Candy Exchange!!

It seems that since my daughter has started kindergarten, she is constantly coming home with candy!  In her class they give out smarties for being a "smarty pants".  On the bus her driver likes to give the kids candy when they behave well.  While I love the fact that my child is being rewarded for her behavior, I feel that candy is not the best reward.  Whatever happened to sticker charts?  If they behave or make a smart observation they get a sticker and when they get to a certain number then they get a piece of candy or small reward.  I do not like that they are rewarded with candy daily.  

Now my son is not in school, but he does go to grandma's!  His grandma lives in a retirement community and all the ladies up there just LOVE my son, but it seems that the way they like to show him how much they love him is by loading him up with candy and cookies. Drives me nuts!! 

Candy Exchange Jar

What I came up with is the...

"Candy Exchange Jar".  I went to the dollar store and spent $6.00 on little things that I know my kids will love.  I got tattoos (I cut them all apart), 4 braceletes and 6 necklaces, balloons, shirt shapped post-its (4 pack) and 8 buttons.  (All for $6.00!!  I LOVE the dollar store!!)  I put all these rewards into a jar and called the kids into the room.  When they saw all the fun stuff I had stuffed in that jar they instantly wanted to know how to get it.  I told my daughter that when she earns candy at school, if she brings it home and gives it to me, than she can pick one thing out of the Candy Exchange Jar.  I told my son that when he gets candy from Grandma's and he brings it home to me, he gets to pick something out of the jar.  They both eagerly agreed!  Each week I like to spend a dollar or two and add something new to the jar, just to keep it fun for them.

Halloween Candy Overload!

With Halloween just around the corner, I am going to try an idea that we learned from a Healthy Edge Coach.  She lets her kids go trick-or-treating and get as much candy as they want.  Then, when they get home she lets them pick out a few candies that they can keep to have over the next couple weeks.  The rest is left outside of the porch for the candy fairy.  When the kids wake up the next morning, they will discover the candy is gone and has been replaced by a toy or money.  

This is such a great idea! I am going to leave my kids $2.00 each and then take them to the Dollar Tree (where everything is a $1.00) and let them wander around the store and pick out whatever they want. Mom's happy and kids are happy!  Win Win Situation!!