You’ve probably heard of positive reinforcement. It’s the idea of rewarding or praising the behaviors you want your kids to have, which in turn decreases the number of unwanted behaviors.
But did you know this?
Every kid is different. (Shocker, right?) What works for one kid may not always work for the next.
Working as a pediatric occupational therapist in a former life, I had to get quite creative to come up with reward ideas that motivated all different types of kids of different ages with different personalities. Sometimes these rewards are “things” (stickers or small prizes) and sometimes they are things they get to do.
Over time, I’ve compiled a list of these rewards, seen below. Hopefully you can put a few of these into practice and see which ones work for your family! These can be tweaked as needed to fit your needs. Once you figure out what motivates your child, then you will hopefully be able to use these rewards to reinforce those wanted behaviors! And without further ado, the list!
Reward Ideas For Kids:
- 10 minutes (or 5 or 15 or whatever works for your family) of extra screen time
- Add one item to the grocery list (maybe a favorite cereal or certain type of drink)
- 30 minutes of one-on-one time with mom or dad
- Stay up 15 minutes (or however long works for you) past bedtime
- Pick a movie to watch
- Cool stickers
- Get out of one chore
- Have a picnic lunch (indoors or outdoors)
- Pick what food to have for one meal of the day
- Choose a board game to play
- One extra bedtime story/song/whatever else your bedtime routine entails
- Go on a date night with mom or dad
- Pieces of candy
- Trip to the park
- Money!
- Sleepover at grandma’s
- Pick a restaurant for dinner
- Pizza night
- A new book
- Get ice cream
- Have a dance party
- Watch a favorite TV show
- Bouncy ball
- Playdate with a friend
- Go bowling
- Gum
- Trip to play place (Chuck E Cheese, Little Monkey Bizness, etc.)
- Make a fun craft together
- Living room camp out
- Dollar store toy
- Make the rules for a day (or hour, or whatever works for your family)
- New outfit or shoes
- Bubbles
- Bake cookies
- Small Lego set
- Visit child’s favorite store (toy store or comic shop, etc.)
- Stop for hot chocolate
- Build a fort
- Fun socks
- Mini golf
- Extra treat in lunchbox for school
- Special pen or pencil
- Pajama day all day
- Different snack foods than usual
- Help cook a meal
- Bubble bath/bath bomb
- Go to the zoo
- Kid’s choice!
- Swimming
- Eat dinner backwards (start with dessert!)