All about our 'Unicorn Jar'
I posted on Instagram the other day about our 'Magical Unicorn Rewards Jar' and I had some interest from other Mom's wanting to know what it was, how we use it and what was inside of it!
It all started last year as a way to encourage the kids in some things we were trying to teach them, and it became something fun that we have continued through the year. Basically it's just a little jar, with small folded up pieces of paper inside that have different rewards written on them. The kids get the opportunity throughout the week to work towards earning one of the rewards at the end of the week, here are a few pics of the jar...
Our jar is super simple, because I am a simple girl, but you could do so many other 'souped up' versions of the Unicorn Jar! The name came from the love my daughter has for Unicorns, and how we would always talk about a good day being 'a unicorn day', so we just ran with it and the name stuck, but you could call it anything you like, and decorate it however you like too!
I don't know about your kids, but our kids LOVE rewards and treats, so the idea of the unicorn jar came to teach and encourage them to work towards something that they really want, and also to enforce some basic things we are always trying to teach them like, having a good attitude, being kind and respectful, and helpful without being asked. I'll be completely honest (as always) and say that some weeks this system just doesn't work, but some weeks it really does, and it's so fun to watch the kids excitement as they pick out a reward after doing their best all week to earn it! We definitely don't expect perfection out of our children, but I always do encourage them to TRY their best, even if you don't feel like it, always keep trying and never give up! This applies with their school work, chores, or even just playing with their siblings nicely. They are young and still learning, so many mistakes and set backs will happen, but to see them try their best to be kind and respectful is all we want to see.
So what are the rewards IN the magical jar you ask?? We tried to pick a large variety of different types of rewards, so that it wasn't just earning a bag of jelly beans, but lots of other non food items as well. Like I mentioned though, my kids LOVE treats lol, it really is the way to their hearts, they have a sweet tooth like Daddy ;). Here is a list of just some of the rewards...
- At home movie night with popcorn (you choose the movie!)
-Ice cream cone, flavour of your choice
-Time in the wood shop building something with Daddy
-Baking time with Mommy in the kitchen
-Trip to the Dollar store
-Trail ride on the 4 wheeler
-Canoe or Kayak with Mom or Dad (summer)
-A fruit smoothie with ingredients of your choice
-Sledding fun on a big hill with the family (winter)
-Boy time or Girl time (which is basically just one on one time with Mom or Dad) doing an activity they wish to do.
-Pack of gum (they LOVE this one lol)
-Campfire with s'mores
-extra long cuddly goodnight with Mommy or Daddy
-Time slot to play games on the iPad
(and the BIG time reward that we only have 1 of in the jar)
-$5 (woot woot, Joel is the only one who has gotten it once before)
It's fun to have a 'big ticket' item in there too, we have multiples of the other 'smaller' rewards in the jar, so two kids can actually win the same thing. To choose the rewards I actually just sat down with the kids and we thought them all up together. I wanted them to have lot's of input so that they were excited about what they were working towards, so most all of the ideas came straight from them! The rewards for each family will look different, but the basic idea of working towards something, and earning it is what counts, as well as encouraging your kids, and the excitement of picking out of the jar on Friday afternoon, it's a little something fun to do before the weekend :).
Does your family do a reward system? How does it work? Let me know in the comments! Also if you have anymore questions about our Unicorn jar that I didn't answer in this post, I can answer it in the comments too :) Let me know if you start your own Unicorn Jar, and how it works for your fam!
Hope you all have a 'magical' weekend ;)
love,
Shelley