Sticker Charts for 2 Year Olds?

synchrosally

A FB friend just asked who has a sticker chart for their 2 yo. She's making one for behaviour with things like "being a good listener", "picking up your toys", "trying the potty". I'm not sure my 2 year old has enough understanding for this to work. What does Parenting think of this idea?

DeerHunter79

I think it really depends on the kid.  I know that my DS understands cleaning up and get really excited about doing it all by himself and when I praise him.  He is almost 22 months

ETA:  I do not think that he would understand the concept of a sticker chart though

Swainb

I did it for the potty and it worked well, I guess it would work for other stuff, but we've never needed one.

synchrosally

DeerHunter79:

I think it really depends on the kid.  I know that my DS understands cleaning up and get really excited about doing it all by himself and when I praise him.  He is almost 22 months

ETA:  I do not think that he would understand the concept of a sticker chart though

I agree. I think praise is a really good thing. I think the sticker rewards chart concept is a little complex for my son to understand. 

DeerHunter79

synchrosally:

DeerHunter79:

I think it really depends on the kid.  I know that my DS understands cleaning up and get really excited about doing it all by himself and when I praise him.  He is almost 22 months

ETA:  I do not think that he would understand the concept of a sticker chart though

I agree. I think praise is a really good thing. I think the sticker rewards chart concept is a little complex for my son to understand. 

Yeah, DS and I just high five and he gets a huge smile.  As of now that is all it takes and I love it

tarebear9891

No way would my 2 year old understand the sticker chart. He would probably try to rip the stickers off of it. 

I think I plan on starting the chore chart at 4 with my oldest.  

synchrosally

tarebear9891:

No way would my 2 year old understand the sticker chart. He would probably try to rip the stickers off of it. 

I think I plan on starting the chore chart at 4 with my oldest.  

Ha ha. This was actually the first thing that came to mind when she brought it up. 

nosoup4u

I can't imagine it'd work *at all* for a 2-year-old.

kj07

B prefers high fives as his reward of choice.  He's a little disturbed about the stickiness of stickers still. (alliteration!)

Sonadora

My kid eats stickers.

write2nicole

Is her 2yo 2 years and 1 month, or 2 years and 10 months? I think that's a pretty big developmental gap.

I can see using stickers as rewards for a 2yo. Lots of people use those for potty training. I think m&ms are more my style, but whatever works.

I also think if I were doing stickers as rewards for potty training, though, it would be the only think he gets stickers for. Not as part of a chart with other things. I also think at this age, kids need immediate reward - whether it's food, stickers, or verbal praise. So I wouldn't use it unless you're going to be right there to give the kid the sticker when the behavior happens.

kj07

B's daycare uses handstamps as a reward in his toddler classroom.  I've never been there when someone has earned a hand stamp so I can't say how desirable or effective it is.  But it is immediate.

synchrosally

write2nicole:

Is her 2yo 2 years and 1 month, or 2 years and 10 months? I think that's a pretty big developmental gap.

I can see using stickers as rewards for a 2yo. Lots of people use those for potty training. I think m&ms are more my style, but whatever works.

I also think if I were doing stickers as rewards for potty training, though, it would be the only think he gets stickers for. Not as part of a chart with other things. I also think at this age, kids need immediate reward - whether it's food, stickers, or verbal praise. So I wouldn't use it unless you're going to be right there to give the kid the sticker when the behavior happens.

Her son is 3 weeks older than mine. I agree with the instant gratification at this age.

kllrbnny

write2nicole:

Is her 2yo 2 years and 1 month, or 2 years and 10 months? I think that's a pretty big developmental gap.

I can see using stickers as rewards for a 2yo. Lots of people use those for potty training. I think m&ms are more my style, but whatever works.

I also think if I were doing stickers as rewards for potty training, though, it would be the only think he gets stickers for. Not as part of a chart with other things. I also think at this age, kids need immediate reward - whether it's food, stickers, or verbal praise. So I wouldn't use it unless you're going to be right there to give the kid the sticker when the behavior happens.

This. When I potty trained DD I'd give her stickers for going. She could either stick it to herself or on a piece of paper on the bathroom wall. It wasn't a chart with a reward after so many stickers, just another place for her to amass her stickers. She really loves stickers.

amykins1283

I've thought about doing something like this for Liam but with "chores" that he can help me with, not for behavior.  For example, he likes to help feed the dogs, use the dust buster/sweep the floor, put away dishes/clothes, and is pretty good about picking up when asked.  I was going to make him a little chore chart with these so that he can start earning stuff for helping around the house.  Plus, I think this would work better than a behavior chart because they are concrete things he can visualize and do.  "Being a good listener" is a little too abstract for this age, I think.

Basically, I think it can work but only if the tasks are very concrete, not abstract.  Plus, you are going to have to have a lot of patience while your child learns the system. 

shortstuff15

My 2 year old uses a sticker chart for the potty, but the sticker is all she gets it's not a get this many stickers then get a reward, the sticker is the reward.  We started potty training a 25 months and she got the concept then, so I think it would work depending on the kid.  Now she doesn't really need the stickers, but we still give them because we are still working on the poop part. 

As far as other behaviors, I think she would get the sticker chart thing there too, but I dont' do it.  She knows what things have to be done and she'll do them without stickers, so why start now?  Like others said, I'll wait until she needs the bribery thanks!