I have six children living at home. There is a lot of bickering, arguing, and tattling. So, to maintain my sanity, we have created the kindness jar. I have two empty peanut butter jars. I fill one with marbles. When one of the children come to me and tell me about something nice or helpful that one of their siblings has done for them I move a marble from the full jar to the empty jar. When the empty jar gets full, we get a treat, or share a new experience. We live in Las Vegas, so there is always something to do.

This has been so helpful in our household. It has cut down on so much of the poor behaviors and bad choices. It has really allowed us to focus on rewarding good behavior. Once the marble goes into the jar, it cannot be taken out for any reason. An act of kindness is an act of kindness, and making a bad choice, or being contrary or naughty after you were kind, does not change the fact that you were kind in the first place. I do not use it for discipline or as a consequence for bad choices. We have done this for about two years now, and the kids love it.