Motivating Kids With a Homemade Reward Store

I'm always looking for ways to motivate my kids! For years, we had been giving them Reward Bucks (Monopoly money) to encourage good behavior. Simple concept--each day they are behaving, they earn one reward buck, to paid out every Friday. When they are misbehaving they lose reward bucks, according to the severity of their actions. Often, they would trade in their bucks for a prize, and weeks would go by before I got around to cashing it in for them. Since kids like instant gratification, the system was loosing momentum for the both of us. Now that they are getting older, I don't feel I need to reward them at this age for behaving as they are expected to. But, I love teaching the concept of "work-save-reward". So I decided to revamp it!

I recently saw a pin on Pinterest that showcased something similar to a Reward Store.With school coming up, I thought this might be a great concept to incorporate. We homeschool our kids, and with that often comes the challenges of complaining, procrastinating, and lack of motivation, as the year goes on. I decided to revamp our reward system, to incorporate instant rewards, via a Reward Store. I also decided it easier to create a custom Reward Card for each child, verses exchanging Monopoly money. If you want the template, just Email me, and I will email you back with a PDF (Adobe Reader) file of the template. I printed them out on 2" x 3-1/2" business cards (10 cards per sheet), which will give enough for the whole school year, per child.

Reward Card

Each day, based on their attitude and productivity during school, they will either gain or not earn a credit on their card. I will just initial the card on the days they earned a credit. Then once they trade in their credits for a Reward Store item, I will red line the amount of credits used. The goal is for them to get their cards filled up and then cash them in for things that motivate them. At any time, if they have enough credits, they can trade them in for an item or voucher from the Reward Store. They got to fill the Reward Store themselves, with items they don't normally get on a regular basis, yet really desire. The key is to already have the items on hand, or be willing to use any vouchers by the next day. That way, when they decide to trade in their credits, the reward is already there and ready to go.

5 credits = 1 week (if earning a hole punch each work day)

Credits Needed

Printed vouchers for the non-tangible items

I based the credit amounts on how long I feel they should have to wait, based on days earned, before justifying being able to receive that particular reward. For instance, they have to save for 6 weeks straight before cashing in for Laser Tag! Since that will be a high-priced outing for us, I made it longer, then say, a fast food gift card or candy. You can either make up a sign posting the credit amounts, and place a corresponding sticker on the items in your basket OR just have the specific items and credits needed listed right on one sheet of paper (as pictured above). This way the kids can see the items, and have a clear picture of what is expected to earn them. I am excited to get started!