The Bean Jar

A bean jar is a great way to encourage your children to do just about anything. It can help with behavior, potty training, cleaning up toys, tv time, or anything else you can think of. We have been using it in our house to encourage our children to be nice to each other and do their chores. Anytime they accomplish something we have asked them to do they get to put a bean in the jar. They also get to put a bean in the jar if they are nice to their sibling and their sibling lets us know how nice they were. It is kind of reverse tattling-which it has also improved. We had a tattler that doesn't tattle nearly as much. Instead she tells me nice things about her sister. When the jar is filled the kids decided they wanted to do a movie night and pop popcorn. Any prize works-we found that if we just ask our kids what they would like to do it helps motivate them more. It is amazing how much this simple jar has helped our house. Our kids are quicker to help out when asked and they are also so nice to each other. So has anyone else ever tried the bean jar? What worked and what didn't?