Token Economy

Token Economies are a great visual tool to use with your child when you are teaching them expected behaviors and want to positively reinforce them for doing the right thing. Token Economies help teach children how to follow directions and wait to earn something (delayed gratification). When using a Token Economy be sure to be explicit with your child about what behavior(s) they will need to display (i.e. hands to self, asking for help when needed etc.) to earn a token (star/happy face/point etc.) and then be quick to catch them being good and reinforce immediately after each time they show the expected behavior. In the beginning to get buy in from your child, you will need to give tokens/positive reinforcement more frequently, and as your child gets the hang of it you can slowly start to reduce the frequency of the reinforcement. One important reminder is making sure you are using a motivating reinforcer or “end reward” when they earn all their tokens and that you follow through on your end with giving them the reinforcer immediately after they earn it. Have fun catching your child being good and check out the ideas below!

You can click below on the pictures or title to download a copy of each visual.