Reward charts
Download and print a reward chart: simply click on the chart
below to open it as a PDF.
How to use your reward chart
Step one: What behaviour do you want to
change?
You may already have a few behaviours in mind that you want to help
encourage your litle one to change. A reward chart can help in
achieving those goals. The basic premise of a reward chart is to
reward the positive behaviours you want reinforced in your child,
rather than focusing on the negative behaviours. Reward charts
generally work better with children over the age of two. On the
left side, write the behaviours you want to encourage, with five
stars to be ticked,coloured in, or covered over with a sticker each
time your child displays the behaviour you've decided upon. Once
your child receives five stars, they get a reward, which you can
decide on and write down on the right side of the chart.
To encourage your little one to use the chart and enjoy the
process, you may like to get them to interact with you and help you
to fill it out. There are stars in the "rewarding" boxes for each
display of good behaviour. You may like to tick inside the star
with different-coloured markers, or perhaps use small stickers or
sparkly beads you could stick on with blue tack or double-sided
tape. You could take your child shopping to choose what to mark
each star on the chart with. Doing this also helps to explain what
your purchase will be used for and how the chart will work. Sit
down with your child and write his or her name on the chart
together, and draw pictures on the chart, perhaps to represent the
behaviours the chart will address (a plate with food on it for
eating dinner; a pair of big-kid undies for using the potty).
Ages and stages behaviour tips:
• Examples of behaviours you may want to encourage could be
potty/toilet training, eating their meals, playing nicely with
siblings, listening, having good manners, social graces,
communication, and tidying up.
• Be specific about the behaviours you would like to see. The
younger your child is, the more specific the chart should be. For
example, "Have good manners" needs to be broken down into "Say
please when you ask for something and say thank you when you
receive something", and "Listening" could be more specifically
"Doing what Mummy and Daddy tell me to do straightaway."
• No double negatives when writing your reward item. Frame things
positively: Instead of "Don't be rude!" it could be "Say please and
thank you."
• Limit the time that each behaviour that is on the chart. When
your little one is displaying these behaviours on their own without
needing to be reminded, the chart will become redundant, so keep
these behaviours fresh to encourage their continued use without
necessarily being rewarded for them. It's okay if you need to
reintroduce reminders later.
• Limit the number of behaviours by age - the younger the child,
the fewer behaviours, e.g. 24 months = one behaviour at a time, 30
months plus = two to three behaviours, ages three and up = no more
than five behaviours at one time.
Step two: Rewarding each good behaviour
Each time your little one has earned a tick or sticker in the
reward area, the reward should be both the tick on the star and
verbal praise of that behaviour. So rather than a generic "Good
girl/boy!" praise, you could say, "I really like how you put your
toys away" or "I am proud that you went to the potty when you
needed to use it!"
• Younger children need a short time span between the behaviour and
the reward. You may wish to make the rewards a bit more immediate
so that your child understands the correlation between the good
behaviour and the immediate positive outcome, e.g. praise and a
little treat, then get them to put the star on the chart.
• Another fun way to mark your child's reward is to give him or her
an option such as, "Would you like a pink sticker or a blue sticker
on the reward chart?"
Step three: The big reward
Believe it or not, lollies don't have to be the main
reward. The younger the child is, the more immediate food treats
might be in rewarding behaviour; however, you could look at other
treats, such as toys that they have asked for, a trip to their
favourite playground for a picnic, a visit to the zoo, etc. In an
ideal world, the reward will be related to the behaviour you are
rewarding, and you can talk them through this as well so they
understand it. For example, if the behaviour is being kind to a
sibling, the reward could be doing something with that sibling
together. If it's toilet training, the reward could be choosing
their own new underwear from the shop. If it's tidying up, the
reward could be earning a toy they have wanted. For listening to
Mummy and Daddy, the reward could be that your child is the boss
for 30 minutes. If it relates to eating,the reward could be
food-related, getting $2 to spend on lollies, or dining out
somewhere as a treat.