Free Printable Reward Bracelets for Kindergarten
Reward positive behavior in kindergarten with a free printable bracelet set. Let students feel proud to show off their great choices in the classroom with these printable reward bracelets.
Part of my classroom management plan is to reward positive behaviors. Often times verbal praise, high fives and encouragement are sufficient.
But sometimes a kindergarten teacher needs a way to reward specific behaviors instantly. That’s where these paper bracelets come into play.
If students have had difficulty with a specific rule in our room, I try really hard to catch them following that rule (even if just for a brief instant) and rewarding them with the matching bracelet right away to hopefully encourage that behavior more.
Let me tell you what rules they positively reinforce, how to make them and share an easy way to organize them.
A bracelet for each classroom rule
One bracelet is for each of the four basic classroom rules. The bracelets each state what the student has done to earn them.
For students who keep their hands, feet, and objects to themselves, they earn a great bracelet with sparkles and pencils.
When students are recognized for following directions the first time, they can get an awesome bracelet with stars.
There is a super bracelet with smiley faces for choosing to be an active listener .
Lastly, I made an excellent bracelet with polka dots for students who stay in their spot.
I definitely give out “following directions the first time” the most so I print tons of those. That’s because this rule pretty much covers everything else.
How to make the bracelets
Are you ready to make these for your classroom? Here’s how.
First, download the printable bracelets here. [terms of use] [downloading help]
Next, you’ll want to print the bracelets. You can print them on white or color paper.
Last, you’ll want to decide how you want students to put them on – will you use tape, a stapler or lickable glue?
If you want students to use tape or a stapler – then cut out the bracelets on your paper cutter – and you’re done.
If you want your students to be able to put these on independently, then you might want to consider lickable glue.
I wanted to tell my students they could go get the bracelet they earned by saying something like, “You just chose to stay in your spot for the entire story. Wow! You deserve an excellent bracelet. Go pick out a green bracelet and wear it to show everyone how you stayed in your spot. I expect you to do that every time we are on the rug.”
Then I really wanted them to go get it, put it on, and feel super special without any further attention from me.
I need to be able to have this reward not take me away from whatever the class is doing, whenever possible.
So, I found a recipe for this glue-like substance that will remind you of the stuff to seal envelopes.
You make the glue and brush it onto the end of the bracelets (over the rule icons) and let it dry. Then you can take the bracelets to your paper cutter and you’re done.
When they earn a bracelet – the glue is already on the bracelet – and they lick it to activate the stickiness.
I teach students how to lick the glue and wrap it around their wrist (or ask a friend to help hold it in place as they wrap) so they can put them on independently.
Teach them to pinch the bracelet (at the sticky point) while counting to 10 or 20 to ensure it gets a chance to dry and adhere.
How to store your bracelets
Now, let’s talk about organizing the bracelets and making them accessible to students.
I don’t really want to stop what I’m doing to have the student be able to follow through with receiving the reward, so I make them accessible and teach them how to put them on without my assistance.
You can use whatever you like to organize the bracelets – a small space in a drawer, a container or you could use a coupon organizer.
I’ve included labels for each bracelet if you want to keep them separate and organized.
That way you can make a whole stash upfront and use whenever – all year long.
There are matching icons for each classroom rule and those icons are on the bracelet to help students know which one to grab when they look for the icon that matches their good behavior choice.
Let’s be real
Now, as fun as these bracelets are, let’s be real for a minute.
Here is my disclaimer: if you want these bracelets to turn your class into angels, they won’t.
I have been known to make batches of lickable glue that don’t turn out as well as others {I’ve yet to figure out why} and the bracelets won’t last all day long for kinders who play with them or pick at them…
Yet, they still work for accomplishing the goal of recognizing positive student behaviors!
I still let them take their broken bracelet home as proof of their good choice.
I also teach them how to use the tape dispenser independently to make needed repairs. {wink}
I think it’s important to find opportunities for kinders to receive positive recognition that makes them feel apart of the classroom behavior system, even if they are on their own individual behavior plan (which applies to those super-tough cases).
But I don’t just use one idea until it dies… I will use multiple ideas that fit into our classroom management plan.
I find it helps keep my students on their toes.
For example, I can easily use smelly spots and behavior bracelets at the same time and improve the results I want from my students.
When I keep classroom rewards simple and age-appropriate, I find that I get the best results.
Does everyone get one?
This question came in from a reader:
“How do you handle, “but I was … too!”(said with Bambi eyes)? I feel like I would get roped into bracelets all day.”
So let me share that my philosophy behind this is that this isn’t a reward for every kid doing every right thing.
So, my response is that you 1) verbally congratulate those who are doing the right thing if they balk or ask when someone else gets a reward and not them… 2) and tell them – “We’d never get any learning done if all I did was give you bracelets every time you did the right thing!”
Because we know that’s true no matter what type of reward you give in the classroom – stickers, clipping up colors, Dojo points or anything. Am I right?!?
And because these are children in the real world we’re teaching – they need to know that not everyone gets the same thing all the time. Let’s be real about that.
3) I’d follow up with a statement like, “These are just a sometimes reward. Sometimes you may get one and sometimes you may not. But you can be happy for the kid who got one and be proud to know you’re also doing the right thing (just like they are) and you might get noticed next time.”
Yes, it is nice to recognize kids when they are doing the right thing, but these are not to recognize everyone everytime they do the right thing.
Here’s the kicker – I try to use the bracelets to my advantage. I personally used them a lot upfront at the beginning of the school year and taper off their use so they don’t lose their power as the year goes on.
If there’s a specific behavior I really want everyone to adopt, that’s when I go to finding someone doing the desired behavior and rewarding them.
Then, I can look for someone else doing it the next time to reward someone different (and also verbally affirm or mention other kiddos by name who are doing it too – or kiddos who quickly change their behavior to the desired one).
Conclusion
There you have it – how to reward positive behaviors in kindergarten with a free printable bracelet set.
Students will feel proud to show off their great choices with one of these reward bracelets on their arm. I hope you enjoy using them in your classroom.
If you want to learn the simple and age-appropriate classroom management approach for kindergarten, you just may want to learn the truth about kindergarten classroom management.
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
I am a retired special education teacher who has homeschooled her soon to be six-year-old for three years. Your behavior plans are incredibly spot on! I’m trying to think of how we could also use the bracelets at home, especially with the do it the first time behavior goal. So many problems in school today would have been eliminated if teachers had use your methods or head focused on the importance of first establishing behavior expectations. The first two weeks of school were crucial for me. I thought severely behavior disorder children and we had to establish expectations. Thank you for what you do
Here is a link that gives a recipe for edible stamp glue. http://www.dltk-kids.com/searchresults.html?q=glue
Awesome – thanks Tami!
– Leslie
These are adorable. Where did you find the recipe for your lickable glue?
Hi Joni, Thanks! Found the recipe years ago on the internet. 😉 Wish I could remember where…
– Leslie