few days you forget to give that marble or star, you can always go back and make it up to them with an extra one next time. Changes take time but, if we can help our kids feel that sense of accomplishment then it is all worth it in the end.