The Power of the Stickerchart

I had to take a moment to share an INCREDIBLE success that I’ve had this weekend with Thornton. For mothers of three-year-olds that have 1-800-GYPSIES on speed dial, I have a potential tool for you to use. Thursday I met a mom who was also ready to sell her child, and then had great success with this method. Who would have thought that a simple sticker chart would hold the power of peace!?!

Here’s what we did.
We created a chart on a piece of paper with the top 6 things that are causing the most problems/meltdowns in our house. I used clip art and let him pick out the picture that he said described the following things. Then we went over each of them a couple of times.
1. Get dressed in the morning without melting down (including crying over wearing our spiderman costume or buzz lightyear jammies to school)
2. Turn off the TV in the morning with a good attitude
3. Have a good car ride (this really means that when it’s time to come home, we don’t meltdown about going inside)
4. Take a nap or have quiet time
5. Clean up
6. Use a fork during dinner

See the awesome sticker chart below:

Then we went to Target and picked out prizes for the treasure box. I got some spiderman magnets and stickers from the dollar bin, a small pack of matchbox cars and some candy. I also purchased a bag of small toys from orientialtrading.com that is on the way. We decorated a shoe box with treasure stickers, jewels, and other pirate stuff, and wrote “Treasure Box” on the top. Then, we loaded the treasure box up with all these items and put the box on the counter in a very visible place.

Over the course of the day, we did a small sticker on the chart every time we completed an activity with a good attitude. Conversely, every time we started melting down (for any reason really), I’d say “remember the treasure box…. We want to have a good day to earn our treasure today”. OH MY GOD…. IT WORKED!!! I kid you not, my devil child actually was a fun human being all day, and if things got challenging, “remember the treasure box” somehow shut it down.

The Awesome Treasure Box

At the end of the day, we made a big deal about the last sticker… and the treasure box that was the last item on the list. We counted all the stickers, and he got all excited about going to the treasure box. He jumped the whole way to it, hopped up the stool, and spent almost 10 minutes going through all his options before he decided on his one treasure. It came down to a matchbox “boat car” vs. a starburst candy… and the candy won. Soooo, basically, I had an awesome day with my child for the cost of a starburst.

I’m totally stoked.