# Rewards and sticker charts

**Should we use rewards and sticker charts?**

Whether you use rewards, like stickers or treats, to encourage behavior, or avoid them.

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Planned reward systems (CDC); Occasional incentives for hard tasks; Spontaneous rewards only; None (Kohn, Nelsen, Kennedy). Evidence: experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. Best settled: toddler.

- Area: Discipline and behavior
- Evidence: Experts disagree
- Best settled: Toddler
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/discipline-and-behavior--rewards-and-sticker-charts

## Rewards and sticker charts: what are the options?

1. **Planned reward systems (CDC)**: You set up a chart or system where good behavior earns points or prizes.
2. **Occasional incentives for hard tasks**: You offer a reward now and then for something especially hard.
3. **Spontaneous rewards only**: You give a treat on the spur of the moment, never promised ahead.
4. **None (Kohn, Nelsen, Kennedy)**: You do not use rewards for behavior.

## Rewards and sticker charts: what does the evidence say?

**Experts disagree.** Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh.

Kohn argues rewards undermine intrinsic motivation; no head-to-head trial in typical families was found

Sources:

- [Kohn](https://www.alfiekohn.org/punished-rewards/)

## What else is worth knowing?

Rewards can get quick results, especially for a specific hard task. Critics say children then work for the prize rather than because the thing matters. The two sides are often measuring different outcomes: short-term cooperation or long-term motivation.

## Questions to ask each other

- How do you feel about rewarding good behavior?
- Would we use treats or stickers to get through hard things like potty training?
- How would we avoid a reward becoming something our child expects?

---

General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=discipline-and-behavior&topic=discipline-and-behavior--rewards-and-sticker-charts