Follow up: The Token Economy

As promised, here is the incentive project I was working on for Max to encourage listening, helping, and good behaviors. 

I found these two glass jars in the dollar bins at Target.  I thought they were pretty cute for $3 apiece. 

The peel and stick labels are chalkboard stickers from the stationary aisle. 

And the tokens that we use are little poms that I also found in the dollar bin.

Here is how it works: 
Max earns one pom for each chore he completes from the chore chart.  He can also earn poms for listening to given instructions, helping me with taking out garbage, setting the table, or with laundry, etc.  With the chore chart alone, he has the opportunity to earn 12 poms each day, plus the additional tokens he can earn for listening and helping.  Max enjoys moving the completed chores to the Done side, and the praise he earns when completing a chore reveals a star is enough to keep him motivated for awhile. 

At the end of the day, we count his stars for completed chores and he gets to add poms to his jar for each of his earned stars.  I keep a running tally of his stars so we can see how close he is to earning his rewards. 

Since he is young and I need to keep him interested, for each 10 poms, Max can earn a small toy or treat.  After 30 poms, he earned a nightlight.  He will continue to earn small, short-term "prizes" to keep his interest and the larger items are usually things he needs or we would do for fun anyway, like going for ice cream or Jamba Juice, a new pair of socks, an outside toy, etc.  Even though he could possibly earn a small toy every day, the most he's consistently reached is 9.  I think the praise that comes with earning each pom or star on the chart is working well for us.  And all I need to do is remind him of losing a pom and it is usually enough to keep him in line. Most days.






I'm hoping that this system will get me away from feeling like I'm constantly nagging or reminding him to do things.  I think it helps to solidify the expectations in our family and gives Max a role to play in making it run.  I also love that it has helped us to be inspirational rather than punitive.  I've noticed that the time outs, although they do still happen, are reducing in number.  So far, so good. 

Max enjoying an orange shake (his pick) at Iceberg in SLC.

Max playing "Boo" with Cole