Ticket Reward System for Kids!

Hello friends!

It's been awhile!  We have been so busy the past few weeks between beach trips, to family staying with us for a week, play dates, hanging out at the pool, getting ready for back-to-school, my daughters 3rd birthday and the list goes on and on! I have totally lacked in all the organization projects I wanted to accomplish, but that is okay, because we have been enjoying our summer and having fun!  With all this fun though, we have been much more lenient with the kids bedtimes and such and the hubby and I are franticly trying to get back on a good routine this week.  My oldest starts kindergarten next Thursday and I can hardly believe it.  I wanted to share with you all one way we are going to encourage our kids to go to bed on time,  use their manners, etc.

At the end of last school year, I introduced this ticket reward system to my children.  We had been using it until about a month ago.  

It is pretty basic.  There are three boxes.  One for my son, one for my daughter and one that holds the tickets and a pen.  Each time they show exceptional behavior, they earn a ticket.  We write their names on the back of the ticket just so there is never a mixup with tickets.  After the child earns a certain amount of tickets, they receive a reward.  They can also have tickets taken away for poor choices.

I try to target just a few behaviors at one time.  Of course, this can change at anytime to focus on different behaviors that need worked on.  The three behaviors I am going to try to modify the next few weeks are:

Behaviors 

Going to bed on time (8:00pm) = 2 tickets

Staying in my bed all night = 1 ticket

Listening the first time = 1 ticket 

Rewards 

15 tickets = ice-cream date

30 tickets = put-put golf

50 tickets = a new toy

I printed off our list and placed it next to our boxes as a reminder of the behaviors we are working on and the rewards they can earn. Notice going to bed on time earns 2 tickets.  This is something we are really going to push the next week.

The kids can also earn tickets for other good behaviors, but these are the main three we are going to focus on for now.  

One thing I also enforce is that my children can't get the reward until they both reach their goal. So, that means no ice-cream date until they both receive 15 tickets.   I find this helps them work together for their goals rather than working against each other.  In the past, I would often hear them encourage each other to get ready in the mornings, etc.  

This works very well for my children, but each child is different, so you have to find what works for your family.  I just wanted to share what has worked for us.  Wish us luck this week as we try to get our kiddos to bed on time.  Tonight was the first night using our reward system again.  So far, so good!

There you have it!  A smart and simple reward system for children.

Would love to hear from you!  What behavior system have you used or are using that works well with your children?