Reward Your Child

Ever caught your child being good?
What do you do when you see them behaving properly? Do you tell them how proud you are of them? Do you hug them? Do you reward them?
Although kids usually know and understand how they are supposed to act and behave, they some need some motivation, or incentive, to ‘keep up the good work’.
I have a way to reward my children when I witness them being good, I give them chips. No not a bag of Lays Potato Chips. A colorful chip that you’d use in a card game. The chips are put into a cup that is theirs and they stock pile them for rewards.
If I see my kids help a sibling with homework I give them a chip. If they offer to help cook dinner I give them a chip. If I see them handle a difficult situation with patience and respect, they get 3 chips.
Sometimes they can earn bonus chips which are worth 10 and are marked by a small smiley sticker. These are generally for random acts of kindness or doing extra chores without being asked.
For example my daughter has a bad (and messy) habit of leaving globs of toothpaste in the sink. So, because she shares a bathroom with her sister and brother I give her a bonus chip if she remembers to clean out the sink, since she is showing kindness and respect for others.
The list of things they can use chips for is on our kitchen wipe off board. It’s a chart of things they love to do in their leisure time and they cost chips to get. For example they may want computer time. Well, a half hour of that would cost them 3 chips. Some T.V.?  Four chips for 1 hr of that.     
Kids always want. They want to play, they want a treat, and they want to have fun. But they don’t always want to make the right choices and behave. They’re kids, it’s to be expected.
The Chip Reward System is so simple, but the kids love it and it gets great results!
Try the chip system with your children and tell me how you did it and if it helped. Like-wise, leave me your comments on what you do to keep your kids motivated to behave.
Truly,
Amber


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