Have you been ever rewarded?
Either at work or in college/ school?
Does it feel nice?
Does it help you in keeping the spirits high?
Of course, it does. Isn’t it?
Just like adults, children also feel happy when they are rewarded.
Although children are self-motivated, and are keen to learn new things on their own, a reward will definitely fuel their curiosity and encourage them to do even better. (Related Article: What motivates children?)
A parent must encourage a child when he does well and reward the child to make him feel excited. Also, a reward is not something you must give your child when he achieves something, the entire effort put in by your child in something must also be rewarded.
Reward doesn’t have to be monetary always. There are many other ways of rewarding children except for cash, which will definitely motivate them to do better. It’s parent’s responsibility to understand their child and choose the reward wisely for their child depending upon his areas of interest, his behaviour and need.
Verbal acknowledgment, praise and attention are the most effective ways of rewarding the children, telling him that you are proud of him, patting his back, giving a hug, saying encouraging words are great ways of strengthening the child’s confidence.
But there are many other ways too. Some of them are listed below.
- Give them extra time: Spend extra time with your child, the way he likes it. Be it playing a game (the one which is your child’s favourite), reading a book together, doing some science experiment with your child, get creative and get involved in art and craft, doing some fun activity with him. You can go swimming with him, watch his most liked TV show, do a puzzle together, click random fun pictures, and much more.
- Plan a family day out: As per his choice, plan a family picnic and make him feel special and appreciate his efforts. Go camping, or for a long drive, visit an NGO, watch a movie in theatre, go to a park/ garden/ zoo, visit a museum, go to a beach, go to his favourite restaurant or café or ice-cream parlour, whatever he likes to do.
- Cook his favourite meal: Give him his favourite food/ drink. You can cook/ bake together. You can let him eat what he wants, even let him skip dinner for once and have some cakes, ice-creams, burgers etc. instead.
- Allow extra screen-time or later bedtime: Let your child spend extra half an hour or so in playing his favourite video game/ computer game or watching something on TV. You can also allow your child to sleep a little later than the normal routine, if he likes that.
- Surprise them with a gift they’ve been longing for: Along with an appreciation card or some hand-written note, gift your child something which he had been wanting. Be it a board game or a book/ magazine or anything.
- Let your child visit a friend/ relative: Let your child visit his best friend, and you can allow a sleepover as well.
- Give them increase in pocket money: You can also give your child an increase in the pocket money, as a reward for doing good work, or at least trying something.
- Reward charts: You can make reward charts a regular practice. List down the things you expect from your child, and give them stars at the end of the day/ week and appreciate their efforts.
Such rewards not only provide positive reinforcement for good behaviour, but also help in encouraging your child to take up challenges and put in efforts to achieve success in life.
Rewards help in motivating and inspiring.
But a parent must be careful in choosing and giving the reward. You mustn’t give rewards too often, and also not too much. You have to be wise and thoughtful when, why and what you are giving your child as a reward. It must not be misunderstood by the child in any way.
Hope you liked this article. Do share any other ways of rewarding your child.
