coloradoparent

I posted these ideas on another site a while back and thought I'd share them on a board that gets higher traffic.

Here are a couple of good ideas to use as consequences...

For younger children...
Sorting. Give your child a box of Lego's and some sandwich bags then have him/her sort the Lego's by color or size. If you don't have any Lego's, try using some other items that can be sorted. You could make a mixture of various dry beans and have your child sort these out, etc.

Word Searching.
Find an old magazine and open it up to a page that has a lot of text. Find a word that relates to your child's behavior (or just any random word) then write down the word and the page number on a piece of paper. Do this several times then hand the magazine and the list to your child. Have him or her turn to each of the pages and circle the word once it is found on that page. As an additional consequence, you could have your child write a sentence about how the word relates to his or her negative behavior.

For older children...
Neighborhood Helper.
Arrange to have your teen do extra chores for a neighbor as a consequence. It is best to have the child do outside work that is easy to monitor. If your neighbor also has an older child then maybe you can work out a swap of some sort.

Anyone else have any creative consequence ideas?

Trina

The sorting activity would be a choking hazard for younger children.

As a former teacher and mother, I dislike forms of discipline that force kids to read or write as a punishment. I have seen this approach squash the spark for learning and turn kids off to school. Not a good thing.

I prefer natural consequences or ones that are some how related to the offense. Loss of privileges is also an effective discipline tool with our kids.

Amber

I must agree with Trina. I don't want my children associating reading/writing/volunteering as a consequence for bad behaviour.

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Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

HappyMomma

I tend to agree with Trina.

It reminds me of an episode of wifeswap I saw recently where the mother made her children write essays for discipline.

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The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable.
~Lane Olinghouse

Teresa

We always try to make consequences relate directly to the problem behavior. So, the only way we would use sorting would be if the child wasn't picking up their Legos. Word searching just sounds like busy work that doesn't teach a real lesson. I HAVE had them write essays on why what they did was wrong, and how it impacted the rest of the family, or society in general. The neighborhood helper idea would only be used as a consequence if they had done something against a neighbor and needed to make restitution.

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Wife to Barry
Mother to Brian,Adrienne and Amy
Christianity is not a religion like most people think. Christianity is a life of imitating Jesus.

Dadu2004

[quote=Teresa;66784] I HAVE had them write essays on why what they did was wrong, quote]


Are you a teacher by chance?

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Teresa

I do have a degree in elementary ed, but I'm a SAHM these days...and yes, I think that had a bit to do with using the essay thing.

The essays are only used on repeat offenders, btw, not for the first couple of offenses....and they get LONGER with further offenses. LOL

__________________

Wife to Barry
Mother to Brian,Adrienne and Amy
Christianity is not a religion like most people think. Christianity is a life of imitating Jesus.

Dadu2004

I just imagine Teresa at home with a 20' long chalkboard making her kids write "I will not put carrots in my nose" 150 times.

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Teresa

LOL....no senseless repetition here....no learning in that, IMO.

__________________

Wife to Barry
Mother to Brian,Adrienne and Amy
Christianity is not a religion like most people think. Christianity is a life of imitating Jesus.