How to Reward Your Child for Good Behavior

Rewarding a child for good behavior increases the chances of the behavior occurring again and helps to decrease negative actions. Ignoring bad behaviors and rewarding good causes the child to lose interest in inappropriate actions that do not provide a reward or satisfaction. To develop this system, simply create a token economy using points, a chart and rewards to properly develop and encourage good behavior in children.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Heavy paper or poster board
• Markers
• Kitchen timer
• Stickers
• Reward items

1. Create a chart using heavy paper and markers. The chart displays your child's progress and allows her to see how many good behaviors are required to receive a reward. Draw a grid and specify the actions to the left to track the frequency of the behaviors. For example, reward a child that has a hitting problem for not hitting. Reward a child that picks up her toys, immediately, after she does it. List all necessary behaviors on the chart.

2. Set a timer and when the bell rings, praise the child for not hitting or refraining from any other negative behavior, and offer a reward sticker. If you don't want to use a timer simply praise the good behaviors as they occur and use the stickers to track progress. Review with the child how many stickers are required to reach the end reward using the token economy.

3. Create an easily achievable goal for the child to prove that it is worth the effort. If immediate delivery of the reward does not occur, the child will not see the long term benefit of behaving appropriately. On the first day, offer the reward after just one instance of good behavior then slowly increase the amount of good behaviors required to receive the reward. If the child does not respond to the plan, stick with a low number and slowly add to the number with each week of positive response.

4. If the child frequently uses the proposed reward item, remove it from daily activities. Only use the reward item for encouraging good behaviors or it will not be an effective tool. If the reward is not strong enough to motivate the child, assess its potency and offer new items as necessary.

5. After the child had successfully adapted and no longer has the need for a reward, slowly fade the token economy. After some time and a significant increase in the number of stickers needed to obtain the reward, replace the item with praise only. The idea is to replace external motivators with internal gratification brought on by the child's own desire to behave and please others as well as himself. Consistent praise creates an internal feeling of satisfaction and makes the child feel good so there is no longer a need for a physical reward.

Tips & Warnings

• Pair verbal praise with the reward and make the child feel good about the good behavior.
• Don't forget to assess the reward item and replace it when it is no longer effective.
• Avoid giving attention to negative behaviors as this can encourage them.

References

• Behavior Modification: What It Is and How to Do It.; Gary Martin; 1988
• Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders
• The Home Token Economy, Third edition.; Jack R. Alvord and Carl D. Cheney; 1994