This contest is now CLOSED.
In honor of JumpStart® Pet Rescue, the first learning Wii™ game for preschoolers, we are holding a contest of creativity, cleverness, and downright resourcefulness. Being a parent can sometimes push you to new levels of creativity to ensure your child’s best interest. Come on, admit it – you might have told your little one that drinking milk would make him as strong as a superhero or that sharing his toys would earn him a place on Santa’s good list.
Here at JumpStart, we make sure to pack our games with fun and adventures because when kids are caught up in the excitement, they tend to forget that they are learning all those great school skills too! This is especially true for JumpStart Pet Rescue – a learning adventure on the Wii designed for little hands and big imaginations.
This leads us to your challenge. We want to hear your silly stories of how you convinced your little one to do something that was good for them, even when they refused – whether they realized they were doing it or not!
So tell us, how did you get your kids to eat their veggies? Or brush their teeth? Or finish that math homework? Leave us a comment with your best covert parenting tactics and you could win one of 25 FREE copies of JumpStart Pet Rescue!
Please note: By commenting on this post, you agree to the terms and rules of this give-away (click here) and, should you be selected as a winner, consent to letting JumpStart use your story and name in announcing the winners. Sweepstakes is open to US residents only. Winners will be randomly selected from entrants.
JumpStart® Pet Rescue is rated EC for Early Childhood by the ESRB.
Congratulations to the twenty-five contestants who won a free copy of JumpStart Pet Rescue!
We are excited to announce the following winners: Ginny, Angela N, Kim, Kim, Melissa @Mel4Him, Jennifer, Cori Westphal, Lori, Terese Christian, Heather, Hollie, Tiffany Hewlett, Vickie Couturier, BrassyMom, Linda, Stephanie, Tisa, Angie, Kelly, Bullfrogs & Butterflies Boutique, Julie Queen, Kimberly, Aprilg, Lisa Ostrin, and Sarah.
Thank you all for participating! We loved reading each and every one of your responses. Stay tuned for more contests in the future!
I would let my son brush my teeth first…i would tell him to get all the cavitiy bugs off of them…then he wanted me to get all his bugs!
WOW! thats great!
The simplest and most reliable old stand by for having them get any job done…”I’ll time you!” It may not be fancy, but it works EVERY time for my 5 and 3 year olds. So go ahead, send us a free copy of Jump Start Pet Rescue! I’l time you! 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…….
I have racked my brain for a half hour. All I can say is the truth: I’m afraid all our parenting skills pyramid from my eldest son going through cancer at the age of 3. We have taught all four children (7 yrs – 2 yrs) about consequences and life or death, healthy or sick. The truth is what we abide by. So far, little have we been able to mystify or lighten things to make them do what they are supposed to do. I have let my son poke my finger so he would get his thumb pricks.
About the silliest thing I have come up with was to tell my second son that his uncut hair made him as strong as Samson so that he could handle watching his brother’s therapy. 2nd born had his first hair cut when he was four years old. Thank goodness his older brother finished chemo before than. What I wouldn’t give for a cutesy story like you all are willing to share. Now that chemotherapy is almost completely behind us, I need some covert things to deal with my 2 girls. They are definitely different than the boy’s hard core upbringing. I need some covert ideas to start all over in my parenting skills. lol
A big challenge i had with my 3 small girls was to get them to finish eating in a timely manner. Rather than nag at them, or yell at them… i thought.. how can i get them to want to finish quickly.So, one evening, my husband and i were done, and i said to him.. “honey, i spy with my little eye something blue!” and when the kids wanted to join in, i had to sadly say “oh, but your not done…” Later i even extended it to who ever was first done could start the game.
Another fun thing i created was when my husband and i were first together, our then 3 and 4 year old would ride in the car with us. I would SLUG my husband anytime we saw a VW beetle. One day my 4 year old said “daddy, what are you playing?” … we were instantly guilty because we tell them all the time not to hit. I looked at him and we instantly came up with the game “kiss bug” which taught our girls their colors very quickly. If they saw one, they would say “kiss bug, blue bug, im gonna kiss mommy” or someone else in the car, and the blow them a kiss. Later we had another child and when she was about 6 months old, you could hear her in the car mimicking the kiss sounds.
So… if you wanna play I spy, or kiss bug with our family, send us a game!!
I always had trouble getting my little girl to sit down and eat her dinner, she would fiddle for hours. Only if you finish dinner do you get dessert, so I came up with a contest. The first to finish eating their veggies gets dessert first, and they get to pick what we get that night. Now she will eat and when she wins she dances around the room saying “I winned, I winned”
For her pre- school work we have a special area and special supplies we only use for school. That makes it more special an she looks forward to schoolwork.
Right now we can get her to behave by threatening to ground her from her JumpStart. She does NOT want that to happen. LOL
1. From the beginning, we’ve always taught our kids that veggies is candy but healthier and you can eat as much. As they grew older I would make labels and draw cartoon character’s of their liking and or put stickers all over the can and who ever finished all their dinner could be dismissed from doing the dishes.
2. I’ve told my kids that brushing their teeth for more than a minute keeps the boogy bugs from “STEALING” their teeth. The word “Stealing” seems to get every kids attention Hummm!
3. Homework is an issue for 2 of our kids so whom ever does their homework gets ,25 cents and at the end of the week who ever has the least change has to give the other their money. The reason we give them money is to show them first, the value of money and you have to work hard for it and 2 who want’s to give their money up to their siblings, and thought of losing is no kid game. Life is like sports sometimes we lose and sometimes we win, and victory feels good. If that doesn’t work anymore and sometimes it does’t we just tell them, I will call your teacher and ask for an extra assignment and call. When they were little we just told them they couldn’t go to school.
The best way for my 3 and 5 year old to clean the table after lunch/dinner og pack away their toys is by their sticker chart. Every time they clean up or pack away they can choose a sticker to put up on a chart. The chart is devided into squares for dinner clean up, lunch clean up and pack away of toys.
They are so happy when they can choose a sticker to put up and admire.
Like most families, our house can get messy! So lots of times before bed we have a contest. Everyone has to run through the house as fast as they can and pick 5 things to put away. (toys, books, shoes, etc.) The first kid to put their 5 things away gets a treat…usually an extra book before bed. It works great because they learn to put things away, get some healthy competition in, and most importantly – my house gets a little cleaner. It never fails!
When the ice-cream truck is playing its music that means they have run out of ice-cream.
I have 2 boys and I wish I could have thought up something like that . Love it
For vegetables, I blended them and added them to other sauces. A little pureed carrot in macaroni and cheese helps it look even more like that fake box stuff. The best way to hold hands to cross the street was to pretend to be a long train, complete with ‘chugga chugga choo choo’. For tooth brushing, I would pretend that there was a small character in their mouth (like Barney or a naughty Sleeping Beauty) and I just had to brush it out–and boy did they like to run around the mouth, so I had to brush every surface before they finally went away. There is always making up songs for every activity as well. We “brusha brusha brusha, brusha brusha brush out hair”. And we would do a conga line to celebrate using the potty while singing “pee pee on the potty, pee pee on the potty” or the other depending on appropriateness.
My son went through a stage where he just didn’t like the look of squash or cooked carrots. He had always loved the taste, but couldn’t get past how they looked, I needed something to tell him that would get that first bite in his mouth….
So, we told him that carrots and squash were pirate foods. Of course orange foods help us see in the dark, and pirates need to see in the dark on their ships! Once he tried them, he would finish it quickly, I just had to have something more convincing than “you like them, I swear they’re good!” and pirates are a sure winner around here
How about one my mom used to use on me and my friends? She would always tell us that she had a special car that wouldn’t even start until everyone had their seat belts on. Then we would just sit there lol She would have to pretend to start the car a couple times to prove it, but then everyone would buckle up. See, telling these white lies is a trick passed down from generation to generation!
Recently, my children refused to eat their lunch, and pushed their plates away, then got out of their chairs…
A house alarm in the neighborhood began to go off (REALLY LOUDLY), and they started to get upset, wondering what it was…
So, I did what any mother who wanted her children to eat their lunch would do! I told them it was the food police, and that they better hurry up and get in their seats and eat their food before the food police got to our house!!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen them move so fast! I never DID have to make up a consequence for NOT eating!
Moments after they finished eating, the alarm stopped…only to go off AGAIN about 15 minutes later…I explained that another little boy/girl wasn’t eating THEIR food, so they were on their way to THAT house, now, instead of ours!
This is actually a story I wrote about on my blog but it fits here too:
We had been eating those little “Cuties” mandarin oranges and my son had eaten them and seemed to like them. One day I asked him if he wanted an orange and he said, “no, I don’t like them.”
me: “What do you mean you don’t like them? You’ve been eating them all week.”
Jake: “I don’t like them. They have castor oil in them (thank you Tom & Jerry).”
me: “They don’t have castor oil in them, that is silly.”
Jake: “Well what kind of oil do they have in them?”
me: “No oil, just orange.”
Jake: “But what else is in them?”
me: (ok I’ll play) “They have chocolate in them.”
Jake: “Chocolate, really?”
me: “Sure…why not?”
Jake: “I’ll have an orange too please.”
I guess that is covert. I was concerned that he would accuse me of lying to him but he accepted it and ate the orange.
Thanks for the opportunity!
The way I get my 7 year old son to brush his teeth is by showing him pictures of what can happen if he doesn’t. He gets the picture after that if you know what I mean.
I live by example, my daughter want to be just like mommy and daddy!
The easiest thing to get my son to do something is to turn it into a race. As soon as he hears the word race, he is up and doing whatever you asked. Works every time!
We have one 4 year old and three 3 year olds in the house, so we can turn almost anything into a race. They race for treats, high fives, and smiley faces on their charts. Good thing we’ve got four competitive little girls or that tactic might not work so well!
Also, since ours is a house full of little gals who are not fond of bugs of any type, we brush away the “sugar bugs” after breakfast and dinner. They don’t want to be anywhere near bugs… much less have them eating away at their teeth.
We have a sticker board. When the kids do a good job picking up toys or brushing their teeth, or any chore I ask them to do, they earn a sticker for their sticker board. When the board is full, they get $5. They can either put it in their piggy bank or spend it. Guess what they usually choose? That’s right, spend it. But it’s ok. They think it’s awesome to spend $5 and I think it’s great that I can have them earn the money the hard way. It has really shown them how hard it is to earn money and how valuable it really is. No more asking for a toy at the store or an impulse purchase at the cash register. Now I say they need to fill up their sticker boards and they can buy whatever they want! It works GREAT!!
Anytime I count it always seems to make the task seem to go a little faster. Recently we were at the soccer fileds watching games when I noticed trash that was left from a game. I asked my kids to help me pick it up. They didn’t want to at first but as soon as I said lets see who can pick up the most by the time I count to 50 they popped right up. Counting does wonders.
I think leading by example is the best way to go. I also believe that books are a good way to show kids examples of the right and wrong ways to go about things with out coming off to strong. I also think that when it looks like it is their idea it always goes better so I try to have my son feel like he thought of the idea and then he feels better about it.
I have used many tactics with getting my children do do whats good for them like food I usually do the treat thing you eat all the food on your plate you get one small treat out of the treat bowl! Brushing teeth I like to do games like who can brush 3 minutes without stopping or who can get there teeth the cleanest first. Veggies I have used carrots help your eyes see in the dark or spinach gives you strong muscle like popeye! Homework is the toughest one I help and try to make games out of spelling words and math flash cards to make it fun that usually works
I always struggle getting my son to help with anything around the house, especially cleaning up his toys. I’ve found that the best way to encourage him is to use a sticker chart. When he accomplishes a task he gets a sticker. When all the spots are filled up on the chart, he gets a small prize. We recently switched this to a chore chart with a weekly allowance and so far it is working great!
I think eating dinner is one of the hardest things to get a child to do. To get my 3 year old to eat his dinner we will split his food in half and tell him on one side is mine and one side is his. Then we say, “Whatever you do, don’t eat my dinner.” He thinks it is funny to eat mom or dads side of the dinner so he will almost always eat off our side of the plate.
To get our youngest son to brush his teeth and stay still, I would sing “the bristles on the brush go ’round and ’round, ’round and ’round, ’round and ’round…” (To the tune of the “Wheels on the Bus”.) We use the spinbrushes, so he enjoys me singing and making up other verses while we get his teeth all clean!
My grandaughter is a dare devil and at the age of 3 she was frustrated because when we went to an amusement park she wanted to ride all of the roller coasters. We started telling her at that point that if she wanted to grow big enough to get on the ‘big rides’ then she had to eat healthy food. It totally worked.
What works best with my son is reverse psychology. If he doesn’t want to do something most of the time my husband will say, “That’s ok I didn’t want him to do it anyway. Now I get to do it!” Whatever it is he is magically begging to do it! That’s my big secret and it works great.
I always told my son(9 years old) that it was better to come home and do your homework right away than to wait until too late. He never argued..but would moan and groan(a little).Well , one time I let him put it off ..on purpose ..and he forgot about it, then when he was at school the next day..he missed out on a fun activity because he didn’t do have his homework. I haven’t gotten a groan from him since .
Reverse Logic.
I have four kids. One of the four does not like to brush his teeth. I tried everything to get him to brush but nothing worked until one day when I agreed with him.
“Okay,” I said. “It is your body and your teeth so I will let you decide. If you do not brush your teeth they will not be healthy and may have to be pulled. My grandpa didn’t take good care of his teeth and by the time he was thirty he had none left. If you want healthy teeth you must brush them” I then showed a picture of my Grandpa smiling without his teeth. He now brushes his teeth without (much) complaint!
To get my girls to eat their carrots we started having crunching contests. I would go first and make them stay quiet. I would crunch my carrot as loud as I could and then challenge them to make a louder crunch. Even if their crunch wasn’t as loud as mine I would make a big deal and pretend it hurt my ears. It caught on and now we have crunching contests all the time!
I have a 3 yr old and twin 17 mos old….the best way I get them to do things like brush their teeth or any other “chore” is to make it a game. We also use a reward system.
We are working on potty traning and use a sticker chart. She has filled 1 up and got a new Dora game for the Wii, then then filled a second one and picked out another game. She loves to play them so that helps.
My daughter loves Jumpstart and the Wii! She would love to have both:-)
The trickiest thing I ever did to get my daughter to do something that was good for her was when I made my Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes (http://susieshomemade.blogspot.com/2009/07/tackling-vegan-cupcakes.html).
Putting veggies in dessert? Now that’s tricky:-)
Counting down, contests, and sometimes just good old fashion bribery!
Praise. If one child isn’t doing what they should be doing and the other one isn’t. I praise the one doing good. Motivates the other one EVERY time in almost EVERY situation!
Now, if they’re both not cooperating….all bets are off.
My little one is still to young to understand the concept of doing his best. So we do our best to be good examples around him so as he grows he will take on those traits and always “Do his best!”. We like to provide wholesome activities for him to enjoy so we only let him play family friendly games and watch family friendly shows. If we were to win “pet rescue” I am sure he would love it.
I’ve come to find with my 2 hardheaded boys and simply angelic daughter (she seriously never does anything wrong and is always soo happy) that making something fun is the best way to reward your child into doing something right!
If they see that its enjoyable to you they will also want to do the same. For example cleaning their room, we sing the “Clean Up” song from Barney.. its makes cleaning much more fun and an enjoyable task not a burdening one. Participate and so will your child!
I like to mix my sons veggies with other food as a disguise. Works pretty well!
My 7 year old loves all veggies except carrots. To get him to eat them I say they are good for your eyes. Then he will look at me at I’ll go why do you think I have to wear glasses now? The carrots disappear.
My 2 1/2 year old son has issues when it comes to eating dinner. Most of the time he will not eat off his own plate. Lately I’ve just been putting a small amount of food on his plate and I add more to mine. He will look at his plate and refuse to eat, so I act like my food is the best stuff ever. He will, of course, be curious and make his way over to me, try it, like it, then I put my extra portion back on his plate and he eats it all up and wants more. So far its worked very well and has even got him to try new things:)
His other issue is potty training. He is majorly into the Thomas the Train phase, so if he goes potty on the big boy potty he gets a Thomas sticker:) This has also worked very well.
I have besically learned as a mother its all about bribery, but hey, whatever works!
Oh that’s easy-I trick my kids into doing things they don’t want to do all the time!
The thing that works best for my 3 year old boy is competition. If he thinks for a second that someone is cleaning or eating faster than him (usually compare him to his 1 year old brother) then he kicks it into high gear and gets the task done.
My 5 year old daughter loves praise. Thrives on it. If I get my best baby googly wooogly voice and really lay on the praise thick for her cleaning or eating or anything else, she keeps going looking for more.
My one year old though…he just looks at me and laughs when I tell him no, or ask him to do anything, (that he can understand). It’s a good thing he is cute-the little stinker!
I would love this for my 5 year old-she is big time into animals, and rescuing them, plus it’s for the Wii, so she can actually play it! Such a fun game idea.
We try to make a game out of not so fun daily chores,its a dance or a song or a game to see who can do it the fastest,usually it works really well
My boys LOVE to brush their teeth so that has never been a problem however they are such picky eaters! I tell them they have to eat how ever many old they are so my 6 yr old HAS to eat 6 carrots or whatever! It works for us
One of my favorite tactics is acting like I don’t really want to share the healthy food!
Little Miss A: What is THAT?
Me: Oh, I’m having mushroom on MY sandwich.
Little Miss A: Oh. *squints*
Me: I don’t think you’ll like it though.
Little Miss A: *watches* Well…
And then I just smile while I finish up making my sandwich.
Little Miss A: Maybe I will like it?
Me: Oh, well I guess you can try a little and see if you like it or not.
Little Miss A: Okay!
Sometimes she likes the foods, and sometimes she doesn’t. She’s certainly surprised me with the things she turns out to like!
For us it’s always the what if scenario.
What if we didn’t eat our sandwich, then we would be hungry until dinner. And darn dinner is really late tonight.
What if we forgot to brush our teeth, then we may get cavities and have to have special attention at the dentist. The dentist likes to see our pretty teeth not the black ones.
Out of 4 kids, the 1 who gets done 1st gets 2 put a little money in their piggy bank, that motivates them for sure
I had a hard time getting my toddler to pooh. She was afraid it would hurt. I read online on a parenting site that one mom told her toddler a story about “Feeding the Creatures in the Ocean”. She told him that it was important to feed the fish in the ocean and then flush. Gross but I told me daughter about her story and she thought it was neat. lol Crazy.
You trick them.
Singing songs, tickling, being goofy goes a long way in our house. Making the most of the situation and having fun is the way to go!
My son has an embarrassing problem. He really likes to pick his nose. He will pick his nose in the store, at school, in the car and everywhere else. In order to get him NOT to do that I told him that his bugers turn into monsters and if we takes them out without using a kleenex they get big. I also told him that if he eats them they turn into bugs in his stomach and they will live there forever…
I know, its a little mean, But it worked!!!
I had my husbands mother take out her teeth and show my kids what happens when you dont brush their teeth.. ever since then they brush them and then say mom are they clean enough that they wont fall out..
We used playing Wii as a reward for going on the potty… 15 mins that day that he went. It worked great for him deciding on his own when he needed to go instead of us bugging him about it!
Well, in theary it should always be easy…that is only a dream, so the best way for me is choise vs. consequence! Good or bad. Most of the time it works.
I have a (just turned) 3 year old son who LOVES to play Wii. His favorites are Wii Play and the Wii Fit balance games….and he’s really good at them!!! He had no desire to potty train, but needed to be to start preschool in September. So we got a little Thomas the Train coin bank, and every time he went potty he got a special coin. He’d get one for telling us it was time to go, one for actually going pee and two coins for pooping on the potty. Then, he could use those coins to “buy” some Wii time. Worked like a charm!!! Nothing motivated my little gamer to use the potty like special coins to buy Wii time. He’s conquered most of the games he has….I think we should win Jumpstart game and see if he can master it (and learn something in the process) as well!!!
We have 2 autistic boys and 1 typical son who are all under age 8. We use animal and zoo themes to get them to do healthy things…
If we are eating dinner… They pick an animal to be and i am the zoo keeper and they have to eat what the zookeeper brings or they will get sick
If we are needing to clean up then we switch roles and i hide a stuffed animal in the area and they are the zoo keepers and they have to clean the “cage” for their zoo animal so it can be healthy and happy..
We just change the scene to fit what needs to be done
This game is so up my daughter’s alley.
To get my daughter to brush her teeth (she’s 2), I have to sing “Bigmouth” by The Smiths. Except I probably need to make the lyrics more kid friendly.
Most the time, we just bribe the little guy. If he won’t eat his veggies, we entice him to finish them for a piece of yummy bread. Another thing that we do is if I ask him to do something and he doesn’t want to, his dad says “oh I am going to help mommy” and he usually will want to do what his daddy is doing.
I would always give my kids two choices with both outcomes ok for me.
Well, of course we’ve watched Popeye enough to know that spinach makes you big and strong. Grandpa even “inflates” his muscles for my boys to show them what eating healthy does to you.
And when it comes to eating sugar, we often talk about how the boys will get sick teeth if they eat too much. And of course how it can put bugs on their teeth, although my oldest always wants to “see” the bugs.
My most recent tale was about holding hands in a parking lot. My youngest is the youngest in our family, by quite a bit. Her siblings are 16 and 17. She has been trying to convince me that she no longer needs to hold my hand in the parking lot, because she is all grown up. When we were at the library the other day I told her that I do not just hold her hand because I want to keep her safe, but also because I just like to. It is like giving her a little hug. She loved that and held my hand all the way to the library door.
I think god old bribery works wonders, even for our littlest one.
I recently posted on this topic.
http://sippycupchardonnay.blogspot.com/2009/08/wordful-wednesday-monkey-see-monkey-do.html
Having Papa do something unknown and scary first, helped my toddler see that he could do it too.
I hide veggies they don’t like in veggies they do! For example, when I make mashed potatoes…I mash in some cauliflower!
My two older boys (ages 5 and 3) are into playing super heroes and dinosaurs. To help them remember to clean their rooms and the playroom, I explained how difficult it is to fight bad guys and ward off predators when they are constantly tripping over obstacles (their other toys). Plus, I pointed out how “un-cool” it is for a super hero or massive dino to wipe out over a silly toy…haven’t had a messy room since!!
We’re right there with all the other bribing, tricking, and racing parents.. our little girl just started preschool last week and has been having a really hard time with being away from home, so one night before bed I told her a bedtime story about a little green frog who really wanted to go to school. The little green frog really wanted to play with all the kids, and eat the yummy lunch, and nap on the comfy little bed……the next morning I put a tiny stuffed frog on the back porch and when my daughter woke up I told her to look out there – she was so surprised and excited! “It’s the little green frog!! She wants to go to school with me!!” I told her to make sure to introduce the little frog to all the kids and let her eat lunch and take a nap when she gets tired…. I don’t know if it’s helping yet but I think it makes her feel a little bit better just to have that little frog with her all day
My little one has a huge imagination. So, when something comes up that he doesn’t want to do (like try a new food), I’ll use his imagination to my advantage. Instead of making him try the food, his imaginary friend or imaginary pets will try it. Then they whisper what it tastes like to us.
If he doesn’t want to go somewhere, I tell him we have to because his imaginary friend is going and we’re supposed to be playing follow the leader. (Making things into a game works a lot too!)
Thanks for the chance to enter!
After ‘helping’ my children clean their rooms over and over, always hearing the same complaint, “I don’t know where to put this’, I came up with a great solution. After supercleaning with them, I took our digital camera and snapped pics of each area: the closet floor, the shoe shelves, the inside of a drawer, the tops of the desk and dresser, the bed neatly made, etc. and I put a document together using these pics (ended up on both sides of 8.5 x 11 paper), slid it in a page protector and now I hang it on a clip in their room. Now I just tell them to clean the room until it looks like the picture.
The best method I have learned to teach right & wrong and doing what is best is by doing what is best as a parent. I have had to control my patience level. I have had to watch my mouth when I would normally not. I have had to eat things I don’t like. To set a good example. And really isn’t that what parenting is all about? Children learn what they see and live. So doing better as a parent is rewarded in watching your children grow and thrive every day. I try to teach my children that eating healthy will make them big and strong, so I eat things that I don’t like very much. But once they see Mommy eating it, they try it. I also teach them that dental hygeine is important. We all brush our teeth at the same time of day. I set a timer and we all brush until the timer goes off to get the “stinkys” out of our mouth. I teach them to be polite, even when you’re in a rotten situation you need to be polite. They have seen me get frustrated and really I don’t want to be polite. But I know it is what is best. Instead of losing my patience when they don’t want to listen to me about cleaning their rooms. I simply make a game of it. Now instead of me having to help them clean they help each other. They see who’s room they can pick up fastest and they love getting rewarded (with a sticker of their chore chart) for doing their chores.
You’re supposed to teach correct choices? Gasp.
I think logic and humor are the best tools.
When #6 was constantly arguing with #7 about crazy four year old theories that made sense to #7 but offended #6’s sense of right and wrong; we taught him that a wink ;~) conveyed tolerance and acceptance for ideas that were still formulating in the heads and lives of those less mature than he.
A wink and a smile lets #6 know that it’s ok for #7 to express himself right or wrong because that’s how we all learn.
I hand out “caught you doing good award” and suggest things that could be rewarded. I usually use chuckie cheese coins. They have clean empty medicine containers that they keep them in.
We resort to typical parenting tactics.
The black bits on lightly charred grilled food? Those are flavor crystals.
Orange flavored sparkling water? It’s not water, it’s orange soda.
Veggies? Better eat them so that you can be as strong as your little sister!
Computer game? Only after you finish two worksheets.
Toys all over the floor? See who can pick them up the fastest!
Not listening? I’ll count to three and if I get to three, no TV or computer games or whatever it is they really like to do for the rest of the day.
My youngest daughter is 20 months and doesn’t like to have her teeth brushed so I brush big sisters teeth first who is 4. While brushing her teeth I make a big deal about how great she is doing and go on and on about what a big girl she is and it works everytime because little sister wants to be just like big sister.
Also, to get our oldest daughter who is 4 to try a new food I put it in an attractive dish on the table and only serve some to me and dad. Then at dinner we ohhhh and ahhh over this unknown food and it makes our 4 year old feel like she is missing out so she usually ask if she can have some too. I will pause and say “Well, it is a big girl food and you are a big girl now so I think it would be fine”. I am amazed how well this works!!!
We do whatever works for that particular task.
For teeth brushing – my son and I brush our teeth together to see who can brush longer. As long as I keep brushing, he keeps brushing.
For cleaning up – we use a timer or sing songs
For eating dinner – ice cream for dessert as a bribe
For potty training – new toys
For my boys we get inventive… For completing homework we have a timer that you have to work on it for so long by yourself until we come to supervise. But our schedule is also set up the faster you get your homework and chores done the more time you get for free time. We also let them choose on when they do their reading most of the time they want to do it before bed. Whoever has the bedtime routine finished gets to pick the bedtime song. Same for in the morning.. Whoever get morning routine done first gets to choose first song..
My eldest son has ASD/ADHD/anxiety and my youngest has a SLD. I regularly encourage them to try their best at whatever they do and am constantly telling them that win or loose, I am very proud of them. Both my sons are growing up fast and I am noticing that they are now starting to show other children how to do their best!
To stop from feeling like I was nagging all the time, did you brush your teeth? How is your room? Did you read today or do your flashcards? I made charts where they could draw a star or flower or heart in the boxes on the charts. There was only the reward of completing the chart. I soon found out the reward was drawing on the chart!
When my middle son just wouldn’t potty train, we tried all kinds of things. He was almost five years old, and seemed capable of using the potty, but just wasn’t managing to do it. Finally, about to give up, I realized that all of the “expert” ways to do it just weren’t going to work, I had to think of what HE really liked.
So, I realized that he loves juice (watered down half way, mind you). So, I finally told him that he couldn’t have juice until he went to the potty. And — that was it! He just said, “Okay,” and headed for the bathroom. The next time that he asked for juice, I said, “Go to the bathroom first.” He was finally potty trained in just a couple of days!
For me I have found that for each child the technique is different. With my oldest son, if I could turn the job into a game (preferably something with a ball) I could get him to do it.
With my daughter, we used to use the Princess theme. We told her that princesses had to have good manners, and taught her how to sit and eat properly like a princess.
After St patricks day my girls kept trying to catch the leperchaun that lives in our house (he came to visit on St Patricks day and they asked him to stay so he still lives here). I told them that if their rooms were messy or if they left their toys out the leperchaun might hide them. Whenever they can’t find a toy they are convinced the leperchaun took it and they clean everything up so the leperchaun won’t take any more toys. Of coure they usually find the missing toy during clean-up. They are not perfect put their rooms are much neater.
My son responds well to competition. We use a stop watch to see how fast he can do things such as clean is room, put away clothes, Also, in school he wants to “beat” his classmates in reading the most books, having the most AR points, doing the most extra credit work, etc.
We also remind him to always do what God would want him to do.
My kids LOVE broccoli. I have them pretend they are giants in a forest gobbling up all the huge green trees they see. They love that!
My daughter is a tv junkie. She’s smart as a whip but loves to plop in front of the tube. She’s been reading since 4 but still has lots to learn. She is smart when it comes to technology. She has her own DVR and knows how to use it. Many of her favorite show are recorded on there. She knows that if I have to ask her more than once to do something or fight with her about homework I can DELETE anything with the push of a button.
Works EVERY time. LOL!
Wow, everyone has such great ideas!
For us, we are not as disciplined as we should be but we try:
Teeth brushing: I let my son pick out a toothbrush, bought toothpaste with Thomas the Train on it, and bout a suction dinosaur toothbrush holder. He would brush his teeth all day if I let him!
Dinner: I bribe with ice cream or homemade cookies.
Play Outside: He has to go around the house and turn off all the lights and tv’s and bring his shoes to me.
Potty Training – I let him sit on the potty chair while he watches tv.
We’ve got a 4,3 and almost 2 yr old boy (and a newborn girl!) who love games and hate to clean up. So we’ve turned it into a game.
We turn on the timer and they try to get it all cleaned up before the buzzer goes off. They get 3 tries before my 3 yr old declares it a game over.
I told my kids that brocoli were really trees and that they were really giants. We sing fee fi foe fum as we eat the trees (brocoli). This is always a hit and they always finish every last bite.
I sneak spinach into my kid’s subs and sandwiches and also it’s super easy to sneak into Lasagna too!
My 5-year-old is so excited for the Tooth Fairy to come and can’t wait to loose her first tooth. My husband and I have always told her that the Tooth Fairy only wants shiny, clean teeth. This motivates my daughter to brush, brush, brush those teeth like you wouldn’t believe. We also let this spill over into other areas of healthfulness….eating your veggies, not eating a lot of sugary snacks, getting a good night’s sleep…all of these things keep your teeth – and the rest of your body – healthy.
We tell our kids that if toys are left out in the playroom over night that the dog and cat will try to play with them and will probably break them. They don’t want their toys broken by the pets so they are sure to clean up before bed!
For eating veggies it all started with broccoli being trees and peas tasting like candy
They love vegetable now.
For teeth brushing it started a little late, my poor 5 yr old has already had some cavities and now she knows to keep brushing so she doesn’t have to go back–fear I guess, but it works and helps our 3 yr old too.
For sharing it is simple, play nice, or sit in time-out
I have a stubborn redhead so all of these things don’t work everytime.
I learned that I have to hide veggies in all of their food. I even put spinich in browines….they will never know and I will NEVER tell.
Such a great giveaway, thanks so much for the chance to win
We try to make thing fun. Or we turn a chore into a game. It works every time but sometimes we will just use a good old bribe
This looks perfect for my 2 and 4 year old!!!!!!!!
When I am desperate to get them moving, I start counting. I have no idea how high to count, or what will happen when I get there, but by the time I reach “2,” they are getting dressed, putting on their shoes, cleaning up, or whatever else I need them to do!
Chocolate works every time with my children.
I try to lead by example….then I beg! LOL
Thank you for letting me enter.
With dinner, they know if they don’ t eat the allotted amount, there is no dessert. If they get hungry, it is grapes or another type of fruit.
Our biggest issue is with their bike helmets. We are big enforcers of it and a lot of our neighbors are not. If we see our kids without their helmets on, they lose whatever they are riding for 24 hours. This seems to work!
First I’ve taught my girls that doing what is right is what makes you feel the best on the inside. Secondly we have a reward sticker chart. When they do something “nice” for their sister, when they pick up without me asking, when they brush their teeth, or get ready for school without me nagging at them, they get a sticker. When they have x amount of stickers they get to watch a cartoon, play the wii, go for a walk with me, etc.. I’m not above bribery
My husband and I wanted to have our oldest eat vegetables at dinner…so when we make broccoli or cauliflower…we told her they were Tinkerbell fairy trees…cauliflower was Tinkerbell’s fairy trees before she was given her name and the broccoli well because they are green like Tinkerbell. She loves it, and eats them all by herself now.
Oh, my kids would LOVE this! Thank you!!!!!!!
For veggies, I hide it in things like mashed potatoes and soup … for brushing teeth, well, so far no problems there (thank goodness!) …. everything seems to be a bride now a days though!
Veggies get blended up into a fruit smoothie and they drink them right up! They never know what hit ‘em.
We made toothbrushing a game. We do it with him and race to see who can get their toothbrush all set up and ready to go first. Then we scrub away sugar bugs. I found that as long as he understood what we were doing and why it was pretty awesome.
This game looks fantastic!
This is so silly, but when my daughter doesn’t want to eat her veggies, I say, “Oh, good! Then I can eat them!” and I pretend I am going to take her dish and eat the veggies. She usually will gobble them all up! I guess next we’re going to have to work on sharing…
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We have three children so far and are expecting our fourth! It is hard sometimes to get my 5 and 3yr old girls motivated to clean so I knew I had to convince them cleaning was fun, and in order to do it I had to be 100% involved in the process. I will sit on one of their beds and use my 9 yr old son’s Harry Potter Wand – it makes all sorts of different strange, magical noises. I can point at something on the floor and say, “books jump on the bookshelves”. The kids run to put the books on the shelves, laughing the whole time. It really works!!
We have races to clean our rooms. We sing songs when brushing our teeth and washing our hands. We have a chart that we mark off when eating our veggies and fruits. The kids love to mark of the boxes.
When my kids didn’t want to let me brush their teeth, I used to tell them to open up & let me look and that *GASP* I saw butterflies hiding in their teeth! Or ladybugs! And that we had to brush them to get them to leave
It always brought forth some giggles and got their teeth clean in the process.
I am the mother of eight children. We have used several Jump Start products in our home over the course of 17 years. I would have say my best parenting advice, is to be firm and consistent. With that, your children need to know you LOVE them no matter what. Unconditional love is a MUST.
I give my kids a clean never been used before fly swatter. I lay several rows of letters or words and ask them to swat at a specific letter or word. This seems to hold their attention and they eagerly play along.
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wow how to do that