Teachers know that rewards can be very motivating for some students, but with all these food allergies it can be hard to figure out what to give as rewards instead of the usual candy or other such treats.
Enter 5 student reward ideas that are not food…..
1. Coupon Book Coupons:
Coupon books are a little booklet of coupons that are for things around the area such as movie tickets, free ice cream, and lots of other fun activities for students to pick from. Coupon books are great because it allows the students choice of what they want their reward to be hence making it more motivating for them.
2. Extra time for…
A great whole class reward can be extra time for something. It can be extra time for recess, extra free time, or extra time to do something fun like reading a book on tape or watching an educational movie. Whole class rewards are great to use especially in younger grades to promote a desired behavior. Just remember that giving extra time for something should be something that in reality is still “good for them”. Extra phone time would be an example of something that uses a reward to promote something we wouldn’t necessarily want the students to do while in the class.
3. Getting to sit or hang in the special part of the classroom
Many classrooms (especially elementary) will have special seating such as balance balls, bean bags, or other such chairs. Most of the time they are used for concentration, but can also be a great student reward that is easy and takes no work on the teacher’s part.
4. Dress up Day
Another whole class reward option. It can be interpreted multiple different ways such as dress up as your favorite book or movie character (or other content related themes), pajama day, or if your school wears uniforms you could ask the principal for a whole class dress down day. This reward allows students to be creative and express themselves.
5. Scratch n Sniff
You’d be amazed that even high schoolers get excited for scratch n sniff stickers on their assignments and tests. Give a student one on their test and it will create excitement for a very low price. You can decide what denotes a student getting one. Is it getting at least an 80% on a quiz or going above and beyond on an assignment or they showed great kindness.