This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com.
Encouraging your child to read can be a difficult task given the technological distractions that they have in the palm of their hands, literally. But, have no fear! I’ve come up with a simple yet effective way of challenging my daughter to read more by creating “Reading Bucks”.
The idea of “Reading Bucks” is simple. For every book my daughter reads, she earns either $1, $5, $10, or $20 depending on the size of the book. With the “money” earned, she can buy up to 2 hours of tv time and up to 30 minutes of phone time daily. I’m a little more lenient on the weekends with her tv time; but I still make sure she reads at least one book per day. If she saves enough to earn $50 to $100, she can get a gift equal to those amounts or buy tv time, phone time, and earn a gift (depending on how she budgets her earnings).
I came up with this idea one day while working from home. I’m a book lover, and I want my daughter to see the value of books as I do. But I know it’s going to take a little more convincing with a 5 year old whose whole summer consisted of clicking the remote nonstop channeling through her favorite tv shows.
So I decided to create these reading bucks using Canva. Once created, I printed three sheets of money, laminated each sheet, cut out each bill, and used a corner puncher to round out the edges that I found on Amazon. The process took less than an hour to do!
Benefits of Using Reading Bucks
Encourages Reading
Earning reading bucks will encourage kids to read more by including their most sought-after activities as reading incentives. As your child continues to read and earn money, they can cash in those funds for the opportunity to do some of their favorite activities. Before long, your child will begin to pick up more and more books before picking up a tv remote or phone.
Decreases Electronic Usage
The time spent earning money to buy tv and phone time decreases the child’s actual tv and phone usage. If your son or daughter spends 20 minutes reading a book, that’s 20 minutes less time their using their phones, tablets, game consoles, or watching television. The less their using their electronic gadgets, the less distracted they are, and the more they’re learning to deeply focus on one thing at a time.
Teaches the Value of Money, Saving, & Budgeting
Reading bucks not only encourages your child to read, it also teaches them the value of money. As your child earns reading bucks, you can begin teaching them how to identify dollar amounts, as well as how to add & subtract when they’re buying tv and phone time, and the benefits of saving by sacrificing tv/phone time. They’ll also begin to learn how to budget to make sure they have enough reading bucks for multiple activities and incentives.
If you would like to incorporate reading bucks into your child’s reading routine, download my free version here.
Happy reading!