Create An Incentive Program That Works For You AND Your Kids you’ll want to stick to! Incentive programs are the perfect way to reward hard work! There are many different types of incentives that you can easily do. Setting up a reward system at home is key.

chore charts and fun jobs for kids

With at home all Summer, I knew that it was time to implement an incentive plan that we could all participate in and have fun with!

Both Ella and Andrew have started to show some “undesirable” behavior lately – talking back, whining, leaving toys laying around, whining and more whining – so I knew that things had to change or I may lose my mind AND my temper.

Incentive program for kids

Why an incentive program works

What’s great about their ages is that they love to help out around the house and they love to get lots of positive praises by words and more tangible rewards. When I started thinking about how to go about making charts and giving rewards, I found myself overwhelmed and confused. Thankfully, two ladies at my Mom’s Group gave a presentation on this very subject the last day of

Thankfully, two ladies at my Mom’s Group gave a presentation on this very subject the last day of group before Summer break. They had a ton of great ideas! So, I took what they taught me, along with some awesome Pinterest inspiration and formed an incentive program that works for us all!

chore chart for kids

Reward Charts for Kids

First we started with a simple Chore Chart that I found at Sutton Grace. I love that this one is a little modern and is editable. You can’t save it to your computer, but you can personalize it each week. I came up with some easy chores such as: brush your teeth, make your bed and get dressed. Along with some harder chores that would require some help or a little more effort – wipe down sinks, empty bathroom trash, and vacuum floors.

Each time my child does a chore, they get a sticker on their chart to show that it’s completed. Easy peasy. I keep the same easier chores there each week, but change up the harder ones occasionally to keep them interested and challenged. Of course, Ella has a little harder chores than Andrew since she is older. There are a ton of blogs that can give you some great idea for age appropriate chores. Check out my Pinterest board for some ideas!

Jars for kids for rewards

Incentive jars for kids

Next, we created Pom Pom incentive jars, which I let the kids decorate themselves. The concept behind these jars are simple – do a chore, get a pom. Do something nice and get caught displaying good behavior, get another pom. We do this until we fill our jars, which is 25 poms. After that…that get to chose a prize out of the treasure box. They LOVE this! It’s something that is attainable in a short amount of time (about 2-3 days) and they can’t wait to see what mom has added this week to the box!

Now, they can also lose a pom for displaying that less than desirable behavior I mentioned above. When starting the incentive jars, I gave more warnings than removing poms, but now they pretty much know what is expected and lose and gain poms more freely.

treasure box for kids

Treasure Box for kids

For the treasure box, I picked up this $3 plastic box from Target and used some stickers to personalize it. The rewards inside are $1 or less items – crayons, stickers, candy, notebooks, and small toys.

After we mastered the chore chart and pom incentive jars, I added in one more step – A Job Jar and a Fun Jar!

fun job jar for kids

Job Jar for Kids

The job jar is filled with popsicle sticks with various chores on them – fold laundry, wipe baseboards, organize books, etc… The kids have the choice to grab a “job” out of the jar at anytime and gain a pom pom for doing so – that way they can fill up their jars and get a reward quicker. They love it AND I love getting a little more help with stuff I hate doing! haha!

Fun Jar for Kids

The Fun Jar is filled with lots of fun stuff to do when their behavior is good! They can pick a stick – go fishing with dad, campfire and smores (both of which we’ve done) date with mom, trip to dollar store, book from Barnes and Noble, etc…. They can pick a stick at the beginning of the week and if by the weekend they have been good all week and have great chore charts and poms, we do the activity! This has been fun for us all! It’s great to work towards a fun activity that we probably would have done anyway…but this way they are “earning” it!

Tips for using positive reinforcement

Don’t forget that an important factor for hitting a specific goal is to give positive reinforcement. There are a lot of effective ways that you can create positivity in the home which will also lead to better work. I think that an incentive plan is a great way to boost productivity and efforts around the house.

Just remember that human behavior isn’t always the easiest at times to be patient with the outcome. Once the kids realize the incentive plans, they’re going to love being rewarded for their good work.

Pick fun rewards for kids that will keep them engaged and focused. They’ll love getting a prize after they do great at home or excel at school!

I hope that you’ve found some great ideas to implement into your family from our family! Start simple and add in more components when you are comfortable. Do what works for your family and use the internet to help you! There’s a ton of ideas and inspiration out there!

UPDATE – I’ve posted a list of the jobs/fun items we have in each jar WITH printables to make your life easier!

 

Love this post? Here are some other great ideas!

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About Kasey Schwartz

For over 15 years, Kasey Schwartz, the mastermind behind All Things Mamma, has been the ultimate go-to for mouthwatering family recipes. Her work has been featured on Today.com, Buzz Feed, Better Homes and Gardens, and more, making her your go-to mom next door for all things delicious and family-friendly.

Comments

  1. Thank you!
    Chore Charts is really work.
    I am a single mother with three children all of them of preschool age so I know how important keeping organised. The eldest child I raised with a variety of printable charts. The stars chore chart works best. We stopped using star maps of household chores because we need too many of them. Now I use the Manini app for three children. These are the same printable cards but in the phone. In the app, you can mark the completion of tasks and children like it very much. And the app has a goal Board that lists all chores and self-care for kids under the age of 5. We mark together with the children the tasks that have already been mastered. Also they actually ask for tasks themselves to make a mark the task. I felt much better. And I have time to take self-care.

    1. Absolutely!! That’s great – anything we can do to get the kids helping and have some more time for ourselves goes a long way!

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  3. Kasey! What a dream it would be in this house to have your fun/job jars 🙂
    We are a family with 5 kiddos with both mom and dad working like crazy. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to send me a list of what you wrote on your sticks to get us going in the right direction as quickly as possible on our end until we can personalize it more to our home and kids??? I know as a mom it may be a lot to ask, but I’m hoping to get this place back in order fast! Thank you so much for your blog, I have so many new and fun ideas from you now.
    Carleen

    1. HI Carleen! With 5 kids, I bet you could teach ME a thing or two!! How about I do up a blog post with a PDF of all the incentives and job idea for you to print out?! What a GREAT idea! Give me a couple of days and check back! THANKS for being an awesome reader!

      1. Great! Can’t wait… Looking forward to my next awesome week at home 🙂

      2. Incase you didn’t see it…I have the PDFs up for you to print off! : )

        https://www.allthingsmamma.com/2013/03/incentive-printables/

  4. Bill at FamZoo says:

    Loved the picture and repinned several of your creative chore chart/incentive ideas. Nicely done! -Bill

  5. I have to say..I just LOVE Andrews face! 🙂 Thanks for the tip! I may have to try this when Riley gets older. Right now she’s in the stage of little miss attitude 2 year old, and some days its aahh!! Haha. It all changes though when she will tell me, “Mommy..are you happy?”, “Mommy, I love you”. We’ll get through the 2 year old stage a step at a time, but I some days can’t wait for her to get out of it haha.

  6. I love these ideas Kasey! So excited to implement them TODAY! Thanks again;)

    1. Thanks, Julie!! I can’t wait to hear about your program soon!!

  7. My kids are the same age as yours and their behaviors seem to be similar! How interesting! Thanks for the great suggestions! I will definitely try them!

    1. That’s funny, Lisiane! Let me know how it goes!

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