As a parent, you’re aware that there are pros and cons to different types of reward systems for your kids. But, one thing that generally works pretty well, especially for smaller kids, is little rewards that mean a lot to them, more on an emotional level than a physical one.
So five quick and easy versions of this include giving your kids lip balm, crayons, quarters for candy machines, an option for personal time, or even picking out the next movie that you watch. All of these are easy on the wallet, but are nice points of reference for your little ones to appreciate.
Lip Balm
Kids love lip balm. It smells good. It feels good. There’s a limited amount, so it has value as a limited resource. It’s easy to carry around. And they can share it with people if they choose. The only things to be careful of as a parent is to make sure that they don’t decide it should go all over the walls, they don’t eat it, and they don’t leave it in their pockets before their clothes go through the wash and dryer.
Crayons
Another great thing to do is buy kids a small pack of crayons for being good. In terms of making a mess, coloring is pretty safe for most age groups, and is at least easy to clean up. Crayons are also non-toxic, inexpensive, and using them benefits the kids in terms of brain creativity and motor skills as well. Can’t go too wrong with that combination, which makes it make even more sense as a reward for them doing something good to earn them in the first place!
Choosing Personal Time
You’re probably well aware of the importance of individual time with each of your kids. Sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle as things get busy, and that’s why individual time as a reward can be a smart way to show your kids your appreciate something in particular that they’ve done.
Picking The Next Cartoon Movie
If you’re an entertainment-centric family, then a great reward is to have your kid who’s done something particularly well get to pick the next cartoon movie or show to watch. This can be a great reward for your child, as they get to pick their favourite cartoon character (like Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny) and watch a movie featuring that character.
Quarters For Candy Machines
And kids love the action of putting a quarter in a candy machine and getting something random out. The psychology behind it is pretty interesting, and kids will get way more than 25 cents worth of value from the process of doing something good, having you give them a quarter, and then physically doing something where they get gratification from turning the spring knob.
