How To Make Your Own Stickers And Rewards Charts For The Classroom
If you are stuck for lesson ideas then a great exercise for an art class is to get
your pupils to make their own classroom rewards charts and matching stickers. This is not only a great way to fill a lesson but you will be seeing the benefits until the end of term as rewards charts can be an excellent way to motivate children, letting them gradually fill it with stickers for everything from good behaviour to excellent test results. Offering a prize every time a pupil reaches a certain number of stickers or when their chart is filled as an additional bonus will work even better.
A single chart in the classroom, although traditional, does not work as well as individual children certificates because some of the pupils may not like others seeing how many stickers they have, especially if others have many more than themselves. Pupils with few stickers may become less, rather than more, motivated which is obviously not the effect that you are after. An individual sticker book or reward chart lets the child see how many stickers they are accumulating and feel proud of what they have done, without comparing themselves to others.
To begin with, decide on how many stickers is an appropriate number to work towards in a term. If you will be particularly generous with your stickers you do not want the children to run out of space on their rewards chart because, once completed, it is no longer a motivator for the child. On the other hand, if the chart has so many spaces to fill that even the brightest and best behaved students cannot fill it in a term, this may leave the child feeling as though they have failed or done something wrong.
1.Make a Reward Chart
Give each child a sheet of good quality card that is going to last all term. Explain to them that they will be making a reward chart to gather their stickers and that they need 20 spaces, for example. Then, let them choose what shape stickers they would like to have. They could choose circles, hearts, diamonds or stars for example. Make sure that it is something easy to cut out, as you will have to make your own stickers in this shape later in the class.
Now tell the children to draw a picture that uses 20 of these shapes. Ideas could be things like a big shooting star with 20 smaller stars trailing behind it, a crown with 20 diamond shaped jewels or a tree with 20 round apples hanging from it. Let them colour the chart in, but not the 20 spaces. Remember to ask them to write their names on the chart so that you can tell whose is whose.
2.Make Your Own Stickers
For the stickers you will need some sheets of labels which can be bought in any good stationary store. Depending on the age of the pupils that you are teaching it may be a good idea to cut them up into individual labels, so that they do not draw one sticker over the edge of two labels. Ask them to draw 20 of their chosen shapes or, if they are very young, you can do this for them. Cut these shapes out for them and then the next step, and probably the most exciting for the young pupils, is to decorate their stickers. Let them loose with the glitter, sequins, beads and PVA glue.
When the stickers have dried give each pupil an envelope with their name on it to store their stickers, and keep them in the classroom. From now on, let the children know that whenever they earn a sticker they will be able to come and get one from you to add to their reward chart. Once the chart is full they can take it home, or it will be pinned onto the classroom wall. You can also give the
children certificates at the end of term who have completed their chart. These quick and easy steps on how to
make your own stickers and rewards charts are great for teachers who are stuck for ideas on how to motivate their pupils. Another great method of motivation are
teachers postcards which are not only something that the child can take home to their parents and feel proud of, but they also open up a line of communication between the teacher and parents as notes can be made on the back to explain why their child has received the postcard.
by: Sarah Shore
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