Reward charts: what are they?

Reward charts are tools for changing children’s behaviour. They come in several forms, including wall posters and apps.

Reward charts name or show a positive behaviour or goal you want your child to achieve – for example, saying ‘please’, setting the table or doing up their own shoelaces.

Your child’s chart shows how often your child succeeds in their behaviour goals. For example, if you’re using a wall poster, the chart might have spaces for ticks or stickers. An app might have stars that pop up on the screen. Each time your child does well, your child gets ticks or stickers in the spaces or stars in the app. A certain number of ticks, stickers or stars adds up to a reward for your child.

Reward charts are a powerful way of:

• encouraging behaviour you want, like cleaning teeth without fuss
• discouraging behaviour you don’t want, like hitting
• rewarding your child for practising new skills, like staying next to the trolley when shopping or putting all the toys in a box when asked.