Summer break can be a blast. It can also be a head-ache with all of the kids home and schedules thrown out of whack. That is why the first craft in our summer series is this DIY kids behavior system. Nearly all of the materials come in the Michael’s Creative Play Kit which you can read about on Bust Summer Boredom with Weekly Crafts. If you already got your kit then you are ready to get on to the tutorial. Let’s get ready to rock your summer parenting!
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Materials
- Craft Stick People
- Construction Paper
- Glue Stick
- Scissors
- 2 Pipe Cleaners
- Colored Pencils
- Clear Tape
- Empty Drink Container (I used a Crystal Light container)
Step 1
Tear a small stack of construction paper into fourths.
Step 2
Next, give each child a craft stick person, a fourth of paper stack, glue stick, and scissors.
Step 3
Allow kids to decorate or dress their craft stick people.
Note:
- My 8 year old carefully traced his craft stick outline to make a shirt and pants for his. Then he drew the face and shoes with colored pencils. The 4 year old wanted to cover every part of hers with different pieces of paper. The 3 year old cried the whole time because he couldn’t have googly eyes. Hopefully, that illustrates the diversity of this process. Lol!
Step 4
While the kids are decorating their stick people, clean your drink container.
Step 5
Next, cut a rectangular opening in the top.
Tips:
- Use a very sharp box cutter to do this.
- I recommend scoring where you want to make your cuts first. I didn’t which is why I ended up with a jagged cut-out.
Step 6
Cut a strip of red construction paper that is roughly as wide as a third of your drink container’s length.
Step 7
Next, use the red construction paper as a guide to cut out strips of green and yellow construction paper.
Step 8
Take your lid off of your container and cover the right third of your container with the red construction paper strip. Secure it with tape.
Tip:
- Start in an area so that your overlap doesn’t fall over the opening on top.
Step 9
Cut through the paper covering your opening and fold down on the inside.
Step 10
Next, attach your green strip to the left side with tape.
Step 11
Repeat step 9 with the green paper.
Step 12
Lastly, wrap your yellow paper around the center of your container and secure with tape.
Tip:
- I secured the end of all of my strips to the container with tape before wrapping them. You don’t have to do that with the red and green but you need to do that for the yellow strip.
Step 13
Cut through the yellow paper over the opening and secure folded inside with tape.
Step 14
Carefully reattach your lid to your container.
Step 15
Next, wrap a yellow pipe cleaner around the seam of the red and yellow paper strips and twist to secure.
Step 16
Then create a loop by twisting the ends of the excess together.
Step 17
Repeat steps 14 and 15 on the green and yellow seam.
Step 18
Use the loops to hang your behavior system on the wall and add your kids’ craft stick people.
Tip:
- You may want to label the stick people to help you keep them straight until you learn whose is whose.
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How to Use the DIY Kids Behavior System
The behavior system works as a visual indicator for kids. If their thick people are in the green then their behavior is good. If they get a warning for bad behavior the sticks go to yellow. Red means that they lost out on any reward for the day.
Rewards
Daily rewards should be something small but still incentive for good behavior. You can use candy, such as Skittles or M&M’s, or extra game/TV time. Stickers or temporary tattoos also work very well for younger kids.
This DIY kids behavior system is perfect for encouraging great behavior during the summer. We have added in the addition that you can earn your way back to green from yellow with exceptional behavior. However, once you hit red, you have lost the chance of a reward for the day. Another option is a bigger reward for ending the day on green and a smaller reward for ending on yellow. Choose the method that works best for your family. If you haven’t snagged your Creative Play Kit, check it out here!
See where I’m linking up!
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