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When I started homeschooling Kender in kindergarten (almost 5 years ago now), he was not always excited to get his work done. We were both figuring out how homeschool would work for us, and I realized early on that I needed to figure out how to make it fun for him.
I started experimenting with different homeschool reward systems. First, we used little pom poms from the dollar store. We called them “fluffies”, and whenever Kender completed a school task, he would get a fluffy to add to his cup. Every five fluffies would earn him a Mike & Ike.
Changing Things Up
After a while, the candy started adding up so we decided to try out a slightly different approach. Instead of giving Kender a Mike & Ike for every 5 fluffies he earned, I got together a prize box full of cheap little trinkets and goodies. Together we set prices for each of the goodies depending on how big and fun they were. For example, a puzzle was 100 fluffies because its fun and big, and a little ninja turtle figurine was 40 fluffies because its smaller. I told him he could save up his fluffies to help him get the higher priced goodies.Little did I know, he would enjoy collecting fluffies more than buying prizes… He loved seeing how many he could accumulate! And eventually, I ran out of fluffies. So I searched the internet for printable ticket-like reward points. Because they were printable, I could just quickly print some out if I needed more. And they were much easier to count than all those tiny little fluffies that stick together. There were a few free printable options out there, but they didn’t have a 100 point ticket, which I needed since Kender was saving up so many.
Printable Reward Points (or Tickets)
I figured since I had to make my own 100 point ticket anyway, I might as well make a whole matching set! They turned out super cute and we got some good use out of them, so I decided to share them here with you. |
I really liked these reward points because we ended up doing A LOT of math with all that counting and buying prizes, and I feel like Kender learned real life money management skills (especially since they resemble money). It made me so happy when he’d get excited to save them up!
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We used ours for homeschool, but you could use them for good behavior, or whatever else your child may need motivation for.
If you prefer just plain reward tickets with no point numbers, like these here, they are included in the download file below.
Download Reward Points + Tickets PDF
Printable Play Money
Now that my boys are older, they like to play imagination games that resemble real life, like “shops” and “jobs.” They used to cut up paper and make their own play money, but one day they asked me if I could make them some instead. That’s how these “Barnyard Bucks” were born! |
I love when my kids ask me to use my art skills to make them something – especially if it ends up being something they actually use! So I got to work designing some homestead themed play money. Why homestead themed, you ask? Well, who wouldn’t want adorable barnyard animals featured on their currency?
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This play money is perfect for kids to have fun learning important skills like counting and money management. It includes ones, fives, tens, twenties, and fifties. And they’re not just for play! You could use these instead of the reward tickets in your reward system. Then your kids can trade in their barnyard bucks for whatever prizes you choose – just like real shopping!
Download Barnyard Bucks Play Money PDF
If you end up printing and using either the tickets or play money, I’d love to hear about it! Leave me a comment, or share on Instagram and tag me! @aprilshappyplace
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