How to Make a Kindergarten Treasure Box

Kindergarten students love to receive stickers for their hard work.

A treasure box in a kindergarten classroom is sure to please and excite young learners. Everyone enjoys working for a reward, whether it is monetary for adults or inexpensive toys for children. You can easily incorporate a treasure box to support a positive classroom environment and reward students for proactive behavior, good character and academics. Fill the box with goodies to give out once a week as students earn points, miles or tokens -- whatever your management system may be. The more enthusiastic a teacher is about a treasure box, the more excited kindergarten students will be to start earning a reward.

Things You'll Need

• Basket, large container or shoebox
• Stickers
• Pencils
• Bouncy balls
• Tops
• Plastic rings
• Erasers
• Pinwheels
• Mini notepads
• Bookmarks

Instructions

1. Use a large basket, plastic container or shoebox to fill with treasures. Add colorful ribbon at the handle of the basket to make it decorative and special. Cover a plastic container or shoebox with stickers or paste on miniature drawings collected from your students.

2. 

   Add something shiny and moveable to catch the attention of visual leaners.

   Purchase inexpensive items such as stickers, colorful pencils, bouncy balls, spinning tops, plastic rings or bracelets, erasers, pinwheels, mini notepads and bookmarks. Be sure to include plenty of options for boys and girls. Dollar stores and party supply stores will stock these items in bulk.

3. 

   Kindergarten might enjoy the challenge of a top.

   Fill your treasure box with the items but don't put in everything at once. Add new treasures every month or so to keep students excited and seeing a wide variety of potential rewards.

4. Add items that coincide with the interests of your students as you get to know them. Some girls will like treasures that sparkle such as inexpensive scrunchies or bracelets while several boys might enjoy superheroes and thus be rewarded with stickers of their favorites.

References

• Web World Articles: Create a Treasure Box and Make it a Gift
• Oregon State: Non-Food Incentives and Rewards in the Classroom

Resources

• Really Good Stuff: Fun and Creative Teaching Tools for Today's Classroom