Eco-friendly Ways to Reward Kids
To go along with Jennifer’s posts about raising green kids in a commercial culture, I thought it would be useful to discuss green rewards for kids.
When kids are rewarded with things, they may develop a longing for more things. No, I’m not a psychologist, or even a parent, but I’ve seen this happen several times. Plus, I was once a kid. : )
Children can learn to associate happiness with gifts and treats that are usually made of plastic and might require batteries. And worse, this habit of rewarding with toys teaches excessive consumerism. Yes, kids need toys, but maybe not as often as they get them.
Successes, such as doing better in school or overcoming a problem behavior, should be celebrated. Yet, it’s also desirable to avoid “buying” your kid’s behavior. Doing what’s expected just because should be the goal. Yes, I know that is probably a very difficult thing to accomplish!
Here are some alternatives to toys as rewards:
•Extend the bedtime by 30 minutes for one night.
•Grant a day off from regular chores.
•Allow a friend to spend the night or let your child spend the night with a friend.
•Indulge with a special activity like skating, camping, bowling or visiting the zoo.
•Read an extra bedtime story.
•Help your child choose a toy for a child who doesn’t have toys, and donate through a local charity. This activity may be a little too tempting, but it does teach moderation and a charitable attitude.
•Serve a favorite dinner, snack or dessert. (With the growing childhood obesity problem, use this reward very sparingly. Avoiding fast-food meals that come with toys would be wise as well.)
•Ask your child to pick a reward. You might be surprised.
If you hold off rewarding with toys, birthdays and other gift-giving holidays will seem more unique, and the toy chest may not overflow with abandoned toys that didn’t hold interest.
How do you reward your child? Do you have any toy alternatives to add?
Bowling photo credit from flickr.
Tags: day off from regular chores, eco-friendly ways to reward kids, extend bedtime as reward, green rewards for kids, read extra bedtime story, toy alternatives, toy chest overflowingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Consumer Choice, Stuff Owns You
12 opinions for Eco-friendly Ways to Reward Kids
Thrifty Karen
Mar 11, 2008 at 10:56 am
We rewarded our kids last night with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. They had to earn their tokens for good behavior. They were so excited. We didn’t eat there. They just used their tokens to play games and have fun. They were thrilled!
Jennifer
Mar 11, 2008 at 10:57 am
I already told you how much I liked this post - but I’ll tell you here as well. Excellent read. I actually dug and stumbled it, something I rarely do.
Alouette
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:20 am
Often we forget what it’s like to be a kid once we become adults, we feel cut off and removed from children as culture changes and we feel left out as we get older. I think that we end up just giving our children toys because we don’t know what they like or enjoy. I would hope that this article reminds people that kids are kids and they don’t really change that much.
Eliza
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:16 pm
my daughter loves to bake, so instead of a toy or something we’ll make some type of dessert together. She does the mixing and pouring and I do the cooking part of it. Oh and of course she always gets to pass it out.
Peggy
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Thrifty Karen, can you believe I’ve never been inside a Chuck E Cheese? They didn’t have one where I grew up, and now that I live near one I don’t really have a reason to go there. : ) That sounds like fun though.
Jennifer, Thanks! I’m always a little intimidated to write about parenting issues since I’m not a parent.
Alouette, I agree. Some of us get so caught up in our work lives that we do forget what kids really need.
Eliza - Oh, that’s so what I would do if I had a daughter. I love to bake!!
Tony
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:58 pm
As we all have busy lives, TIME with our boys is very important.
We do something together, whether walking in the woods, cycling or as the weather has been awful recently, playing board games and making paper darts. My boys love helping out in the kitchen also and as a treat I made some mocha sauce for their ice-cream.
Jennifer
Mar 11, 2008 at 4:07 pm
When I was little, one of the guys my mom dated worked at Chuck E. Cheese. So, my siblings and I got to go in after hours and play in the ball pit, and play games, all by ourselves. We thought we were the luckiest kids on the planet.
Now of course, I can’t stand being there, it’s so loud - but Cedar sometimes asks to go there - or somewhere like there. The beauty of homeschooling is we can go in off hours.
Thrifty Karen
Mar 11, 2008 at 4:38 pm
We try to avoid going to Chuck E. Cheese on weekends.
I had never been in a Chuck E. Cheese until a few years ago when I was teaching preschool and my class earned a trip from the PTA for a fundraiser. My daughter is 4 1/2 and she’s been 3-4 times. When I go out of town and my parents take care of the kids, I try to leave a coupon and $20. This will get them pizza, drinks, and tokens. It’s a good deal. You can sign up at their website for the newsletter and you get the monthly coupons in an email.
It really did take my kids longer to use their tokens than I thought it would. We got home late and they got to bed late. I think I’m going to have some little trinkets around here that I get on clearance so that they can cash in their tokens for stuff. This will avoid a trip here and there to Chuck E. Cheese.
The tokens are working though. It has been a good system the past few weeks.
I used my coupon last night to buy 100 more tokens for $15.
Linette
Mar 11, 2008 at 10:56 pm
My son loves to cook. He likes to “kick it up a notch,” like Emeril. He likes to make up his own recipes. Sometimes I veto his combinations:) It’s a great reward that doesn’t include video games.
He also enjoys several of the family board games. He loves chess, Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, etc. We usually make Friday night family game night, as a reward when he has a good week.
Peggy
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Hey Tony and Linette. It’s so great both of you get your kids involved in the kitchen with cooking, etc. I don’t think I did enough of that when I was a kid.
PlanningQueen
Mar 15, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I think the list of activities here are great however, I actually don’t use rewards at all with my children. My philosophy is about trying to have them to be able to be responsible for their own behaviour and make the right decisions based on choice, not on whether or not there is something in it for them at the end of the process.
Thrifty Karen
Mar 15, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I agree with teaching them to be responsible for their behavior, but sometimes a little something extra is needed. This happens in classrooms too. Not all children are the same. Sometimes I needed to reward a child privately for something they were struggling with. It was a temporary way to get them focused on improving. Once they succeeded, they began to have an internal motivation to do better.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: