Easy Reward Systems to Encourage Children
Encouraging Good Behaviour and Habits in Kids
Children often have difficulty understanding the long-term benefits of many things their parents seek to teach them. Developing patience, self-control and other positive character traits have very few significant short-term rewards in the eyes of a child. Likewise, the benefits of diligently completing homework and enthusiastically helping with household chores hold little immediate appeal.
As parents, it is important to teach children to develop good character traits and a strong work ethic. To do so, it is often necessary to provide a series of immediate reward goals that children can aim for to keep them motivated and focused.
Good Behaviour Reward System
The best way to motivate children is to provide them with rewards that appeal to them. In the interest of the family budget, it is best if inexpensive rewards or activities are offered with a significant reward only awarded when the behaviour being targeted has been achieved.
A star chart or reward chart can be the most successful way to target a specific behaviour, such as successful toilet training for toddlers, eating meals properly for fussy eaters or following a bedtime routine for active children. For general good behaviour such as having a good attitude, sharing well with siblings, completing tasks without whining or complaining and so on, a more general approach can be of more benefit.
Select Suitable Rewards
Take out a sheet of paper and write a list of rewards that might appeal to the child/children in question. These will vary with the age of the child, but might include:
- 15 or 30 minutes computer, game station or electronic game time
- 15 or 30 minutes TV time
- One phone call to a friend
- Choosing a movie to watch
- Having takeaway for dinner
- Buying lunch at the school canteen
- Playing a board game with mum or dad
- Time at a local park
- A bike ride with mum or dad
- A special treat dessert
- Staying up an extra 15 or 30 minutes
- Having a friend over to play after school
- Having a sleepover
If the child is old enough, he should be able to make some suggestions. If more than one child is included in the system, rewards specific to a particular child could be marked with a coloured marker. Each child has a different colour to ensure that he chooses suitable rewards.
Setting up the Reward System
Once a list has been compiled, gather some popsicle or craft sticks and write one activity on each stick. Some activities (such as computer or game time) can go onto multiple sticks. If this is the case, it is best to choose a shorter time period of 15 minutes to prevent a child from stockpiling hours in front of a screen.
Place the reward sticks into a cup/container with a similar empty cup/container for each child. Younger children will enjoy decorating their cups with their name or with stickers.
Explain that these rewards will be offered for good behaviour throughout the day. If the child demonstrates a behaviour that the parent particularly wishes to encourage, he can be offered the opportunity to select a reward to place into his cup. This can be used immediately (if appropriate) or at a time in the future that suits the parent and child. Bad or inappropriate behaviour can result in rewards being removed.
By providing immediate positive benefits for good behaviour, parents are able to encourage children to develop positive habits and long-term character strengths.
