As part of my classroom management plan, I reward students for good behavior. I don’t like every reward being food related. Students have allergies, it costs me money, and children get a lot of sugar as is. So today I thought I would share about the non food rewards for students that I use in my classroom.
Before we get into that, I want to share how my students can earn these rewards. They can earn them as a whole class or they can earn these individually. I have different non food rewards for students for both whole class rewards and individual rewards.
For our whole class rewards, we have a class flower. I post this up on our front whiteboard. Students vote on the reward they want to work towards and that goes on the center of the flower. This is a good way to remind students what they are working towards.
Students earn the petals to the flower. When they get all ten petals, they get the reward. I love how this gets students working together.
There are a few ways my students can earn petals. One way is for students to have “awesome lessons.” That means during our math and reading blocks, students followed our expectations. I post these up by our class flower as well. They are things like listening to the speaker, working hard, raising your hand, and following directions the first time. If students do those during our reading and math blocks I give them a petal. Find this whole class rewards system to use in your classroom here.
Another way for students to earn a petal is during our centers time. I have specific rules for centers. They are work hard, rotate and get started quickly, use whisper voices, and ask questions to group members rather than the teacher. At the end of our centers time, students rate themselves on how they followed those rules. They do that with a smiley face, a straight fact, and a frowny face. If students get all smiley faces, they have earned a petal.
One last way students can earn a petal is by meeting our behavior goal for the day. At the beginning of the school day, I will have a student raise their hand and share something they think our class does really well behavior wise. I will record this on a laminated sheet that is also displayed by our class flower.
Then I will share with my students what the day’s goal will be. Maybe it is getting ready for lunch quietly, maybe it is being extra kind to classmates, maybe it is raising our hands. Then at the end of the day, we will talk about how the class did at reaching that goal. If I feel like they did well, then they earn a petal. If not, we work on it the next day and I may give my students some guidance on how they can meet that goal the next morning.
Learn more about this Whole Class Reward System here in this blog post: The Best Whole Class Rewards System Ever!
Okay, now that we have talked about how students can earn rewards as a class, let’s talk about the non food rewards for students that I use to reward my whole class.
Non Food Rewards For Students
Extra Recess: Take 10-15 minutes and go outside with your students for an extra recess.
Movie Party: Watch a movie or a show as a class.
Extra Science: Do a fun science experiment in class that you might not normally do.
Free Time: Give your students 10-15 minutes of free time in the classroom. They can play with inside recess toys you have or draw and color.
Read Outside: Go outside with your students and have them take out their favorite book to read.
Kickball: Play a game of kickball together outside.
Pajama Day: Have students come to school in their pajamas.
Bring a Stuffed Animal: Have students bring a stuffed animal from home.
Hat Day: Let students wear a hat from home for the day
Reading Camp Out: Have students bring a blanket or pillow from home. Have students silently read in the classroom where they get to use their pillow or blanket.
Dance Party: Play music for the class and dance together. Have students share their favorite dance move and have the other students copy them.
STEM Activities: Have building activities and other STEM activities set out for your students to choose from.
Heads Up 7 Up: Play Heads Up 7 Up as a class.
Four Corners: Play four corners as a class.
Extra Go Noodle: Add in a few more brain breaks throughout the day.
Directed Drawing: Add in a directed drawing into your day.
Lunch in Class: Have students eat lunch in your classroom with you.
Show & Tell: Each student brings something from home to share with their classmates.
Extra Tech Time: Let students stay on i-pads or computers longer.
No Homework: Don’t give homework for the day!
Indoor Recess: Let your students play with your indoor recess toys and games for 10-15 minutes
All of these rewards are part of my Whole Class Rewards System. It is even editable so you can add your own non food rewards for students to go into the center of your class flower. Find my Whole Class Rewards System resource here.
Another way to really motivate students to have good behavior is to reward them individually. I like to do this with a good choice punch card.
If I see a student working hard, but not the students around them, I’ll have them pull out their punch card and I’ll give them a punch. Or I’ll say something like, “If you followed directions the first time and put your paper away when I asked, come line up and bring me your punch card.” You can punch a card when students bring back an important paper or bring back their homework. Anything works! When they fill up their punch card with 10 punches, they earn an individual reward. Find the punch cards I use here.
I keep these rewards as paper coupons. Then I keep these rewards in a treasure box. Students get so excited searching through the treasure box to choose a reward they want. Most of the ones I have in there are non food rewards that students love. Find the reward coupons I use here. These are even editable, so add your own reward ideas as well!
Learn more about rewarding individual students in this blog post here.
Non Food Rewards For Elementary Students
Here is a list of my individual non food rewards for students.
Choose Any Morning Tub: Instead of going to their assigned morning bin, this student can choose any one to do that day.
Go Noodle Chooser: Usually I do not let my students choose the Go Noodles we do as brain breaks. So its a reward if a student gets this coupon because they can choose our Go Noodle for the day.
Sit on a Chair During Floor Time: If students are getting on the floor, this student gets to pull over a chair and sit in it. It makes them feel special doing something different than everyone else.
Eat Lunch in the Classroom: Students love one-on-one time with their teacher. Let them eat lunch in the classroom with you. Let them bring a friend to join as well.
Teacher Helper: Students love to help in the classroom. Let this student run things down to the office or help you at the whiteboard. Wherever you need, let them do it!
Bring a Stuffed Animal to School: Let this student bring a stuffed animal to school. They can even keep it on their desk.
Get a Note from the Teacher: Write a special note to students. They will be so happy when they get to read about how much their teacher appreciates and values them.
Draw on the Board: Usually I do not let students have access to drawing on my whiteboard. But designate a little space where this student can draw on the white board. They keep their drawing up for the day.
Extra Tech Time: Whatever tech time looks like in your classroom, let that student get 10-15 extra minutes on it.
Choose the Book for Read Aloud: I always read a picture book to my students after recess, I usually pick the book from our classroom library. For this student reward coupon, I can have a student pick out the read aloud book.
Line Up to Leave First: There is something about being the first in line that kids love… Especially when it’s at the end of the day and they are the first to head out to the buses!
Move Your Desk: Have the student move their desk to a new place for the day.
Sit in The Teacher’s Chair: Let this student sit in your chair instead of their own for the day. They will love it!
Bring a Show and Tell Item: My students are always asking if they can share something with the whole class. So it’s a treat when they get to bring something from home to share with the class.
I hope that this gives you plenty of ideas to use as non food rewards for students. Even little privileges in the classroom are a special reward for students. Which reward do you want to try? Leave a comment. I’d love to chat.
Looking for other classroom management tips? Check out these blog posts:
Meaningful Classroom Management Techniques
5 Positive Strategies for Behavior Management in the Classroom
