Comments on: The Marble Jar

By: boysnbiscuits

boysnbiscuits — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:50:08 +0000

Thanks for the great idea! We have a marble jar, too, but for a different reason. Our marble jar is full already, with each marble representing the Saturdays we have left until our oldest child goes to college. Each Saturday, one of our kids takes a marble out of the jar to add to his collection. Sounds depressing, I know, but it’s actually a great way to keep our priorities straight and realize we need to make the most of our time together. Here’s the story on my blog, if you’re interested: http://www.boysnbiscuits.com/www.boysnbiscuits.com/family/Entries/2009/8/1_use_your_marbles_wisely.html

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:35:19 +0000

Love, love, love this idea. Thank you so much. Perfect for my twin girls, now 4, who need that idea of full jar to understand patience. I also need it.

By: branflakes

branflakes — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:32:11 +0000

My kids have been fighting alot so I am going to put this to use and call it the kindness jar. Thanks for the idea!

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:41:29 +0000

this is a fantastic idea ! i may need to think about a similar (or exactly the same !!) approach with my two !

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:20:57 +0000

We use a similar system with Joshua. He earns marbles for many outstanding behaviors. When he gets 10 he can use them to buy an item or activity out of a bunch we have collected. Mostly items from the thrift store and most are books (his fave to buy!). He also may have some of his own toys that he can buy back that were removed for various reasons including not cleaning them up or not behaving with them. Works great and helps keep him working on remembering manners and following our house rules!

By: OTJenH

OTJenH — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:40:04 +0000

First of all, I just wanted to say I love your new banner. So seasonal and perfect!
Secondly, we are going to go out and buy some colorful marbles today! I LOVE to do the “catch him doing something right” thing with my son, and we have a system here with tickets and a ticket jar which has worked great. But it’s getting old and I really believe you have to change things like that up pretty often for it to stay fresh and motivating. So we’re going with colorful marbles and an ice cream treat around here, thanks to your suggestion. And my favorite part? They look so pretty in the jar!
Thanks-
Jen

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:22:41 +0000

Hi! i’m not too sure how i came across your blog, but just thought i’d let you know i love reading about ur ideas and activities you do with ur girls! i’m studying towards an early childhood teaching degree and nanny part time. Sometimes i run out ideas to do with the children i nanny for- so its so good to get more ! thanks.x

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:21:52 +0000

By: Amy @ Let's Explore

Amy @ Let's Explore — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:18:53 +0000

Amanda – I love the idea of using just a few marbles or buttons to work on one specific skill. How old is Josie? My oldest is off to Kinder next year, and I sometimes wonder if she will be too reserved to talk in class.
Tracy – I never thought of using those plastic links — awesome idea! Plus, math skills as a bonus — love it!
Thanks for sharing you two! Amy

By: Tracy Moore

Tracy Moore — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:03:44 +0000

I did something very similar with my preschool class: the kindness chain. I used those colored plastic links they use as math manipulatives and had the children make a chain 100 links long. Of course we did 10 groups of 10 in different colors so you could easily see how many were on the chain.We milked a lot of covert math out of the whole 100 concept. We hung the chain in a prominent place with a bowl underneath.The twist was that each time someone did a kind thing the lucky recipient was to tell a teacher and we awarded a link to the kindness perp. Of course they were much quicker to tell about their own kind deeds but there are worse things than that.When all the links were in the bowl we had an ice cream party. They liked it so well we challenged them to 200 kind deeds. We just had our parties this week. The beautiful thing is even though the chain is gone now they are still quick to tell about kind deeds.