Use a Reward Board To Motivate Kids

I recently did a blog about kids and chores, and it was because my husband and I were in the beginning stages of creating some sort of system to motivate our 3-year-old to do certain things.  We ultimately decided on a simple reward board for this stage, with the plan that it will slowly morph over time as our son gets older.

Eventually, when he is closer to 7 or 8, we want to have more of a chore/task board to help keep everyone on track.  Certain tasks will give our son the opportunity to earn some extra money, while others will be his regular chores that he’s expected to do as a member of the household. For example, he might be expected to make his bed and put his own dirty clothes in the hamper, but if he opts to wash the dishes or weed the garden he could earn some income. That’s a ways down the road though, so we have some time to nail down the details.

For now, it’s all about tackling some specific behaviors that we want to work on with our son at this moment in time. If you create a reward board for your children, your items might be completely different from ours, but the overall concept can be similar. 

So we went with listening ears, pick up toys, cooperate/go with the flow when it is time to go somewhere (or leave somewhere) and we’re out and about,  sit nicely at the table during meals until excused, and feed the puppies. Our son has had the job of feeding the dogs since he was two, he’s a pro at it now, so we decided to include a chore on his board as a springboard to when it shifts into the next stage.

How It Works — We simply made a chart using electrical tape on a magnetic board, and printed pictures for each “rule.” My son can’t read yet, so writing the rules out wouldn’t have helped much. Once he can read, this will be one of the changes that we make on the board. It’s designed in a way to make it pretty easy to change around and swap out rules as my son grows up. (Our son’s name is also on the left side of the board)

Every time my son does one of the things on the board as he is supposed to do it, he gets a vehicle (he is obsessed with anything that involves wheels, transportation, etc. For your board, choose something that your child absolutely loves – it could be dinosaurs, robots, princesses, etc.). We found these AWESOME wooden magnets from Melissa&Doug on Amazon. They are well-made and a great size for this project, plus they have a variety of other sets (like animals, shapes, dinosaurs, and so on).

The Reward — Our usual routine in the evening is play time, dinner, bath time, books, bed. My son is notorious (as many kids are) for asking for “just a few more minutes” of play time before bath. So, after dinner, he gets to count up how many magnets he earned on his board during the day and he scores that many extra minutes of play time. We set a timer and start playing, then he knows when the timer goes off it’s time for bath and the usual routine.

The first day we implemented the board, it was a success. My son was super excited, loved the magnets, wanted to earn them, and was thrilled when he got to play for ten extra minutes that evening. At first, he wanted to play with the magnets, but we explained that they were very special and had to be earned, and he finally got the idea. This helps keep the whole system effective because he knows he doesn’t just get to see or hold the magnets whenever he wants.

We also explained that if he ever did something that he was not supposed to do, he would receive a warning, and if he kept doing it then we could take a magnet off of the board and he would have to try and earn it back. We’ll see how that part goes when it happens (because I am sure it will happen, lol).

The magnets really make it super colorful and fun!

TIP — Before you put any type of reward system in place, make sure whoever is going o be involved, whether it is you and your partner, you and the grandparents, etc., are all on the same page and understand how it is going to work. This way, your child won’t get confused (and you won’t either), he will know exactly what to expect, and you’ll have better success with the whole process.

No matter what you decide to do, keep in mind that consistency and follow through are HUGE! It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen, you just have to stay the course, even when it’s hard, and your future self will thank you! Good luck, parents! 🙂 

 

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