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Tips for Treats

By Dr. Anthony Volk

When using treats to encourage child development, there are a few overall guidelines to keep in mind… Use a range of treats. 

The more often a treat is used, the less of a treat it becomes, so try adding a later bedtime for a night, a strong compliment, a long-awaited toy or a chocolate bar to your treating roster.

Match the level of treat to the behaviour.  Some actions deserve bigger treats than others – try to ensure the action justifies the reward.

Match the treat to the child.  Giving a comic book to a child who prefers novels counteracts the message a treat is designed to send.  The range of treats is almost infinite – be personal and specific.

Match the treat to the moment.  A treat for a tired child (e.g., longer nap) can be a punishment for an alert child.  This helps keep treats irregular and unpredictable.

Start strong, and then back off.  When using a treat to reinforce a new behaviour, you’ll need to use a larger treat at the outset, and then scale back to smaller, less frequent treats once the behaviour becomes more ingrained.

Treats can help build motivation before a task is its own reward.  For a young child proficient in piano, learning to play a difficult piece can be incredibly satisfying.  But there’s little inherent satisfaction for kids sitting down at the keyboard for the first time – so use treats to help maintain interest until an action becomes motivating on its own.

Treats are a way to say “I care.” One of the most powerful messages that a treat can send to a child is “I care about you, and I want to make you happy.”  Children who know their parents care about them are more likely to want to please those parents, motivating them to behave better without treats. Treats can be an important supplement to, although never a substitute for, loving, involved parental care.