The Bunny System- Preschool Discipline {FREE download}

A couple years ago, one of my besties that was in my wedding, gave Dutch the book, No Bunny's Perfect.  At first I was not so sure how I felt about the book.  At the beginning it talks about all of the behavior that a Bad Bunny does "hit and kick and don't play fair", and then at the end it talks about what a good bunny does "use your manners and have good habits".  Honestly I was scared that it would teach Dutch to do the "Bad Bunny" behaviors.  Thankfully, my fears were wrong!  He identified and understood this book incredibly well, and we have read this book a bazillion times now.  We started to incorporate the language  from the book into our discipline.  When he does something wrong we explain to him why we want him to be a "good bunny" etc.  And when he does something really well we praise him for being  "Good Bunny".  This book has been so effective at home and in public for discipline.  I made these bunny images to help him to understand his role & responsibility in his own behavior. 
I made three bunnies with different facial expressions and printed them on different colored paper.  The Bad Bunny has a sad face and is printed on red paper while the Good Bunny has a smile and is on green paper.  I introduced a Warning Bunny with an unsure facial expression on yellow paper, and then I laminated all of them. Each child has their own clothespin with their name on it.  With the fluctuating behavior, Dutch moves his own clothespin to the corresponding bunny poster.  It's important for him to learn that he plays the most active role in his behavior and that his choices have consequences, so when he is good he can move his clothes pin to the green.  While enhancing autonomy and independence, these posters have also helped him to identify the symbolism related to color (red = bad and stop; green = good and go).

I highly recommend purchasing the No Bunny's Perfect book and today I'm giving away a FREE download for our bunny posters. (download here)

Our main concern with disciplining in our home is addressing the heart of the child.  Behavior is simply a reflection of what is going on in the heart so it is imperative for us to address the heart first with biblical principals.  "Behavior is simply what alerts you to your child's need for correction.  Don't allow the desire of changed behavior to replace your desire for a changed heart...Teaching children only to change their outward behavior is no more commendable than teaching a seal to jump through a hoop...When we focus on our children's outside behavior and neglect what is inside, we will cause our children to become manipulators."  In order to address the heart, communication is necessary and this bunny system has facilitated us in communicating matters of the heart and changing the heart for improved behavior at a level my 2 year old can understand. We've been using this book for support in this area.  We highly recommend Don't Make Me Count to Three.

With the combination of biblical principals and the Bunny System we've been working really hard with our preschooler on having great manners and behaving well at home and in public. 

What tools are you using that you could offer for help?

Obligatory Blogger Disclaimer: I was not paid for any of these products; I just really like them.