Kids incentives and rewards

We have been trying all sorts of ways to motivate and reward our kids.  Some work and some dont but this new way I read about has been working like a charm for quite a few months.  I think we started last spring.  So almost a year.  We do tickets.  I went to the dollar store and found some carnival tickets and we use these.  I use just a mason pint jar for their jars.  They decorated their own and it makes it fun.

So they each have their own jar and they earn tickets by doing things like anything nice that I didn't ask them to do.  Picking up extra stuff around the house.  I will also tell them if they do this or do that they can have a set amount of tickets.  Like if they stay in their beds at night and I don't have to tell them to be quiet and go to bed, they get so many. It was worked like a charm.  

I keep a bunch in a bowl that they can earn and put into their jars.  We reuse them.  If they turn in their tickets for something then I put them back in the bowl.  Except if they get some taken away because they were bad sometimes I will rip them up and I think it helps them realize they lost  their tickets.  

I have two different kinds of tickets they are used the same but its just fun to have different kinds.

So some of the things they can turn their tickets in for is $,  or time to watch a movie, if they get 20 then they can choose to go somewhere fun like this jump place we go with all sorts of bounce houses.  They can turn them in for money and go to the dollar store and pick somethings.  

Just this past week I noticed they had a lot in there and they hadn't been turning them in and I suggested that they could turn them in for money.  So they counted them up and they each got $4 each the older kids at least.  It was fun for them to get actual money.  They had a fun time.  Lexi wanted to go to the store and get $1 coloring book.  Max wanted to go get a .25 cent pop.  Sawyer just wanted to put coins in his pocket.  Which he usually looses.  

Its fun to see them get money and what they want to do with it.  They are just starting to ask questions and learn about money and how you get things by buying them.  How everything we bring home we bought.  We earn money by working.... Its hard work.  I think its good for them. 

They actually are pretty motivated by the tickets.  We can bribe them pretty good with them which is nice at times.  I have really loved how simple and yet it works great for our kids.