classroom shop

I could ramble on FOREVER about this. I. AM. OBSESSED.

This is one of my favourite reward systems/behaviour management strategies for the classroom (or for home, or OSHC, or babysitting, or for yourself, or wherever). You can make this work for whatever situation in your life if you really wanted to.

Now, I'm gonna preface this with a quick lil statement. I am a teacher. Not a psychologist. Not familiar with your child or student. So, take my advice with a grain of salt and know that this isn't guaranteed to work with every situation.

So...what actually is a Classroom Shop?

Well...it's kinda self-explanatory. It's exactly what it sounds like. A shop for the classroom. Name it whatever you like. "Home Shop". "School Shop". "Chore Shop". There's not really any wrong way to go about it. Whatever floats ya boat.

Essentially, students can earn "cash" for positive behaviours, hard work, being awesome, etc. They can also earn "fines" for undesired behaviours. After some time, they can use these earnings to "buy" or redeem a prize.

And, the set-up?

Right. This is honestly the fun part. For two reasons - shopping and decorating!

WARNING!! Don't get carried away with the shopping. Be tactful. Choose items that are jumbo packs and NEVER buy anything full price. Never. Ever. I only buy toys/rewards when they are on sale. Otherwise, it's a no-go. This will send you broke if you don't shop savvy. Think about it this way - whatever you would put in a prize box, is what is going into your shop.

Secondly, decorate. If you pop on over to Teaching Tiny Humans, you can find everything you need (for older kids and younger kids). I'll put the link at the bottom of the page for y'all. Make it colourful, engaging and so, unbelievably enticing that no child will resist. Put it in a space where students can see it ALL THE TIME. Dangle the reward in front of them, but just a tad bit out of reach.

Why am I obsessed? Let me tell you...

numeracy skills

They don't realise they're actually learning but using classroom cash involves counting, subtracting and estimating.

monetary fluency

With physical cash quickly becoming less and less used, children really have no idea how to deal with money. This gives them an opportunity to practice.

real life skills

Spending vs saving cash is something that, again, is something children don't get to practice much anymore. This helps tackle that essential skill.

Life's boring without challenges...

Well, duh. Of course there will be challenges. It's just not as rewarding if there wasn't a settling period, right?

It will take some trial and error. You will buy things for the shop that will have kids saying, "ew, I don't want that". Or you'll have the predictable "how come he's getting more money than I am?" or even the "someone stole my money". Ugh. Don't even entertain it.

Let's do a deep dive into possible boo-boos and FAQ's.

How do I know what prizes are best?

I always do a "shopping list" with students before I go shopping. I actually have them tell me what they want to see in there. NEVER promise anything, but you get an idea of interests and popular items.

How much cash do I give at a time?

This is totally up to you. It changes all the time for me. Generally, I'll give out between $20 - $40 at a time. If a students does something particularly awesome, I'll extend it to $50 - $100.

Same goes with fines. Depending on the action, the amount meets them where they're at.

What if students take money from each other?

I've never had this happen. Like, genuinely. Never.

I have made it so clear that I'm not about that. I'm not entertaining it. And, I give a very severe consequence. I say very clearly that even if ONE person mucks around with money, the whole shop goes. I've not yet had a child game enough to mess with it like that.

Try it. See what happens. Let me know how it goes.

When can students "buy" their rewards?

Again, totally up to you. I set up "Opening Hours". Every Fri-yay, in the last session, after all our work has been done, is when the shop opens.

They can only purchase one item at a time, giving everyone a fair chance in getting prizes. It's no fun if a student cleans out the shop before anyone else gets there.

I usually go through the roll alphabetically (literally just so I don't miss a kid).

If you ever try this or have tried it, let me know in the comments.

For now, if you've made it this far, here's a coupon code below (psst! It gets you the resources for FREE!).

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