Certificates and Awards

 For the children I babysit, waking up the next morning when they have been cooperative the night before means a special certificate taped to their door!

 I typed up many awards for the kids I babysit for when they were "good" when I watched them. I have awards in endless variations, and I hand them out for anything from behavior improvement to a speedy no-complaining clean up. These awards were really were just a fun way to reward the kids for good behavior, but now that I have been using them more and more often, I am starting to notice that once a child gets an award, they work towards the same ones again, (and sometimes acheiving a new one) and it just really does help improve their behavior when they know that if they don't cooperate and respect me and others, they won't be rewarded.

  I felt bad the first couple of times a child wasn't behaving enough to recieve one, and so I asked her mother. She said not to feel bad about not handing one out. If a child wasn't respectful and was uncooperative, she didn't earn one and it wasn't well deserved. Now she works towards one, and not only does she know that she will be rewarded for her efforts, but it becomes a habit and the better behavior just kind of sticks.

  Certificate Ideas:

•  Speedy Clean-Ups
• Behavior Improvements (since earlier that day or your last job, a child should be rewarded for striving to improve)
• Helpfulness (offers to help clean up or help with supper, etc)

 I have a lot of ideas, so if anyone is in need of some I am happy to provide more.

 I just typed mine up using the templates from Microsoft Word. I would show you an example, but it won't show up when I paste it): Oh well.. they are fun to personalize once you get the templates. I used anything from preschool graduation templates to ones to that express congratulation to team winners. Make them your own and make sure the are easy to relate to your kids!