Summer Sticker Surprises Reward System

This is the post that I shared at Design Dazzle earlier this week, re-posting it here today!

 My girlhood memories of summertime were of snacking on apple slices with peanut butter, playing hopscotch and creating chalk sidewalk art, splashing a water hose in circles while barefoot in the green grass, and being lost in a book, curled up like a sweet roll.  My mom created magic for our family during those long summer days.  Each day was like opening a pretty gift: an exciting surprise or a classic adventure.  I've always been intent on stringing those summertime fun traditions along to the next generations.  Because of that, each June I create a surprise system that reveals our fun activities for my boys to do throughout these months.  It's a combination of work and rewards.  One year we practiced having grateful hearts with a Summer Fun & Gratitude Bucket.  And last year we focused on reading with a Family Summer Library & Surprise Cups.  THIS YEAR, I wanted to zero in on everyday good habits and lifestyle skills.

THE BASIC IDEA:
We have a big chart that we use to stick personalized stickers on the areas that we successfully complete with a cheerful spirit.

To make the chart I used a big corkboard and pinned a sheet of white art paper to it.

I used fun printed washi tape to create three spaces on the board, one for each boy.  Then I pinned cute french fry containers to the bottom of each chart to hold envelopes.  You could also pin cute cups instead.  

I decorated the board a bit, because that is what this homemakin Mama likes to do!

 

I made some custom reward stickers online at stickeryou.com.  How fun is this?!

To keep it simple, we have three categories the boys can earn stickers in: reading, chores, and health.  The reading is an obvious life skill that I like to encourage, especially during the summer months.  I also want to teach the boys the value of hard work with a cheerful heart.  And finally, the health will encourage them to start good habits with hygiene and also living a clean lifestyle.

If they complete their 3 categories twice that week, they get to grab an envelope from their buckets at the bottom of the board! 

Each envelope is a shared summer activity that the entire family gets to enjoy!  Summer bucket lists are super popular and there are a lot of summer fun ideas to discover online.  

Some of the activities in our envelopes are:

$1 Movie Theater show

Sonic Happy Hour

A summer night at the drive in movie theater

pooltime

slip n slide

make homemade fruit popsicles

visit to Math & Science Center

chalk sidewalk art day

ice cream party

shaving cream and water balloon fights

beach day

visit Palisade to gather fresh peaches

rodeo

family game night

And the first activity that we already did was picking out a giant ball at Target and using it to play dodgeball in the front yard.  

It's always a surprise.  The boys never know what summer fun activity they will find in their envelopes!

But we make them work for those summer fun activities by watching them successfully complete each category every week! {wink}  They keep vintage library cards in their buckets to record their reading times.  The other two categories I monitor on my own throughout the week. 

The vintage library cards to record reading times:

 Keeping the details CUTE with pretty recycled pencils in summer fun colors!





They each are required to read a set time daily, according to their age.  For the chores, I assign big projects for them to complete together in addition to regular chores.  For the health category, we do random teeth, nails, and ear checks, laundry checks in their room, and encourage being active in our daily lives.

Summer has JUST begun and we already have some reward stickers up on our board! Hopefully in a few weeks, the entire board will be full. 

 Boys on a mission this summer!

Reading and recording!

They'll be spending the summer trying to earn as many stickers as possible...

...so they could open surprise summer activity envelopes!

Enjoy your flip flops and popcicle filled days!

I'm so excited that I was able to share today on Design Dazzle! 

They have always been one of my number one resources 

for discovering unique and beautiful ways

 to enhance the lives of my boys! 

Thank you.

  

 
Pin It
This post is linked to:   Under the Table & Dreamin, Nifty Thrifty, Seasonal Sundays,  Met Monday, Making the World Cuter, Tuesday Tutorials and Tips, HOMEWORK: Be Inspired, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, DIY Design, Works for Me Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Organize and Decorate Everything, Celebrations at Home,Transformation Thursday, House of H, Tablescape Thursday, Show off Your Stuff, Strut Your Stuff, 36th Ave  Show and Share Day, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Friday Flair, Design Dazzle, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up  DIY by Design