Monkey, Monkey!!

This is an activity we did at my preschool that worked like a charm. Whenever a child started to act, well, angelic, all I would have to do would be to give out a monkey and it would pretty much get all the other kids to become little helpful angels instead of what they sometimes were. What am I talking about, you ask? The instructions are as follows:

materials:
LOTS of Plastic linking monkeys.
nail in the wall

Hang a plastic monkey on the wall in a place where you can add more monkeys to make a chain. When you catch your child being especially kind and cooperative, give the reward of a monkey to add to the chain. When the last monkey is hung, treat the whole class (well, for you guys, family) to a treat! In my class is was usually extra outdoor time playing or extra free play time. For families, you could easily make it an ice cream outing, or renting a video (do people do that anymore? Maybe I should say download a new movie from net flix..) or a special group activity like going to the local park as a family or reading a extra stories together (or even a story)

Anyways, that always worked for me and the kids loved it. It is a great way to reinforce positive behavior, which can easily go unnoticed when compared to the attention bad behavior can bring (even if it is punishment, it is still attention, and some kids will do anything for any attention, even endure punishment).

Also, you can get the plastic monkeys super cheap at places like Big Lots, Wal-Mart, and sometimes the dollar store. Head on over to Rocks in my Dryer for other cool tips!!