Incentives for Middle School Students - 10 Fun Ideas Sure to Motivate

Give middle school students the motivation they need with these inspiring incentives!
By 
Jordan Pruitt
 | 
September 20, 2022

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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Incentives for Middle School Students - 10 Fun Ideas Sure to Motivate

Give middle school students the motivation they need with these inspiring incentives!
By 
Jordan Pruitt
 | 
September 20, 2022
Teaching middle school requires a unique skill set and temperament. The most successful middle school educators are able to have high expectations while still having patience and empathy for their students.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.
Teaching middle school requires a unique skill set and temperament. The most successful middle school educators are able to have high expectations while still having patience and empathy for their students.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

Incentives for Middle School Students - 10 Fun Ideas Sure to Motivate

Give middle school students the motivation they need with these inspiring incentives!
By 
Jordan Pruitt
 | 
September 20, 2022

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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About the Presenter

Jordan resides in Lexington, Kentucky. He has experience in Public Education as an Administrator, Science Teacher, and as a Coach. He has extensive experience with School Discipline, PBIS, SEL, Restorative Practices, MTSS, and Trauma-Informed Care.

About the Event

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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About the Event

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

Arrow left
Back
Let’s take this to your inbox
We’ll send you our monthly newsletter which is fully stocked with free resources like articles, videos, podcasts, reward ideas, and anything else we can think of to help you make your school awesome.

Teaching middle school requires a unique skill set and temperament. The most successful middle school educators are able to have high expectations while still having patience and empathy for their students.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

All Reward Ideas for Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Snowball Fights (& Popsicles!)
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Line Leader
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Trunk or Treat
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Morning Meeting Leader
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Final Fridays
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Reading Time
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Silly Science Experiments
Grades K-5
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Meme Party
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Anime Themed Party
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Seat Swap
Grades 3-5
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
TikTok with the Teacher
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Board Game Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Podcast
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
The Big Ticket
Grades 9-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch with an Admin
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Blood Drive
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Free

All Reward Ideas for Elementary School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Family Feast
Grades K-8
Class/House
Event
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Donate $1
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Fast Pass
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Class Pet
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Pie a Teacher
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Cut the Principal’s Tie
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Video Game Rewards
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Sports Tickets
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Loudspeaker Shoutout
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Career Day
Grades 3-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Reservations
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Show & Tell
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Snack Party
Grades 3-12
Class/House
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Positive Note or Call Home
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Dance Party
Grades K-12
Student
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Line Leader
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free

All Event Ideas for Schools

💰
🎨
Karaoke Night
💰
🎨
Music Fest
💰
🎨
Art Contest
💰
🎨
Career Day
💰
🎨
Game Week
💰
🎨
Bonfire
💰
🎨
Meet the Teacher
💰
🎨
Fake The Funk
💰
🎨
Dance Party
💰
🎨
House Induction
💰
🎨
Theme Party
💰
🎨
Kickback Vibes
💰
🎨
Glow Party

All Free Reward Ideas for Schools

All Reward Ideas for High School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Brain Break
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Silly School Leader
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Extra Computer Games
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Emcee the Announcements
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Dance Party
Grades K-12
Student
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Passing Period Music
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Lunch Reservations
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Drop Lowest Quiz
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Donate $1
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Meme Party
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Classroom DJ
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Backpack
Grades K-12
Student
Tangible
Deluxe
🎉
👑
🎁
Kickback Vibes
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
School Dance
Grades 9-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Awards Show Afterparty
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Free

All Reward Ideas for Middle School Students

🎉
👑
🎁
Brain Break
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
The Love Soiree
Grades 6-12
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher Serenade
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Play Games
Grades 6-12
Class/House
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Teacher for the Day
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Free
🎉
👑
🎁
Final Fridays
Grades K-8
School
Event
Low Cost/DIY
🎉
👑
🎁
Tech Time
Grades 3-12
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Sports Tickets
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Design the Bulletin Board
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Books
Grades K-12
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Grades 3-12
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Grades 6-12
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Read Across America
Grades K-8
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Event
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Tutor
Grades 6-8
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House Induction
Grades 6-12
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Event
Free
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Loudspeaker Shoutout
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
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All Student Reward & Incentive Ideas

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Lunch Reservations
Grades K-12
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Privilege
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Create the Seating Chart
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
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Stickers
Grades K-5
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
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Tech Time
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
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Extra Recess
Grades K-5
Class/House
Privilege
Free
💰
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Principal for a Day
Grades K-8
Student
Privilege
Free
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Class Book
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
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Pie a Teacher
Grades K-12
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Movie Posters
Grades 3-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Water Bottle Stickers
Grades 6-12
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Student Spotlight Board
Grades K-5
Student
Privilege
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Pen Pouch
Grades K-8
Student
Tangible
Low Cost/DIY
💰
🎨
Extra Computer Games
Grades 3-12
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
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Class Jobs
Grades 3-8
Student
Privilege
Free
💰
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Gift Cards
Grades 6-12
Student
Privilege
Deluxe
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Talk Time
Grades 6-8
Student
Privilege
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Grades K-12
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Grades 6-12
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Host a Virtual Party. 🎶
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Grades K-12
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Grades K-12
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Grades K-12
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Grades 3-12
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Show & Tell
Grades K-8
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Morning Meeting Leader
Grades 3-8
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Extra Computer Games
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Social Media Reporter
Grades 3-12
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Student Spotlight Board
Grades K-5
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Privilege
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Virtual Talent Show. 🎤
Grades 3-12
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Event
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Stickers
Grades K-5
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Tangible
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Incentives for Middle School Students - 10 Fun Ideas Sure to Motivate

Give middle school students the motivation they need with these inspiring incentives!
By 
Jordan Pruitt
 | 
September 20, 2022
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Teaching middle school requires a unique skill set and temperament. The most successful middle school educators are able to have high expectations while still having patience and empathy for their students.

They compose engaging lessons but are able to pivot and change their facilitation as needed to ensure success. They wear many hats as their students have many needs. 

I once had a schedule that had me split days between high school and middle school. I’m a planner. I take a curriculum map and make a copy for myself. I then break it down into units. 

Then I break the units down into months. Then the months into weeks. Then the weeks into daily lessons. Then I add hyperlinks to the daily lessons. 

So I have a very over-the-top planning calendar for my classes. I’m not alone in this. Some of you go way deeper than I do! 

My background is in high school, and my lesson planning method has served me well in that role. The reason I mention this is that when I got this assignment for middle school I did the same process for that class as I did my others. 

What I found was that I had a lot of preconceptions about pacing that needed to be adjusted for that course. This may seem obvious, but your grade level matters! 

I had lessons that took too much time. Not enough time. Lessons that didn’t engage at the level I expected. Lessons that engaged so well they created classroom management issues! 

The point I’m making here is that I learned a great deal about teaching from this group of middle schoolers. They probably taught me as much as I taught them! That is what made it so much fun! 

Aside from the mechanics of planning and teaching I also found that the incentives I had been using with my high schoolers weren’t the same motivators for these students. 

I had to come up with a different incentive plan that met their wants and interests. 

Why are Incentives Important For Middle School?

An incentive is anything that motivates or encourages one to do something. It can be for products and services that a company needs to sell at a higher volume. Maybe they impact our health.

Incentives are extremely useful and successful at accelerating programs that need a boost. Educators would like to teach rooms full of self-motivated, eagerness to learn, ready to succeed students. 

But if you have ever stood in front of a group of 7th graders on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you know that isn’t always the case! Sometimes you need a little something extra to get your lesson over the finish line.

Considering how many advertisements you see with “deals”, “discounts”, or “coupons” it would appear that businesses feel like incentive programs don’t just work, they are necessary for business. 

The government offers tax breaks on things they want us to buy more of. They offer cash for programs they want to see succeed like my district offering a small cash bonus for teachers to get their covid vaccine. 

It would seem that the government values incentives just as much as business. 

Educators should value incentives as well. We need to reach the unreachable. We need to stimulate the unmotivated. We need to push those who do barely enough. We need to provide a carrot for the high achievers to go above and beyond what they thought they could do. 

If you're a middle school teacher you know that motivation and morale matter a great deal. Not just for student engagement and success, but for your sanity as well! 

We need to utilize incentives with our students. Keep reading for some ideas on how to engage your middle schoolers in the learning process with incentives.

Incentives Guaranteed to Improve Behavior

1. Fidgets

Keep a class set of fidgets for students to access and play with if they meet goals. Fidget spinners, mini skateboards, stress balls, finger traps, etc.

Middle School Student Incentives

2. Drinks

Have a mini-fridge in your room? Stock it with kids' drinks like Capri-Suns or Kool-Aid Jammers. Offer those as rewards for meeting classroom expectations.

3. Stickers

We have mentioned this one before, everyone likes stickers! 

Middle School Student Incentives

4. Dress Code Exemptions

Theme days that emphasize wearing fun or silly things that are normally out of the dress code are always a fun way to incentivize students or just to break up the monotony of the school year.

5. Homework Passes

Print out passes and laminate them. Allow students to earn them for academic goals.

Middle School Student Incentives

6. Movement Breaks

Build-in movement breaks for your classes. Announce them ahead of time and with the caveat that your students meet a short-term goal to get there.

7. The Great Outdoors 

This one isn’t age-specific. We all need a little sunshine sometimes. In fact, if I finish this article before lunch I will be eating outside today. See, works for adults as well!

Middle School Student Incentives

8. Preferential Seating

This could be within your seating chart or you may provide some alternative seating options like different chairs, beanbags, or carpets.

9. Extension Choices

Allow students to choose from a variety of extension activities if they meet your daily goals. These can be cheaply created and re-used all year long.

10. Keep Score

When in doubt, I like to appeal to students' competitive instincts. No better way than to start keeping score. 

Make your big exam review into a game. Split them up into teams. Elect captains. Name a scorekeeper. Keep it fun.

Go all out. Wear a referee jersey if you got it.

Middle School Student Incentives

Keeping it Positive

Teaching middle school is certainly challenging. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! There is no better incentive than injecting a little fun into your daily routine. 

If you utilize the ideas above or use your own, the key to any of these is keeping it positive. Be careful not to incentivize with the threat of punishment. 

Sure you can intimidate your way to short-term success, but your short-term gains will hamper your long-term progress as you will be sacrificing morale and relationships for immediate motivation. 

Have fun with it and you’ll create a “get to” mindset instead of a “have to” one. Don't teach middle school? We also have some great ideas for elementary school incentives and high school incentives as well! Need more help motivating middle school student students? Dive into our Behavior Rubric examples or check out our guide to using student voice to create prizes for middle school students.

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Parking Spots
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Bonfire
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Partner Work
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Grades K-5
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Grades K-12
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Want more ideas?

Rewards that Rock 🎸 has 100+ rewards, incentives, and event ideas to build your school culture.
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Learn more about the author, 
Jordan Pruitt
 

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