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Love Jar
by: Wendy Jensen In our family, we use a "Love Jar" to help our children learn to show love
and respect for others. If we "catch" our children doing a kind deed for a
member of the family, or for someone else, then we (or another member of the
family) can nominate that person for a "love ticket." We have a stack of
little square papers in a container in our kitchen cup-board. When we see
our children doing something kind for someone else, then we acknowledge and
thank that child for his or her kind act and write out the child's name and
what they did, on a piece of paper and put it in the love jar. We use a large
vase and put a big red heart on it labeled "love jar." We keep the love jar
right on the fireplace mantle as a constant reminder to show love to each
other.
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Throughout the week, our children love to go check out the love
jar
and see how many "love tickets" each of them have earned. Each Sunday, we
gather the family together for a lesson and meeting and during this family
time we draw three names out of the love jar and read what each person did
to earn that love ticket. The three winners receive three regular "tickets"
as their reward. The children can then redeem these tickets for prizes or
privileges when they have at least ten. Then we pull out all of the other
love tickets and read all of the nice things that the children did to earn
their love tickets. We holler and cheer and give lots of praise for the kind
acts our children did during the week.
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The use of love tickets has served
several purposes: First of all, we commend our children when we notice them
doing something kind for someone else. Secondly, our children are encouraged
to notice when another member of the family is doing something kind for
them. Thirdly, the positive behavior is again reinforced when we draw out the
love tickets and read out loud what each child has done.
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Some of the
ways our children earn love tickets are as follows:
**Showing kindness or
doing an act of service for someone else. **Demonstrating an act of
character such as telling the truth, or standing up to peer pressure.
**Demonstrating appropriate decision-making skills.
**Sharing a special
treat or toy with a brother or sister.
**Surprising us by doing a job out of
the blue like making mom and dad's bed, or picking up a brother or sister's
game.
**Fixing a meal for a younger brother or sister
**Being a peace-maker
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Our six year old often teases his little sister and I admit - it really gets
on my nerves. So when I "catch" him being sweet with her and even sharing
his toys, I make a point to thank him and publicly announce to whoever
happens to be in the room that he just earned a love ticket! He will
sometimes look up in surprise as if he didn't even realize that he was
actually being nice! This gives positive reinforcement to behaviors that we
would like to see continued!
For more parenting information, refer to our
"Positive Parenting" e-book found at:
http://www.firstratefamily.com Also,
for parenting articles and a free e-book on "Fun Family Traditions and
Rituals," go to our articles page at:
http://www.firstratefamily.com/articles
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Wendy is a stay-at-home mom of six children. She is also the author of
"Positive Parenting Using the G.O.L.D. Standard: developing discipline
without yelling, spanking, nagging, or time-outs!" as well as "Sign Language
for Babies and Beyond: how to promote early communication and language
development in your child." For more information, go to:
http://www.firstratefamily.com |
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