Use this list of 13 elementary school incentives to gather ideas for your own classroom!
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Deiera Bennett is a freelance EdTech copywriter with a background in marketing and 6 years of experience as an educator. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching The Office for the 5th time, spending time with family, or looking up recipes on Pinterest.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Elementary school incentives motivate students by reinforcing their positive behavior and giving them a goal to strive for.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
Elementary school incentives motivate students by reinforcing their positive behavior and giving them a goal to strive for.
Class parties can motivate the entire class to be on their best behavior. Pizza parties, ice cream parties, and movie parties are all great choices, but you do not have to limit them to food.
Elementary school children will be excited to have a 15-minute dance party to their favorite kid-friendly songs. Since parties are an incentive for the whole class, you can determine which behaviors will result in a party by setting a specific goal, such as no sad faces on the behavior chart.
Trinkets are great elementary school incentives because, with so many options available, you can choose items that every student will like. You can find inexpensive trinkets at a dollar store.
Some ideas for trinkets include bubbles, bouncy balls, charms, and inexpensive jewelry. Add them all to a prize box, call it a treasure chest, and let the students pick their item of choice.
While this incentive requires some planning to implement, it can be incredibly effective at reinforcing positive behavior. Through a token economy and a school reward system students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points that can be redeemed for tangible rewards.
The key to being fair when distributing points is to assign each desired behavior a point value. The items in your treasure chest can be used to create a mini school store in the closet if your school does not have one.
Elementary school students can’t resist cool stickers! Stickers are excellent incentives for small tasks or behaviors, such as completing an assignment or tidying up the books on the bookshelf.
Students enjoy stickers because they are a way of showing their achievements to others without having to say anything.
Game time can be an engaging elementary school incentive. If you have classroom board games, you can let students play those, or you can allow the student to have time to play educational games on the computer. You can make this a whole-class incentive using review games like Kahoot and Quizlet.
Students who behave well can be rewarded with the opportunity to share something with the class. This can be an item from home, a YouTube video, a favorite book, or a special talent.
If the students want to bring something from home, place guidelines on what they can bring (like no pet snakes!), or approve items ahead of time. When students start showing and telling, it’ll also incentivize the other students because they will want the chance to share something that they care about too.
Students love helping the teacher in any way possible, and there’s a lot of flexibility with this elementary school incentive. You can make a student the teacher's helper for the day, or you can create specific roles so more students can earn this incentive. Some examples include line leader, paper/laptop distributor, and errand runner.
In elementary school, kids still love spending time with the teacher. They are eager to have uninterrupted time to talk to you about whatever is on their mind, whether that’s what they did over the weekend or their favorite toy.
Lunch with the teacher is not only a free incentive that students will work hard to earn, but it’s also a way to build rapport with your students. You can learn about them, which can help you create learning experiences that they will enjoy.
For some students, listening to music can help them focus or relieve stress. If you already play music for the class while they work, let the winning students choose the playlist.
If you have enough headphones for every student, you can also allow them to listen to their own choice of music.
There’s something magical about the teacher’s chair that makes elementary school students feel “all grown up.” To make this incentive even more exciting, tell them they'll have access to your secret snack drawer!
An alternative would be to have a special chair (like a bean bag) that students can sit in for the day.
This classic incentive for students will never get old. There are plenty of sugar-free candies and gums in the market, so choose a variety. Candy and gum work great as incentives for smaller achievements such as cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria.
A certificate can double as a low-cost elementary school incentive as well as a keepsake. Unlike candy and trinkets, which will be consumed or eventually lost, students can hang them on the refrigerator at home and hold on to them long after they leave your classroom.
Award certificates for categories such as “Most Helpful” or “Student of the Week,” but don’t be afraid to get creative! Take some of the workloads off of you by letting the students decide what categories to create certificates for.
Your students will feel like celebrities as they say the morning announcements for the whole school to hear. This incentive can be used in combination with another (such as a privilege for the Student of the Week), or it can be a separate incentive.
This gives the student something to look forward to at school and doubles as an opportunity for them to have fun reading.
As you see, elementary school incentives do not have to be costly or complicated. Elementary school students love these rewards but talk to your students to find out what else they like.
Want to improve your student rewards experience? Check out our rewards menu for elementary students.
What’s most important is that students feel valued and appreciated and recognize that positive behavior plays a vital role in making the classroom a special place for everyone. If you have success with these you can even add attendance incentives or virtual incentives for students to your behavior plan. Working with older students? Try incentive ideas for middle school students and incentives for high school students.
Want to really improve behavior in your elementary school? You should start by evaluating your elementary behavior rubric.
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