The Nickel Game

Some friends asked me to post this, because it seems to be really working for us to get the behaviors we want.  First off, I'm a huge believer in this man--Thomas Phelan, with his "1-2-3 Magic" system is pure genius.  If you can get your hands on the DVD, it's a lot easier to understand how the system works.  It's not just a matter of counting to three, or we'd all be doing just fine.

Once you get the kids to stop the bad behaviors with the Magic, you can move on to his "More 1 2 3 Magic" for some good ideas on starting the behaviors you want.  In this one, he has a lot of good strategies, and I've used several of them with a little success, but I needed the big guns recently for the kids.  They were thinking they could watch TV all day, and I was constantly picking up after them.

In the back of my mind, I remembered Phelan's story of a long car trip to Disney World, where he gave his kids their souvenir money one quarter at a time as long as they were sitting quietly in the car and not fighting.

Using that as my basis, I devised a plan.  My kids are younger (6 and 3) so the money values may have to vary accordingly, but I decided that I would give the kids 20 nickels a week.  On Monday, they get a little dish with 20 nickels ($1) but they have to pay for their "screen time."  A 30 minute TV show, computer time, or video game time costs a nickel.

I will pick up your coat off the floor if you neglect to hang it up, but it will cost you a nickel.  It's not all negative cash flow, however.  I also pay them for doing extra jobs or if I catch them doing something good, and the money that's left over at the end of the week goes into their bank for later fun spending.

Another friend of mine has tried it out, and it is working for her kids, even with older ones.  The money amounts could differ depending on the ages of your children, but this is working very well for us, while at the same time teaching the children about money and math.