First, my only issue with this star chart is a small one: the mat is a bit thin so sometimes our toddler will accidentally pull it off the fridge when removing stars or roughly putting stars on. But in the product's defense...toddlers are tiny bulls in china shops, so there's only so much we can do without super gluing it to a wall.
Other than that, I love this star chart! It gives our 4 year old concrete visual evidence of how her week is going and lays out the expectations/goals for the week. I also love that the stars are velcro. They stick well and allow us to remove stars if the little one throws a fit or doesn't listen after the stars have been done.
We have been using this star chart for about two months and have seen great progress with our little one. I think having defined goals as opposed to just asking her to "be good" or "be nice" or "be helpful" makes things easier for her. We also spend time discussing her day and what she did well and what she can improve on the next day. It gives her the opportunity to celebrate little victories and to discuss undesirable behaviors and why we don't do those things (hitting, not listening, being rude, throwing fits, whining...) and encourage her to work on it for the next day.
We allow her to tell us what reward she would like at the beginning of the week (within reason, of course) and we remind her of the goal she is working toward every night. I think this is teaching her how to work towards a goal and showing her that there are rewards for good behavior. She had to learn the hard way about not reaching her goal and about how really bad behavior (an epic meltdown with screaming and crying because she didn't want to go to bed) can lose stars that she's already earned, which I believe is helping her to understand consequences. She didn't quite understand what "losing a star" meant until I had her remove the star from the chart and give it back to me. I could see it click in her head and she got quiet and sad. Of course, we don't like to see that, but it's an important learning experience and once she understood, she turned things around and had a great next day.
I want to say that she's not a bad kid. In fact, she a really sweet, exuberant child. But toddlers are tiny cave people and this is a great tool in helping to incentivize good behavior. If you're looking for a way to use positive reinforcement to guide your little one, I think this one is great. It also feels durable and I have no doubt we will be using it for a long time.
| Age Range (Description) | Kid |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Kenson Kids |
| Product Dimensions | 11 x 0.2 x 15.5 inches |
| Item model number | KPS-RE103 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Material Type | Plastic |
| Manufacturer Part Number | KPS-RE103 |
