Our Sticker Chart

Lately we have been trying hard to positively reinforce good behavior through a sticker-chart-reward-system type thing. And it has been working wonderfully. Awhile back we really needed to work on Jackson going "poopoo" in the potty. He has been potty trained for quite awhile but for whatever reason he had saved the poop for the pull-up. So, when we decided no more pull-ups during nap and night time we needed some way to motivate him to use the potty. Well, the kid loves Jamba Juice, and he loves stickers. We decided that for every poop in the potty he would earn one sticker. After earning 10 stickers we would take a trip to Jamba Juice. The first few trips to the potty for number two went well. Jackson earned a sticker and we were both happy. But, Jack is a quick learner and suddenly realized that he could easily poop a turd, earn a sticker and then immediately get back on the potty and poop another turd for another sticker! We didn't want to discourage him but going to Jamba Juice every other day wasn't quite in our budget. So, we decided to bump the sticker total to 15.... that bought us a few more days between Jamba visits. However, since he was so motivated to poop in the potty for stickers and Jamba we thought we'd see what else he do for them!

Jackson and I made a simple chart with card stock and scrapbook stickers. The board hangs at the end of our hallway right next to his room and the bathroom so we never forget to add a sticker. Once the chart gets full and the reward given we'll just make another one. We chose scrapbook stickers he could identify with and labeled them:

Sweet Boy: given when caught doing something nice for his brother or friends, answering "yes mommy/daddy when asked to do something, being polite

Dress up: given when he gets dressed all by himself

Pick up Toys: given when he picks up his toys either when asked just once or without being asked

Poop in Potty: enough said (but for awhile 2 stickers were given if he got out of bed during nap or night and pooped in his little potty in his room, he would always be so excited when he woke up to show us

Make Bed: given when pillows, blankets and stuffed animals are straightened

These are all things Jackson either needed to work on or was ready to learn to do on his own. He has LOVED earning stickers and even tries to make up his own categories. At dinner he will say, "if I eat all of this can I have an I ate everything sticker?" He picks out each sticker, which can take awhile but I know he takes pride in each of them. Also on the chart we hung his recent certificate and pictures from swim lessons.

Today he enjoyed a trip to Jamba Juice for 25 Poop in Potty stickers. Way to go Jackson!