How to Create a Good & Bad Behavior Chart

Parenting involves guiding, teaching and motivating children to become caring, responsible and respectful. Parents work to balance positive rewards and negative consequences to encourage appropriate choices and behaviors. A positive and negative behavior chart provides parents with one option for increasing positive choices and reducing negative choices. Generally, earning a certain number of positive points results in a desired activity, game, outing or toy. Negative points are deducted from positive points earned and slow the process of earning a reward.

Things You'll Need

  • Hand-made or purchased behavior chart

Instructions

    • 1

      Outline your behavioral goals for your children. Start with a list of every positive and negative behavior you can think of and then winnow down the list. This final list should include the behaviors you consider most important to work on right now. For a very young child, the list might include five or six items, all positive behaviors to encourage. For an older child, the list might be longer and include positive and negative behaviors.

    • 2

      Consider the rewards you will put into place. For a young child, earning the rewards should be simple and quick. For example, completing all the daily tasks and behaviors equals getting read an extra story at bedtime. For an older child, the rewards might be earned over a period of weeks and result in an evening at a favorite restaurant or a new pair of shoes. Good and bad behavior charts generally indicate the number of points to be earned for each good behavior, and the number of points to be deducted for each bad behavior.

    • 3

      Determine what type of behavioral chart fits your family needs. Easy-to-create behavior charts are available to download from the Internet. Alternatively, there are framed, magnetic charts to hang on the wall. Paper charts are easy, simple and often free. Manufactured behavioral charts cost more but provide tangible, movable components.

    • 4

      Create the plan. Fill in the spaces to list the good and bad behaviors. Indicate the points, tokens or reward to be earned. Hang the plan in a noticeable, accessible place. Depending on the age of your child, this would be an opportunity to involve them and ask for their input.

    • 5

      Communicate with your child about the plan. Talk with her about the plan during a quiet, non-busy time. Explain the system and answer any questions she has.

    • 6

      Monitor the plan regularly. For the plan to work, follow-through is critical. Remember to track your child's behaviors each day. Each evening, you might go over the chart with him. Be consistent with rewarding your child when he has earned a positive reward, and with removing privileges for earning negative consequences. As circumstances change in your family, and your child gets older, modify the behavioral plan to meet those new circumstances.

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