20 Positive Behavior Rewards That Aren’t Not Food
PBIS Reward-Get Up and Move Your Feet
Students get comfy while learning! The beauty of a PBIS school
Class Walk – Have you ever taken a silly walk? How did it make you feel? Pretty awesome right? We love making sure our tennis shoes are extra-tight and putting them to work. We walk around our school in all different kinds of styles – robots, ninjas (low to the ground), bunny (hoping), granny (tiny steps), race car (arms out straight with quick walking feet), gymnast on a tight rope. You name it, we probably have done it. The beauty is that after you’ve modeled a few, you can put a student in charge and see what types of walking-style they can create!
Dance Party – Turn on KidsBop on Pandora and jam. Make a whole-class dance circle and give every friend a moment to showcase their favorite move but do not forget, kids love it when the teacher dances too! You have been warned
Extra Play Centers – Morning Tubs are so much fun and have become a favorite part of our day! Kids love working towards an extra 10-15 minutes of exploratory, play-time! In addition, you get some sensory play.
Extra GoNoodle – Celebrate your class’s accomplishment over the course of the ENTIRE day. Decide on a number of extra GoNoodle breaks and sprinkle them throughout the day. It’s the perfect way to build suspense into your learning!
Bubble Party – A set of 24 mini wedding bubbles can be purchased from hobby Lobby for $3.99 (If you don’t have a Hobby Lobby you can snag them on Amazon using my affiliate link). They are the perfect size, ridiculously fun, and a great excuse to visit outside for an extra 10-15 minutes! In other words, its a perfect way to get outside and have some fun!
PBIS Reward- Grab a Friend!
Drawling is a great PBIS reward! Not only do students have fun, but they get to be creative and learn.
Guest Readers – From a favorite custodian to a friendly secretary, we love inviting special guests into our classroom.
Stuffed Friends – Stuffed animals make great listeners for beginning readers and they can be the perfect friend to teach the math concept you’ve been practicing; however, make sure that all stuff friends are small enough to fit in a backpack for easy transportation. 😉
Lunch in the Classroom – PBIS is all about building relationships and eating in the classroom is a simple way to do that! For instance, you can eat with the entire class or split the group into boys/girls taking two days to celebrate. This is such a fun, social time just to hang out with the amazing human-beings you learn with each day.
Classroom Partners – Partner with a younger grade and be reading buddies with them for a few minutes. Have each student pick out 2-3 books a younger student would enjoy and visit their classroom. It’s the perfect way to build reading motivating and allows your friends to feel oh-so-big. Plus, the younger kids have fun too!
PBIS Reward-Hidden Learning
Class Read-In – A reward that celebrates and promotes reading is always a win-win. Have students bring in their favorite pillow, a blanket, and a favorite book to share. Camp out on the floor and enjoy lots of extra reading moments! (Read more here.) In addition to being comfortable, your students are learning.
Directed Draws – Art matters and there is never enough time for it! Directed draws are the perfect reward for awesome choices. From turkeys to snowmen to Dr. Seuss, we are all about showcasing our listening and art skills! Plus, kids just love to draw!
Science Experiments – Science just for the sake of science is THE best. From Making Music to the Great Candy Cane Experiment, the magic and joy of science is unstoppable. Plus, experiments are always the perfect chance to revisit how-to/procedural writing.
Library Visit – Find out when the library is empty (typically when the librarian has planning) and take a special class trip. Allow students to lounge in their favorite corners of the library and enjoy some special read-aloud time from the librarian’s chair *gasp*! Most importantly, kids have fun while learning.
Show and Share – Definitely a more time-consuming choice, have students prepare 2-3 facts (to be shared in full sentences) about their show-and-share object. It’s the perfect way to integrate the CCSS – Speaking and Listening Standards into your celebration so students are having fun while learning.
PBIS Reward-Get A Little Silly
The Great Chair Mix-Up – Give students the opportunity to choose their own seats and own spots in lines….no exceptions. From the floor to a spot next a special friend, it will be a great experiment in seeing where your friends love to be! Most importantly, the kids are having fun, getting a change of view, and positive reinforcement.
Stinky Feet – Take off those shoes and rock learning in socks. This is a classic choice that brings out the 5-year old in any student! However, I suggest nose plugs 🙂
Hat Day – Teach the day in style! For example, rock that favorite pilot’s hat!
Lunch Outside – Sunshine and fresh-air can completely turn a day around and add extra zeal to later learning. Take a trip outside to your school’s picnic tables or a concrete basketball court for a special lunch. (If you are going to have to do a bit of traveling consider inviting a parent to join you for lunch. An extra set of hands is always helpful.)
Special Writing Supplies – Just like Birthday Supplies, special writing supplies make any learner pumped for the day. From colored pencils to scented markers, pull out your most coveted supplies and put them to work! As a result, you have happy students enjoying learning!
Crazy Sock Day – Pull out the craziest socks you own and rock them outside of your pants. Putting silly back into your day is always a win-win. Also, who doesn’t love to show off the crazy socks they own!
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Hi,I am Neena and I teach grade three in a school in Mumbai.I have a marble jar reward system in my classroom.Its a medium sized jar drawn a chart.I have colourful paper marbles.Everytime I catch my entire class being good….I reward them with a marble in the jar.When the jar is full we have a class marble jar party.The theme of the parties over the years have been….Puppet day party where everyone gets a puppet to school, bring your favourite toy day,dance party,garden party,animated film party,Riddles party,jokes party games party.These parties are so looked forward that students are willing to be sooo good together as a class to earn the marbles.
Your blogs are such good reads. Love it!
I am a big fan of yours and this is one of the reasons why! Thank you for this. As a mom of a kiddo who cannot eat standard treats because of food restrictions, I provide alternatives when there are food rewards or parties in class, which really just singles out my kiddo. There are thousands of families in this same boat and they are thrilled when there is a non-treat activity at school. I shared this post with the families who follow the Feingold Diet for ADHD and you are getting big high fives from that community. These moms face daily the snacks and classroom food and it's exhausting! Keep up the great work! I follow you because I'm a teacher and now, am a fan as a mom as well. You are doing great work!
Love these ideas! In my class I've used outside time (my school does not allow recess so my kids are all about this!) and Magic School Bus during lunch in the classroom. I do use classroom voting with 2-3 choices but after an option has been voted on I leave it out of the next vote so those options that did not win now have a chance.
This is such a great idea, thank you for sharing!
your site layout is very good
diaper backpacks
This is fantastic! Thanks for giving teachers so many healthy options when it comes to rewards.
Awesome ideas – I'm so glad I read this post!
As a school we had random acts of kindness where classes were paired up. We pretended to be ninjas and as a class surprised each other. Some classes cleaned desks, some read to each other, mine made cards, and the older kids helped with a craft. Bingo is another class favorite.
Yes! Class voting definitely tugs on the heartstrings and there is always someone who loses. Using the app makes choosing a reward a perfect win-win!
Oh my goodness! That is SO much fun. I love the idea of Teacher Performance!!!
One of our whole-class rewards is a 'teacher performance'. The performance depends on the skills of the teacher. I job share and my co-teacher is a dancer. I sing and play guitar. The kids love a three minute song by either of us. I knew another colleague who promised her class a cartwheel which was a big hit. Another male teacher I knew played the harmonica. They enjoy seeing their teacher put themselves out there in that different capacity and it's especially good when there's potential for embarrassment…
I have a Magic box which is filled with cheap toys and pretty pens and funny straws and all kinds of novelties. I choose two Super-stars in my Grade R class every day and they may make a selection from the magic box at the end of the day if they win.
FUN ideas! Love it! We cannot give candy or food as a reward. In my class, the BIG reward is my teacher chair (it's soft, has arms, and has WHEELS). They go crazy for it! I also have a 5 minute DJ, where a student gets to choose 2 songs (in advance so I can preview just in case!) for a dance party!
As always, brilliant post! My students have had many of these reward parties in the past, but their favorite every year is a pajama day 🙂 Love the lunch outside idea and special library visit. Will be using the Decide Now app, much easier and less heartbreaking than class voting!
Hello from Norway 🙂 My students (2nd grade) get to choose between extra reading time, outdoor-maths or playing board-games 🙂 Love your blog!