Our current Forum Q&A topic is about what items kids like to see best in incentive prize boxes! Here is a peek at what is currently in my prize box:
Most of these items cost a dollar or less. The binder pouches, sidewalk chalk, and silly bandz (those were all the rage among school kids last year!) were on clearance. The hair clips, notebooks, stencils, bookmarks, ball, and erasers are from the dollar store. The bracelets, rings, and compass (only one left — they are very popular) were in the party favor section at Wal-Mart, I believe. Match box cars cost around $1 at most grocery stores. I ordered the music pencils from a music catalogue (students love these; here are some on Amazon). Crayons currently cost around $0.50 in the back-to-school section.
Basically, I keep my eyes open all the time for goodies to add to the box!
My prize box is pretty full right now, but when I need more items I plan to order some Japanese puzzle erasers. I have heard that they are very popular among school kids right now. I think they would work great for keyboard games, too, because they are SO cute and are harmless on the piano keys. I think students would be motivated to collect them! You can buy an assortment of puzzle erasers on Amazon here
I have heard that “Squinkies” are popular right now, too. They are tiny, squishy animals/people. I think they work as pencil toppers. From what I can tell, a 16-pack costs between $10-15. You can find these at almost any store in the toy aisle, but here is a pack listed on Amazon:
If you haven’t joined in the discussion about prizes for students yet, click here (there are already lots of great ideas from readers in the comments section)! To read more about how my current incentive program works, check out this post.
yay i loved this post…
I have squinkies too… The students love them.. There is also something like a small gumball machine that you can them in.. And students can randomly get their squinky 😉 .. My daughter loved ur compass
Haven’t heard of squinkies – thanks for the tip. Sounds like a hit!
I usually keep a few candy items in my treasure box, too – just in case there are some picky students.
These are great! I don’t have any, but now….
Smiggle is the hottest stationery brand among my students. I offer music credit for good practice, and the music credit can be exchanged for Smiggle voucher, and students can go buy whatever they fancy! Works really well so far.
Thanks for the tips! I would like to have an incentive prize box. I have almost run out of ideas!
I love the prize box!! My students get to pick when they practice for 250 minutes. I used to put in oatmeal cookies and brownies, but I have a student who has sworn off sugar for a year, so I’m putting in microwave popcorn, as well as little prizes. I love finding a pack of things that I can split up. And getting things after a season is over…I got valentines mugs for 15 cents!