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Kudos! for Kids:
What does Kudos! for Kids include?
Gameboard
The Kudos! for Kids gameboard is displayed on a prominent wall in your home. It includes the following areas:
- The Photo spot is where a current picture of the child is placed. This should be a large, smiley-faced picture or some action picture the child is proud of. This gives the child ownership of the chart and fosters personal pride.
- The Heart to Heart hook is where the Heart to Heart game card of the day is placed. There are 23 different games (plus 2 Parent choice cards) that are suggested in these instructions but you can invent as many more as you desire for your own family. Each game emphasizes a positive behavior and value parents may want to strengthen in the home. The card the parent displays puts each child on notice about which behavior is being especially rewarded that day. It is probably best if you have all the children play the same game on any given day but some families have played a different game for each child. The games are designed to build self-discipline and values. Make them fun and easy enough for the children to be successful, but not too easy. Remember to give praise (reinforcement) for desirable behavior; don't ignore it. When you begin a new game don't forget to continue to intermittently reward behavior they have learned from previous games. Weeks after you have played the "I'd be happy to" game and a child remembers to say "I'd be happy to!" reinforce that behavior.
- The Medal of Honor hook is where the Medal of Honor card is hung after the child earns it. To earn this high honor the child works through the trust issues of honesty, accountability, responsibility and good judgment. One side of the card indicates, "I am working on becoming trustworthy". This side of the card is shown when the child is working on becoming trustworthy. When a child has demonstrated his ability and willingness to be trustworthy in an age appropriate manner, the card is turned over and the Medal of Honor side is shown declaring "I am Trustworthy". Being trusted is a high honor, a very great achievement and an ongoing commitment is required to maintain trustworthy status. When a person is trustworthy many privileges and opportunities are available that are not available to those who are not trustworthy. This honor is earned and maintained through constant adherence to the highest standards of integrity and effort. Parents must explain what honesty, accountability, responsibility and good judgment are, but more importantly they must live that standard and set a worthy example for their children to follow. If the child lies or in some other way fails to be trustworthy on some significant point, the card is reversed again and the trustworthy status must be re-earned. Do not make this game so tough that a child never has a chance, but not too easy either. The average child will earn and lose this Medal of Honor many times before they really understand and become truly trustworthy. Reward efforts; but don't expect perfect performance.
- The Kudo King card hook is where the children accumulate all their hard-earned Kudo King cards for superior performances, attitudes and behaviors during the day. If they have done all their work and have been really good all day they earn this award. The kids do not compete with each other for this award. Everyone, no one, or just one or two children can earn this award; it all depends on how each individual person acts during the day. Reward cooperation, not competition. Kudo King cards are accumulated and saved for very special privileges that are listed on the Kudo King Rewards sheet.
- Kudo Kash - Kids must learn how to earn, save, budget and spend money. Therefore, over $1,000.00 in Kudo Kash is available in each Kudos! for Kids program. Actually earning and handling money is essential in preparing a child for adult life. It has been said that the biggest single cause for divorce is the mismanagement of money. In America we have not been doing a very commendable job as parents preparing our children to manage their financial affairs as adults. As children mature you may need more money as they begin to save for car insurance, college, etc.
- The My Stuff hook holds job cards for all the things for which the child is personally responsible on a daily basis. These 29 cards have a special red border so they can be used by children who don't read yet. They are normally attached by a ring to a lanyard or neck strap, which hangs around the child's neck. As the job on each card is completed, the card is flipped to the back of the stack. When all the jobs are done (including Daily and Weekly Jobs), the cards are brought to a parent to check. A quality check might be necessary at first (until the child is well trained) to see if the jobs are indeed done and up to standard. The job cards hanging around a child's neck are a great reminder to stay on task. A Speedy Card is awarded for finishing on time and is one of the requirements which -- along with superior efforts and behavior -- qualify the child to earn Kudo King status and to play the Kudo King game at the end of the day.
- The hook for Daily Jobs is for jobs assigned to that child that will vary from day to day but that must be completed that day. There are about 60 job cards for just about any job you can think of. There are also two Parent Choice cards to add any job we might have missed...such as, Feed the Alligators or Wash the Boat. These jobs are selected by the parents according to what needs to be done around the house but that usually do not need to be done every day such as mop the kitchen floor or clean the bathroom. Completing the Daily Job is a requirement for being Kudo King of the Day. Each day, the child should refer to the Daily Jobs hook to see which job/s the parent has selected to do that day.
- The hook for Weekly Jobs is for jobs assigned to that child that will last for one week. Some of these jobs must be completed each day for the home to run smoothly, such as doing the dishes or preparing meals. Other jobs such as cutting the lawn and doing laundry are examples of a weekly job that might need to be done only once during the week. These jobs will probably be rotated between the children each week. The child should check the Daily and Weekly Job area of the chart each day to see what is required. These daily and weekly jobs are often given to the lowest bidder. Kids need money for all their activities, etc., so mom might bid out the dishes, "Who'll do evening dishes for $3.00 a night?" Three kids raise their hands. "OK! 2.50?" Two kids raise their hands. $2.00" One kid raises his hand. "Fine, Tommy will do the evening dishes every night for one week for $2.00 a night. Now we will bid out vacuuming the front room each day. We will start with $2.00!"
- The Target Behavior hook is used to focus on certain desirable or undesirable behaviors the parent and child wish to work on. First, the parent and child mutually define the behavior they want to develop or eliminate. For instance a child might decide as a target behavior to stop biting her fingernails: "After I have stopped biting my nails for seven consecutive days I can have three friends over for a pizza and ice cream sundae party." A predetermined reward is given when the goal is reached. During the process, when a parent recognizes real effort on the part of the child, Kudos Kash or some other rewards might be given as immediate reinforcers so that the child does not become discouraged.
- The Heart to Heart Mail Box is the personal mail center for the child. Family members can place special notes they have written expressing love and appreciation for each other in this box. It is not a complaint box but it is meant to be a system that is constantly uplifting and encouraging to the child. These communications from other family members should always express positive opinions and gratitude for that person being a member of the family. The mailbox can also used for phone messages and regular mail that arrives at the home, as well as for special awards such as a stick of gum attached to a thank you note for some thoughtful act.
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Kudo Kash
Kids must learn how to earn, save, budget and spend money. Therefore, over $1,000 in Kudo Kash is available in each Kudos! for Kids program. Actually earning and handling money is essential in preparing a child for adult life. It has been said that the biggest single cause for divorce is the mismanagement of money. In America we have not been doing a very commendable job as parents preparing our children to manage their financial affairs as adults. As children mature you may need more money as they begin to save for car insurance, college, etc
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Kudo Kards
Kudos! for Kids comes with more than 140 cards, each representing different things your child can do to earn rewards, each carefully selected to encourage the behaviors or attitudes he/she should accomplish or develop. For more about the Kudos Kards, click here.
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Lanyard
The Lanyard has a ring which holds the "My Stuff" cards in the order mother wishes the work to be done. A child puts the lanyard around his/her neck and turns each card over as that job is done. The lanyard is made with a break away fastener, so that one end of the lanyard is glued into the vinyl tube. The loose end is to be inserted only about 1/8th inch into the tube so that when it is around a child's neck the slightest pull will disengage the faster. Never insert the loose end deeply into the vinyl tube.
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Flashing Lighthouse
This device is a lighthouse sitting on a powerful magnet. The lighthouse is not always flashing but when it is the children know that something exciting is going to happen. The flashing lighthouse might be holding a job card indicating that there is an extra job to do to earn Kudo Kash. But more often mother has just started a special new Heart-to-Heart game that she might play for a few minutes or an hour or so. For instance, mother might anticipate that she is going to need some extra help in the kitchen and has just put the "I Volunteer" game card up under the lighthouse and started it flashing. Then she calls out, "I need some help in the kitchen for a few minutes." Each child that calls out, "I volunteer!" will be rewarded if he/she jumps up immediately and helps mom in the kitchen. Sometimes mom can play the game without the flashing light and kids that volunteer will be rewarded from time to time (for intermittent reinforcement). Kids must keep a close watch out for the flashing lighthouse because it always offers a great opportunity of some kind. Obviously, the first child to see it gets first chance at earning the prize. When no one has noticed the flashing lighthouse, Mom might say, "I see opportunity flashing!" This will usually bring the kids running to see what's up. Make it worthwhile -- and fun -- to play.
Note: Children are never to touch the lighthouse and are to be fined several dollars, at least, if they ever touch it. The lighthouse is not a toy and should be placed high on the refrigerator or where little hands and mouths can not ever get hold of it. It is labeled as a choking hazard and should never fall into the hands of little ones.
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Budget Box
This box has sections that are labeled for different financial responsibilities. On Payday, the money earned will be budgeted into the various sections. Categories of savings include such areas as clothing, savings, college, church, special toy, presents for a birthday party, scouting equipment, music lessons, pet/animal, and recreation. There should always be a category for spending money that the child can use on things he/she wants. This category is very important because if all the money earned is for necessities, the child will soon lose interest. A child must have some fun money and be working for something that will be fun. A small calculator can help to determine the amounts to be placed in each section. A card should be placed in each section and used to keep track of all amounts earned and spent for items in that category. This helps keep spending within the current budget also helps in developing future budgets.
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Treasure Box
The Treasure Box is filled with inexpensive toys and other things that kids love such as batteries, pencils and paper, even coupons for free junk food, etc. Some parents put 3x5 cards in the treasure box with items described on them, such as: "2 video rentals," or "Good for one Pepperoni Pizza," or "Good for one gallon of ice cream." The kids can then purchase items from the treasure chest. Also, when they play the Kudo King game and pick the Treasure Box card they can choose anything they want out of the Treasure Box, for free!.
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Kudos King Reward List
The Kudos King Reward List is a list of great rewards a child can save his or her Kudos King cards for. The list is made up of things parents and children have decided on that don't cost a lot of money but are viewed by the child as really great rewards or privileges. These rewards can be things like an at home pizza party or ice-cream sundae party with friends, a date with Mom or Dad, being read to by Mom or Dad, staying up an extra hour past bed time, having the car for the weekend, or a picnic at the park. Each reward on the list should have a value written next to it -- the number of Kudos King cards required to earn that reward. Each program has only 25 Kudo King cards. For large items like going to a theme park many Kudo King cards are required; such as 40 Kudo King cards to go on a fishing trip with dad. This requires that the children pool their cards to finally reach a total of 40 cards. In this way we are rewarding cooperation and not competition.
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Treat Bucket
The Treat Bucket is filled with treats like candy and gum that can be purchased with Kudo Kash or paid for using a Kudo King card or by drawing a Treat Bucket card when playing the Kudo King game. (The family should make their own Treat Bucket. It is not provided by the manufacturer of the game.)
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Shopping Requests
This list should be kept in a convenient place for family members to write down items they need immediately or in the near future from the store. Once purchased, the items can be put in the family store until the child pays for them with Kudo Kash.
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Family Store
The Family Store is used for items the children can be responsible for purchasing such as some toiletries, socks, birthday gifts for friends, etc. An item found on sale can be purchased by the parent and then kept in the family store until the child earns the money to puchase it. This is a great way to eliminate running to the store for one or two items. A fairly secure and out-of-reach place should be used for the family store.
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