Smileys for Kindness

With several small children at home, I was finding that by the end of the day I could easily remember their messes and mischief. But their little acts of kindness often went unrecognized and unremembered.

After some thought, our family devised a system of rewards. We cut circles from construction paper and drew smiley faces on them, then decorated empty jars and made smiley “banks.”

When I notice a quiet act of sharing, good manners, or reverence, I write briefly on the back of a smiley what that child has done and put it in his bank. Then, on a family council night or other evening when everyone is home, we open the banks. We read aloud what is written on each token. As an added feature, we sometimes have a “store” where the smileys can be used to purchase pencils, notebooks, and other items I have purchased at the variety store.

The children look forward to earning and spending their smileys.

But most of all, I hope they will remember the times of closeness we share as we gather together to recognize the good things our children do. Lois T. Bartholomew, Dawson Minnesota