Horrid Henry Reward Charts

There seems to comes a time when almost all mothers turn to the "reward chart" in the attempt of trying to improve the behaviour of their little darling. In our household it came when some extra motivation was needed to get the basics done without the resistance or lenghty arguments that would make the Middle East peace process look like child's play – reading and writing, good table manners and practising the enforced musical instrument.

The great thing about the Doo Well Magnetic Games Horrid Henry Reward Chart is that it puts the home made felt tips and stickers from Sainsbury's reward chart to shame. And suddenly the whole reward process is not only reinvigorated but is given a bit more gravitas. Magnetic purple hand tokens can be allocated against a good number of examples of Horrid Henry's good behaviour ("say please and thank you'", " do my homework", "brush my teeth" etc) and there are a couple of blank ones to fill in yourself  (Henry isn't learning the violin, for example!) - although we could have done with a few more of these. The chart itself isn't overwhelming large (approx A5 size) and hangs from a nice string and is probably more suited to a five plus year old.

The pack promises that this chart will "encourage good behaviour and learning about responsibilities" and if it works for Horrid Henry, well it might just actually work for my own little horror.

What better way to encourage good behaviour than a reward chart from the master of all things bad and unpleasant, Horrid Henry? Toby was delighted with the Horrid Henry Reward Chart – the Henry story CDs are a regular soundtrack for family car journeys. The magnetic chart means that categories can be mixed and matched and each week Toby and I have chosen half the "targets" each (they include "be nice to sisters", "share my toys" and "tidy up my mess"), with spaces for five "stars" to be won per day (actually a mucky Henry handprint).

The chart worked well for week one, but Horrid Henry himself appeared to take over on week two. We all tried a bit harder during week three and happily things improved (although we didn't quite get Perfect Peter). Sticker charts have long been a feature in our house but till now have always been home made. Toby really liked the "real" Horrid Henry chart and I found the magnet format very convenient for taking with us away at half term and the newness certainly had a magical good behaviour effect week one, fingers crossed for the future.

The sticker chart is quite effective however some of the magnetic rewards fell off.  Some of the categories are not relevant to Freya as she is only two years eight months but all in all quite a good reward chart that she can handle herself.

Image: TM & C Novel Entertainment Limited 2010. All rights reserved.

Horrid Henry Reward Charts are available from all good stores. For further information visit www.fiestacrafts.co.uk