Do you know what a token economy is? Never fear, you’re about to find out! The term might sound a little intimidating, but using a token economy with kiddos is a great way to improve behavior. A token economy means that they are getting small objects (tokens) for instances of good behavior – then, once they earn enough “tokens,” they trade them in for a prize.  Just like how I earn money for working, then turn it in for a prize to pay bills after I get paid… that’s a lot less fun, but the concept is the same.

A few examples:

• I might give my daughter a “token” every time she follows a direction the first time asked. When she has collected 10 total, she gets some electronic time.
• I might give my kiddo a “token” every time he completes his homework. Once he has 10 tokens, he gets to pick a fun family outing.

A token economy is a great way to use big rewards for many instances of good behavior, while also making sure you’re giving praise and a small reward (the token) immediately… because immediacy is important, remember? If you don’t, read Tips for Making Praise Effective.

So how do you get started? First, pick a positive behavior you want to increase. It could be just about anything that you want your kiddo to do more of.  Second, pick what you will use as a “token.” You want it to be something fun, something easy to keep track of, and something that your kiddo won’t find around the house (and cheat by adding to the pile they’ve been given).

A few ideas (in no particular order):

• Stickers
• Marbles
• Colored or marked Q-tips
• Rubber bracelets
• Rubber bands (marked)
• Colored paper clips
• Fake coins
• Laminated pieces of paper

**I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but… don’t use any smaller items if your kiddo is young enough that the item could be a choking hazard.**

Next, pick a reward AND decide what the goal is – how many small objects does your child need in order to earn the reward.  You don’t want to make this goal too easy or too hard, but remember: if you do, you can always bump that goal up or down.  As for choosing a reward, you can enlist the help of your child if you need to – just ask them what they’re interested in earning.  Or, you could also do a reward menu, where the kiddo would get to choose from a list of rewards once they meet their goal.  There really are a lot of options!

After you’ve made all of these decisions, explain what’s happening to your child – that they will earn a small object (whatever you’ve chosen) each time they do whatever positive behavior you’ve chosen, then they will be able to turn those small objects in, once they’ve earned a certain amount, for a bigger reward.  The next step?  Catch them being good and be consistent with handing out those small objects.  Not too difficult, right?  Good luck!