Rewarding Kids for Helping Around the House: The Ant Award {Free Printable}
We’ve struggled in the past with how to {or if we should} reward our boys for doing simple chores around the house – making their beds, changing out the laundry, helping clean up the table, picking up toys, etc. We weren’t ready for a full-blown allowance system, and we didn’t want to reward their efforts with sugar, as tempting and effective as it may be.
However, after reading Proverbs to the kids at bedtime recently, Brad came up with an award for their diligence and good attitudes when being asked to help. We call it “The Ant Award”.
Proverbs 6: 6-8 “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander,no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
Although ants may be small, they are extremely wise in the way they labor. {Proverbs 30: 24,25} There is so much we can learn from this small creature - teamwork, persistence, and initiative. All things I want to teach my children and practice myself!
Brad made this printable image of Flik, from Disney Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and covered it with a layer of clear tape, so that we could use dry-erase markers to add and erase names. It’s a great visual reminder on our refrigerator.
It’s amazing how effective and motivating this small reward has had so far. {Let’s hope it continues for a while!} Once they all received the award we promised them a small prize {ice cream sundaes, a trip to the Dollar Store, a visit to the pet store, etc.}.
I love to see them spur each other on and take ownership in helping our house function more smoothly, but most of all I love to see them applying Scripture to their own lives.
Very cool — I might have to try this! We have a chore system purchased at our local educational learning store. It worked great for a few weeks until we kinda just forgot to use it…..oh boy. 🙂
Just got a text message from a friend that saw us in the new issue! Thanks again for sharing our story!
What a great idea! (And a really good movie, too… But then again, that’s what Pixar does 😀 )
One thing I’m learning is that ants are just one of many things the world around us can teach us about being better ourselves if we’re just open to seeing the lesson. Thanks for sharing!