The Mom Store

My boys are pretty good about picking up their toys when asked.  Pierce puts away his own laundry, and the twins already know that dirty dishes go in the dishwasher.  But I thought there was room for even more responsibility in our house, and I wanted to find a way to reward them for their help.  I'm always on the lookout for toy sales and had a fairly good stash of items that I had picked up rather cheaply.  I placed them in a Tupperware and told the boys I was opening a Mom Store.   Then I bought a little index card notebook with 3 tabs - one for each boy's name.

Everyday, the boys have opportunities to receive sticker rewards under their name.  Doing tasks like making their beds, helping their brothers, and cleaning up without my asking can earn stickers.  This gives me the chance to award small positive behaviors at any time.  Each sticker is worth 10 points.  Then on Fridays, the Mom Store is open in the evenings.  They can go shopping with their points, or they can save them up for a bigger reward.  They are also allowed to pool their points together to purchase a larger item if they are all in agreement about wanting to do so.

 If they choose to save all of their points and not redeem them on Friday, they get extra stickers, like earning interest.  This will help them realize the value of saving.  The prizes are a variety of points - anywhere from 50 points (for a piece of candy) to 1500 points (for a Spiderman racetrack).  They can see for themselves how many points an item is, because I used yard sale sticker dots to assign the points to each toy.

The boys have really gotten into The Mom Store.  They love looking through all the toys and craft sets on Friday.  And there are even some activities up as rewards - a trip to Sweet Frog with Mom or a visit to Homestead Creamery with Dad.  Because rewards can be activities too.

Now the boys are always eager to clean up when it is time, and I'm loving not having to nag them anymore!  It isn't perfect - but it definitely helps keep them motivated.