Parenting is the best, it is something that you look forward to and prepare for, for a lot of your life. But it is hard -- there are many things you did not realize you would have to teach them/repeatedly teach them. Yet teaching your kiddos is so rewarding and watching them learn is so so worth it. I love looking for new fun ways to try and teach my kids simple skills in life such as being nice and listening!! So today I want to tell you about a cool idea that we have found helpful and fun. I know there are so many great ideas out there but this is one we have all loved, so I wanted to share it with you!
Our Kindness and Listening Jar!
Eric and I love our four little kiddos so much! We often find ourselves wondering how to help them be kind (mostly) to each other and how to get them to listen. No one likes to repeat themselves more than once, let alone a million times!! We strive for positive reinforcement, and we want our kids to learn that by making good choices and listening well, good things will happen. After many different attempts at charts, and smiley boards we learned about the Kindness and Listening Jar. It is AWESOME. It’s so simple, visual and fun.
What did the mother worm say to the little worm who was late?
Where in the earth have you been? :)
Tip #1 - Let your kids choose the reward
Just like everything else in life, if you want something you will work harder for it. We let our kids choose the reward/activity/adventure each time we start the kindness and listening jar.
They are excited and WANT to be nice and listen so they can put a ball in the jar.
Tip #2 - Making your Kindness and Listening Jar
The fun thing about this is you get to make it yours; you can go all out and make it fancy or you can keep it simple. I stuck to simple this time. To make our ball jar we simply found a clean pickle jar and labeled it "Our Kindness and Listening Jar." with vinyl letters that I cut out from my Cricut. We use colorful ping-pong balls to fill the jar. You could use a smaller jar and put marbles or small candies in it but with our littles we decided we wanted to use larger balls that would not easily be put in their tiny mouths. By using a glass or plastic jar your kids will be able to see the progress and want to keep filling the jar.
"Positive reinforcement changes behavior for the better, while criticism stabilizes negative behavior and blocks change." - Virginia H Pearce
Tip #3 - Using the Kindness and Listening Jar
Every time Eric and I notice a nice action, a deed done nicely, or someone that listens the first time, we recognize it and tell them thank you along with "put a ball in the jar". My kiddos love that phrase. Lately my second to youngest will frequently ask, "Can I put a ball in the jar now mom?" :) The kids love watching the jar fill up. We have it next to our dining table so it is a good visible reminder for all of us.
Just like anything else, we do sometimes forget about our jar and go a while without it. And that is ok, we can just pick up from where we were and keep going. There have been times that it takes us a week to fill the jar and other times that it takes a month or so. That is alright, that's why I love it, its flexible and fun.
Tip #4 - Our adventures
Like I mentioned before, we let our kids pick the reward. Again, you can go all out here or keep it simple. Some examples that we have done and loved are bowling, movie night and pizza in our family room, picnic and adventure in the mountains, the rock store (our kids love rocks!), car wash. (They also love the car wash) ha ha. Before you start you can make a list of rewards or you can just let them choose one before you start filling your jar.
Tip #5 - Try it!
Last but not least give it a try! This is a simple thing to do to help your kids and a good reminder for us as parents. It has helped us be able to focus on the positive and help teach our kiddos to try to be kind in all situations and to listen. Our world is so tech involved and the skill of listening is becoming more and more scarce.
Bye for now
We have loved our Kindness and Listening Jar. We love our kiddos and love watching them learn and grow. I hope that you guys find it as fun, simple and helpful as we do.
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