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When I first moved away from the treasure box, I dreaded telling my students. As they showed up for speech for the first time that year, the first question out of their mouths was "Where is the treasure box?" I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the backlash as I told them that we no longer had a treasure box.

My first year as an SLP, I decided to stick with the treasure box idea that the SLP before me had used. It was 1/3 of the way full of trinkets, and I excitedly went to the Dollar Tree to fill it back up, scouring the aisles for things students might like. Pencils, big erasers, small play-dough containers, bouncy balls, finger traps, scented pens, creepy crawlies, bracelets, sticky notes, and the like. I was so proud of myself!

The deal was, that when a student had 5 punches on their punch card, they were allowed to pick from the treasure box. 1 punch was equal to a session of hard work and good behavior. I thought the box of goodies would last forever. I was wrong.

In no time flat, the treasure box was depleted. The things that were left in the box were items that warranted remarks such as, "There's nothing good in here", "I don't want any of that stuff", "I already have this", "There's only boy/girl stuff left", etc. I was half bummed and half irritated. I was bummed because I really didn't want to let the kids down and I was irritated because they were being a bit ungrateful in regard to their rewards.

My teacher funds were already dwindling and I would rather purchase useful therapy materials with my money, as opposed to toys that would break almost immediately upon use or stickers that would get lost while walking back to class.

That's when I decided to dump the treasure chest.

At the end of the year, I let the students pick a few items from the chest to help me empty it. I broke the news at the beginning of the next year— there would be no treasure box. The students seemed okay with it. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do, but I knew it wouldn't involve the money it took to keep refilling prizes.

With that being said, here’s what I did instead.

These cards are fantastic because once purchased, the rewards will cost you NOTHING in classroom funds throughout the year. I rewarded my students with free activities instead of stickers or trinkets. And guess what?

MY STUDENTS LOVE THEM.

Now when they earn 5 punches on their punch cards, I let them choose a reward card. They can then redeem the card whenever they please! Most students would rather sit in the teacher's chair, have iPad time, or not have to wear shoes anyway. Will I ever get to eat alone again? Maybe not. It seems that eating lunch with the teacher is a highly preferred reward (but it’s awesome that they want to spend that time with me)!

The best part is that if you do not like the reward options provided, you can fill in your own text with rewards of your choice. This product is also friendly for non-readers, as I have included pictures on one of the versions.

All you have to do is print, cut out, and laminate the cards for repeated use. Once the student receives a specified number of punches on their punch card, they can pick a reward card. Once they redeem the reward card, it goes back into the stack for students to choose from. You can read more about this system here.

I put my cards in a 4x6 photo album. The child can flip through the pages and see the card they'd like to choose, and it helps keep the cards organized between uses. My students enjoyed this.

If you're interested in other methods of behavior management I’ve used in the past, you can click here to find all the blog posts on this topic.

You can find all of my favorite rewards here, on my Amazon page.