Reward Coupons

Charts are very popular in our home. Ever since Elijah was 2ish, we've been doing positive reinforcement charts with him. They have been very effective in helping him make changes in his behavior and thinking. After Elijah would complete a chart (by putting stickers in a square each time he did the "right" thing), he would receive some kind of toy. Well, I got tired of him (and Natalie) expecting a toy for doing the right thing so I decided to come up with more creative reward coupons.

This is what I thought of and made as an alternative.



To earn these coupons, the kids have a few jobs to do, like making their beds, (taking turns) setting the table for meals, bringing their dishes to the counter after a meal, picking up toys before bedtimes, plus behavioral/character building "jobs" of listening the first time and showing the fruit of the Spirit. The kids like the chart and are motivated to earn the reward coupons. And I love that they are forming habits of little jobs that will be something they'll be able to just do to help out in our home.

(And can I just say, my favorite reward coupon is "Taking a Nap with Mommy"!!! Wonderful! Elijah and Natalie both still take naps and occasionally ask if I'll take a nap with them. I decided to make that a reward for them. Elijah has already cashed in his nap coupon and Natalie has earned/selected that coupon but we just haven't had a nap day together yet.)

This week, Elijah earned a coupon and chose "Bake Cookies with Mommy." If you know me, I'm making something sweet in my kitchen all the time so the kids get to help out often but this cookie time is something different, above and beyond what I'd normally do (or what they'd do with me). Elijah (and I) chose some yummy holiday cookies to make - Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Yummies. He helped me mix all the ingredients together, flatten the dough balls out with a glass on the cookie sheet, and after they were done baking, make frosting (he chose the color and ran the mixer) and lastly, sprinkle candy canes on top. He loved the special time with Mommy and we all love the yummy cookies!