Reward and Star Chart

Who this is for

A week of boxes and nothing else. The rows are for whatever your family has decided to notice, written in your words; the columns are the days; the reward, what earns it and when it was given are written in by you. The sheet suggests no behaviour, no reward and no number of stars.

Parents who want a chart without somebody else's rules printed on it, childminders keeping a chart a family started, and children who like colouring a box in.

What this helps you track

• The things your family has agreed to notice, one per row
• A box for each day of the week to tick, colour or sticker
• What the reward is and what earns it, in your own words
• When the reward was given, and by whom
• The count for the week, written in by the child

How to use it

1. Write the child's name and the week at the top, and the reward you have agreed together in the reward box.
2. Say in the next box what earns it — however your family has decided that works — so the rule is on the page, not in an argument.
3. Write one behaviour or task per row, in words the child uses.
4. Each day, tick, colour or sticker the boxes for that day. The row total is for the child to count and write in.
5. When the reward is given, date it and initial it. Start a fresh sheet the following week.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How many stars should earn the reward?

The sheet does not say and has no view. Some families count a whole row, some a whole week, some do not count at all. Write your arrangement in the box at the top so everyone is working to the same one.

What rewards work?

We do not suggest any. What matters to your child and what your household is happy to offer are yours to decide, and a printable is the wrong place for an opinion on it.

Why are the rows blank?

Because a list of behaviours we chose would fit nobody's house. Write in the ones that matter in yours, and leave rows empty rather than filling them for the sake of it.

Can two children share a chart?

Print one each. Two names on one chart turns it into a comparison, which is rarely what anyone wanted.

Is there a total column?

There is a column for the child to write the week's count in. It is not worked out by the sheet, because counting the boxes is part of the point.