Are we almost there?
He’s pinching me!
Mommm! Make her stop!
Are we there yet???
Ah, Family Togetherness…
Here’s a free, downloadable Travel Chart, similar to charts found in Rewards for Kids!, that can help make your next trip an enjoyable family experience. Whether you’re planning a road trip or traveling by train or plane, this chart and reward plan are ideal for kids aged 4-8. Just print out the chart, look at the examples, and read the instructions about how to set up a reward plan that’s customized for your next travel adventure.
Travel Chart
Click on the chart (at left) to download your free copy of the Travel Chart (PDF Format). (Note: You may need to adjust your Adobe Reader or your printer settings to print the chart as a full-page.)
The Travel Chart provides kids with motivation to behave well so as to earn a small reward. Plus, it helps answer that endlessly repeated question: “Are we there yet?” Children can see from the chart exactly how far they’ve progressed towards the destination.
About the Chart
The “Reward Road”: The road has a total of 30 spaces which are used to record good behavior.
“Traffic Tickets”: The ten scattered “traffic tickets” along the side of the road are an optional part of the reward plan which can be used to record misbehavior. If you are traveling with a single child whose behavior is simply annoying (e.g. whining, refusing to use the bathroom at rest stops, but then saying “I need to pee!” ten minutes later), the reward path may provide sufficient motivation so that you do not need any penalties. However, if children’s behavior is hurtful or dangerous (hitting or teasing siblings, tossing objects into the front seat which could distract the driver), then you probably will want to use the traffic tickets.
“Billboards”: Five large rectangles beside the road are used to give an indication of progress towards the ultimate destination. Before you start out on the trip, fill in the “billboards” with either landmarks, travel events, or mileage milestones - these will help give kids a sense of how far they’ve traveled, and what lies ahead.
Here’s an example of a chart that uses landmarks:
Our Goals (click to download) provides a place to list desired behaviors and those that will earn traffic tickets. Before starting out, you need to decide on specific positive and negative behaviors.
Here’s a sample list of goals:
How to Use the Chart
The chart can be used with a single child or with two or more children acting as a team.
Important!
With families with two or more children, it is important to avoid competition, and also to avoid having one child succeed while another fails. Putting all children on one team encourages cooperation and avoids competition. When working with a team, if one member of the team earns a “traffic ticket,” be sure to respond sympathetically (Oops, you slipped!), as well as to provide encouragement for that child to perform a desirable behavior, so that the rest of the team won’t get mad at the one who earned the ticket! |
Each time a child succeeds in performing a desirable behavior, the child (or the team) can “move forward” a space. Likewise, if a child misbehaves, the child (or the whole team) earns a ticket. Movement forward is recorded by drawing an arrow or coloring in the rectangular block on the path.
The goal of the plan is for the child, or team of children, to succeed in reaching the end of the path by the time you reach your destination, so that they will earn a reward. If your reward plan includes penalties, i.e. you give “traffic tickets” for misbehavior, then children must avoid collecting all 10 tickets before the trip ends.
Here’s two examples of charts in use, with travel events or mileage listed on the “billboards” to help children track progress:
Children’s pace in moving forward may not correspond exactly with the placement of the billboards. If they have moved further along the road before they reach the milestone highlighted by a billboard, compliment them and urge them to keep up the great effort. If they are lagging behind, urge them to work harder at their goals.
For the reward plan to end happily, it is very important that children succeed! So, put some thought into goals that are realistic. And, provide lots of encouragement along the way.
Choosing Rewards
When parents think about rewards, they usually first think of offering toys or sweets. While this may be your reward choice, you might think creatively about other rewards. Can you promise some extra rides at the carnival you plan to visit? Might you offer an opportunity to rent a boat and go fishing? Would there be a special craft project that would excite your child?
Young children may have trouble waiting til the end of the trip to earn a reward. You can also promise smaller rewards along the way for meeting mini-goals. Just be sure that the mini-goals are realistic so that your child will indeed earn the reward, or the disappointment of failing is likely to create stress and bad feelings!
Tips for a Successful Travel Reward Plan
There are many ways to fine tune the Travel Plan to fit the personality of your child. Here are some things to consider:
- Think ahead whether your child may try to progress through the 30 steps during the first hour of the trip. If this is likely, bring along extra copies of the chart and decide on a modest reward for completion of each chart. Or, limit the number of spaces that can be advanced within a period of time.
- If you are concerned that children may accumulate more than the number of “traffic tickets” on the chart, you may draw in a few more. You might also offer two different rewards – one for reaching the end of the path, and one for not exceeding the number of “traffic tickets.” During the trip, if children are accumulating traffic tickets too quickly, help them think of strategies to avoid misbehavior.
- If you fear one child will have a hard time doing positive behaviors, or will be likely to accumulate traffic tickets, include in your goals that children can earn positive points by helping each other behave well.
Click here to visit the Tips page for other ideas that can help make your trip plan successful.
After the Trip
We’d love to get feedback about how the travel plan worked for you and your family. Please e-mail DrShiller@rewardsforkids.com with any questions or feedback. If you want to send us a copy of your travel chart, we’d be delighted to see it. The first 5 people to send an original travel chart will receive a free copy of Rewards for Kids!
If the plan helped improve the behavior of your children and made for a happier trip, visit the Outline and Excerpts page of this site for a list of some of the other behaviors that can be improved through use of a reward plan, or you may order Rewards for Kids! by clicking the book cover at left.
