At Home Rewards Program for kids

When I saw this idea featured on The Idea Room, I knew I wanted to try it at home with my boys. This rewards system has point cards that your kids can earn for doing extra chores and features an "at home store" where your kids can "spend" their points. I knew Jack especially would love the store, because he is big on numbers and values. Although my boys have every day chores that they are expected to do, this program helps them to stay excited and help out with bigger projects (cleaning out the playroom, raking leaves, wiping down surfaces, etc.). My kids do not get an allowance yet (they are 3 and 5 years old), so this is also nice alternative for younger children.You will need:
Avery business card template (or cardstock paper and cut into business card size after printing)
Basket or box for storing prizes for the store
Different colored circle stickers (I used smiley face stickers)
Prizes of various values (I picked up a few things at the dollar store and our local grocery store - you can have snacks, toys, stickers, or any little trinkets you think your kids will like)
Instructions:
Create point cards on the computer. You can download a free template for the business cards right from the Avery website. If you don't use business cards, you can create a table in Word and use that instead. I created 1 point and 5 point cards.
I also created extra cards with special privileges that can I can give out instead of points, to reward kind behavior toward others. We call these bonus cards.
Break up the cards and keep them in a safe place. Hand them out throughout the week. We have a plastic ziplock bag with each kid's name on it and we have them put their points in there when they earn them.
Create your store by filling a basket or box with little prizes from the dollar store. Make a legend and place each color sticker on the legend and assign a point value to associate with each color.Assign a point value to each prize. Use the points and same color sticker and place on each prize.
Watch your children get excited when they earn points...
And even more excited when the "store" is open. Our store opens twice a week - on Wednesdays and Saturdays after dinner.
This is definitely a fun way to get your kids more involved around the house. It is also a great way to teach them basic concepts about counting, saving and spending.