Re-usable sticker charts

Parenting should come with an art degree

“Mummy, can you draw me a tiger,” “I want a helicopter,” “a rabbit,” “can you make it look cuter?”

Regular colouring books just didn’t cut it in this house. They were never of the right thing, or detailed enough, or simple enough. There was always something lacking. We use a lot of paper.

And then, there are the sticker charts. I feel like I’m drawing a new sticker chart every other day. Okay, not quite that often but it’s often enough. Too often. Sticker charts are not simple in this house. I don’t know if you have the same issue, but here, it is a gamble every time. Is the chart long enough that I don’t need to buy a new reward every week? But it needs to be short enough to hold their attention, so they don’t simply give up. Additionally, they can’t be simple squares. The chart needs to be drawn in a shape they like, in the colours they like. An animal, vehicle, a specific teddy, it never ends.

It was just before a half term from school. We had been working on personal space and I was not looking forward to saying “move away from your brother” a thousand times. Sticker chart here we come. Maybe every time I say “1 step back” as a prompt and they listen it can get a sticker? I would need it multiple times everyday, how long could a sticker chart be? I took out purple for one of my boys and drew a super cute animal. It came out really well and for one moment I was pleased with my work. Why do I have to try every time to make something look great, this one is already great, I should be able to use it every day. And why shouldn’t I? I cut out some hearts from another piece of card and put Velcro on the back. Placing some Velcro around the chart to stick the hearts to and I had made a re-usable sticker chart! It was awesome. I quickly made some more re-usable sticker charts for the other kids.

Now I use re-usable sticker charts every school break. I have two ways that I use them. Some have less ‘stickers’ on the charts. These, the kids have to finish by the end of the day. If they manage that, they can get a reward. Often the reward will be a token for 5 minutes of extra time for an activity they can choose e.g. extra screen time, 5 mins extra reading at bedtime etc. The chart then gets re-started the next day. Even if they don’t earn a reward on one day they can try again the next day. For charts with more ‘stickers’ I do not re-start them each day. These stay up until the whole chart is full and a reward is given before they are re-used. This reward would be a physical thing the child wants as they are working for longer to get it. Here, it is normally small teddies, but sometimes a new fidget or the like.

I mentioned my re-usable sticker chart to a few friends and they asked me to make some for their kids too. It is fun for kids to have a sticker chart, drawn with something they like, using colours they enjoy. You can request personalised charts of your own in the shop.