Punch Card Incentives

Chores are not very appealing to me.  So it should be no surprise to me that my children would try to avoid them, as well.  There is always something better to do - even if that "something better" is nothing at all!  So as an added incentive, we like to use punch cards for our children's chores. 

They have certain chores / tasks that we ask them to do daily - mostly on their own.  And we like to reward them for helping out.  I started using punch cards as a tracking system.    Several tasks we have included were: getting dressed, brushing teeth, making beds, picking up toys, taking care of dirty laundry, etc - not big tasks.  But having them do most of this on their own (except my 3 year old), really helps me out! 
But we also included some other chores.  My Little Buddy empties the dishwasher daily, my Curly Girlie straightens our front bench (which tends to be the dumping spot), and my Little Squirt sweeps the kitchen for me daily (I don't have huge expectations here, but he doesn't do too badly using our Swiffer Vac, plus he thinks it's fun!).  They also take turns setting and clearing the table at meal times, taking care of our puppy, helping with laundry, and other odd chores around the house.  So, since these are a combination of simple tasks and larger tasks, we've decided to give a punch for every 3 tasks they complete in a day.  This often gives them 3 to 4 punches a day, which leads to filling a punch card within a week.  We offer $1 for completed punch cards.  Our system works pretty well, most of the time. 

I found a class set of punch cards at the local teacher's store that had 20 spots to punch. I thought this was ideal. And being a class set (30, I think) it lasted us quite awhile.  But I am now on my last punch cards.  Instead of another trip to the teacher's store (where I already spend too much money!), I thought I would try to make up my own set of punch cards. 

Here is my first set - Puppy & Kitten Punch Cards 

And my second set - Super Star & Fishing Punch Cards

With, hopefully, more sets to come!  Let me know if you download these and how you plan to use them.  They could be used for a variety of purposes - schoolwork, caught being helpful, # of books read (or chapters), etc.  Plus, your reward for a completed card doesn't have to be money.  You could make it a trip to the ice cream shop (rather, this time of year a trip for hot cocoa), or a date with Mom or Dad, etc.  I'd love to hear your ideas!  Let me know what you use these punch cards for and what your incentive is. 

Happy Punching!

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