I am very cautious with incentives. Food is never used as a reward to encourage behavior because I don't want to enable an unhealthy relationship with food. Also I don't want to initiate a token economy where my kids are only doing behaviors (or not doing) for a reward/punishment. Anyone can be trained to say something, but does that change their heart? Usually not. According to the Bible, our behavior is an outpouring of our heart, so we have A LOT of conversations in our home to ensure our kids learn right from wrong and develop internal motivation.
In the past we have used colored Popsicle sticks and a ticket jar to help us with character & behavior training. Both have worked well, but I wanted to try out something new. No matter how we are training our children, we know that they are very visual, so they need to be able to see their progress.
I printed these behavior cards in color on cardstock paper so that they would hold-up with the punching. Every time one of my kids uses their manners, is kind, shares, listens well, cleans up without being asked, is respectful and obedient, and has a generous spirit and demonstrates a servants heart, they get to punch their card. They usually like to pick the color that they want, and then punch the hole. Dutch can punch his card by himself, but Ellis needs help or she tells Dutch what color she wants and he helps her.
I get the kids to punch their own cards, because I want them to know that this is all about THEIR behavior and they need to take responsibility for their own actions. When their card is completed, they earn special activities (i.e. a field trip, go feed the ducks, they get to pick the book before bed, etc.)
This is all about positive reinforcement. If they are disrespectful or do not use their manners, nothing happens to the card, they just don't get to punch it. Since they are working towards completing their card, poor behavior sets them back from their goal. Withholding a hole punch is a really big deal to them.
This has been working really well in our home lately so I thought I would share it with you (free printable).
