You may or may not know, but we have 3 kiddos around here that are 3 and under. That's about to change because my twin boys turn 4 on Wednesday and our little girl is two and half. I've tried a million different things to keep some order around here and to be honest, it's hard to follow through all the time! I was a teacher in my pre-children life so admitting that is a little hard. We stumbled onto something recently on our trip to Florida and I've been considering making that our system since then but I hadn't got around to it. Our kids like money! I know most kids do, but I really hadn't realized that they actually get it. Fortunately for us, the amount doesn't matter. They're just as happy with a penny, nickel, or quarter as a dollar. So, obviously pennies will reign supreme at our house for most things. You can frown on me for bribing them, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! Plus, hubby is a financial advisor so he loves the idea of them understanding money and learning to save. I also really wanted a way to be more positive. This way when I catch one of them sharing, picking up toys, etc I can let them put a penny in their bank. I'm not going to do it every time because I do believe at this age we have to balance the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Hopefully this will help us as parents be on the lookout for a way to compliment and encourage them even more than we already try to. Just that extra minute of praising them, getting their coin and putting it their bank is another moment of one-on-one connection with us in this very busy household.
The most important thing to us right now is SLEEP. Our little girl has taken to getting up several times a night. Which is really increasing our coffee bill around here. Haha. Which means staying in bed earns the big prize- a quarter. Everything else is nickels and pennies.
We had a trial run last week (before I had worked out the quarters and pennies idea) and they each earned a dollar. I took them to the Dollar Store and they got to pick out their own toy. One of my boys kept saying "This is the best store ever!" Seriously, I hope they never find out about Toys R Us!
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| Showing off their money. We used pretend money and then I actually paid the bill. |
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| They were so excited to get their toys opened! |
All of that to say...I needed to make banks to contain all these good behavior rewards. I wanted something clear so they could see the money adding up. But, I also wanted something secure so they couldn't just pop the top off and empty them out. Seriously, I should hire these children out as toy testers- if it survives our house then it's a great product!
These clear paint cans that I picked up at Michaels were just what I was looking for. So, I whipped up some cute clipart of quarters and pennies and created a label for each one. After I got that done I felt like the top needed a little something so I made circles with a matching chevron pattern on them. I was able to easily make a coin drop with a flat head screwdriver and popped it with a hammer to make it cut through the lid. Little tip- don't do this while the lid is on the bank. Take the top off and put some padding under it before you cut through it.
Here comes your FREEBIES! I've got pink, green, and blue labels and tops for you! They are editable PDF files so all you have to do is open the file in Adobe Reader (not MAC Previewer) and you'll be able to put in your child's name, save it, and print it. If you've never used an Editable PDF just go to my previous post with instructions.
The font I used for the names is called "My Own Topher" If you want this font you can get it here, but make sure to download the font before you open the files in Adobe Reader.
Here's a close up of the labels. Click here to get your FREEBIES! Enjoy!
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