How to Use a Color Card System for Disciplining Children

Are you looking for a way to help your children learn the consequences of their behavior? This simple system of using colors and index cards can change the way that you reward and punish your children's behavior. Here's how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Index cards (for each child)
• Metal binder ring for each set of Color cards
• Stickers or markers in the colors you choose
• Hole punch

1. To prepare your color card system for your children you first need to select the three colors that you are going to use. I suggest repeating the pattern of a stop light because that is an easy one for young children to relate to. The Green will be Great, the Yellow will be Good, and the Red will be Bad.
2. Once you have chosen your three colors you need to make your cards. Take an index card and either make a circle of the selected color, you can use stickers or cutouts if you would rather. You will need one card for each color.
   
   If you have more than one child that you are preparing cards for than they will each will need their own three cards.
3. Label each card with the child's name or initials so that you will be able to tell them apart from one another. Then use a hole punch to put one hold in the top of each card. Use a metal binder ring to join the card set together.
4. Using the metal ring hang the cards up somewhere in the house where everyone can see them. Every morning start the day off on Green. If you have behavior issues throughout the day give a warning and if the behavior continues you will have them flip their card from Green to Yellow. If the day still does not turn around you can change the card to red.
5. Correlate their rewards with the color of their card for the evening. For example, your child wants to get on the computer to play a video game after they finish their homework. If they have a Green (Great) day then they can earn 1 hour of computer time. If they have a Yellow (Good) day then they can earn 30 minuets of computer. If they have a Red (Bad) day then they get no computer time.
   
   This will help reinforce to them also that their actions have consequences.

Tips & Warnings

• Set your own timetable for rewards.
• You can even offer larger rewards like a week of Green days will earn a special treat on the weekend.