Marble Jars and High Fives

I have heard the concept of 'marble jars' for children many times but was not sure if they worked any better than sticker charts and such. At therapy the other day, one of the occupational therapists had mentioned trying them with her children and that it was working very well. I thought I would try them with Jocie and Mew, especially to help encourage Mew to use the potty and Jocie to try new foods. What did we have to lose? So, we took a trip to the store and let the kiddos choose their own 'marbles'. When we got home, I let them decorate their 'jars' with their choice of stickers (found a GOOD use for all the left over stickers they get from therapy 3 days a week! haha) Then, we all sat down and talked about ways to earn marbles(and how many marbles each thing would earn) and wrote them down on lists, one for each of them.

To my surprise, They went right to work earning their marbles. Mew even stayed dry ALL day for the FIRST time! He even was going to the potty on his own without me having to remind him(most of the time)! And he was proud of HIMSELF! Jocie tasted a few new foods, and was mor than willing to jump right in and help clean up the toys and such in the living room although 75% of it was Mew's. She was also great about showing us how good she could go to bed(and earn marbles in the morning for doing so!) Jocie also was reading the lists for herself and Mew. Whenever one of them would do something she would goto the list, find where that thing was written and let us know how many marbles she had earned. If this continues to work for more than a week I am going to be the happiest mom on the block! It was WONDERFUL! So far, it works MUCH better than any sticker chart or other reward system ever has for them, and it is actually quicker and easier for me to follow through on. BIG PLUS!

When their jars are filled, they will get to pick out a special toy(or other item of choice) at the store (there is a price limit on what they can choose). Then we empty the jar and they get to start over.


Another new thing we are trying is the 'high five'! Mr. Mew likes to touch everything and that includes other people, especially Jocie. Jocie cannot stand being touched like that all the time so this poses a huge problem! He also has issues with hitting, but not always maliciously, sometimes just because he 'feels the need'. So we were trying to find a way to help him 'fill the need' to touch and hit that would NOT be hurtful to others and would teach him a little bit of self-control. He LOVES to give High fives lately, so we thought we would try to use that. Now, when he starts pushing or touching Jocie and it bothers her, instead of screaming, she tells him, "High Five"...and puts up her hand and they do a couple high fives, he feels better, she feels better and we all move on. If he hits or starts getting aggressive, we remind him we High five, not hit, and he goes around the room giving everyone a high five. He also likes the give the high five over and over while we count by 5's to 100. Then he has gotten that energy out, he feels better, no one has gotten hit or had to tolerate his hands all over their face, and everyone is happy! So far it is working out great and we have seen a big decrease in the unacceptable behaviors. Hoping this too will continue to work like it is now! It has been much nicer around here- Jocie has been screaming less about him touching, he has not been as aggressive and as a result I have not felt as stressed over it. another WIN WIN!