Potty Training Chart and Reward Ideas—Including Printables
Are you ready to launch into potty training? You may want to consider using a potty-training chart—a useful tool that can help make the process simpler and less stressful for you and your child. Read on to discover the benefits of potty-training charts and how to use them effectively, and download our cute, printable charts.
What Is a Potty-Training Chart?
If your little one is ready to start potty training or if they've already started and you’re finding it difficult to motivate them, then an incentive might help. One kind of incentive that many parents find effective for potty training is using a potty-training chart as a rewards system.
A potty-training chart helps track your toddler’s progress and patterns throughout their potty-training journey. Every time your little one successfully uses the potty or makes a big step toward using it, you could add a sticker or a gold star to the chart—giving your potty-training star some encouragement and recognition for their achievements.
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The Benefits of Using Potty-Training Charts
Your encouragement, support, and patience may be all that’s needed to keep your little one on track with potty training. But occasionally, you might consider helping things along with a gentle and fun incentive like a potty-training chart. Here are some benefits of using a potty-training chart:
Providing positive reinforcement. Positive rewards and praise for good behavior can lead to your child repeating this behavior. Your toddler may choose to use the potty if they associate it with something positive, such as receiving another sticker on their potty-training chart.
Boosting self-esteem. Receiving positive reinforcement for good behavior and achievements can help to increase your child’s self-esteem. They may be more aware that they’ve done something good and can be proud of what they’ve achieved, especially if they can visualize their progress on a chart.
Tracking success. This is helpful for both you and your child. A chart can help you track their progress and notice any patterns in their potty-training behavior, such as the times of the day that they’re using the potty successfully. Plus, your little one can see all their good work displayed prominently! You can also use this information when updating your child’s healthcare provider.
Offering immediate rewards. Receiving a sticker or gold star on their chart immediately after using the potty may help your little one better connect the behavior with the reward. A sticker or star may seem like a small reward, but to your child it may be an exciting and enticing prize. Keeping it small also helps to keep the emphasis on mastering the skill of using the potty, rather than prizes and gifts.
How to Use a Potty-Training Chart
The best thing about potty-training charts is that you can customize them based on your preferences or your child’s age. For example, you may give your little one a sticker each time they successfully use their potty, or perhaps you give them one after a full “dry day.” Some parents might choose to give a sticker for each small success their child has, such as asking to use the potty, sitting on the potty, or washing their hands.
For many children, simply putting a sticker or gold star on their potty-training chart is reward enough! Some parents may decide to give a small prize after achieving a certain number of stickers or accident-free days. And perhaps you could change the goals for older children, or as potty-training progresses, such as working towards “big kid” pants.
How to Introduce a Potty-Training Chart to Your Toddler
Here are some tips for introducing a potty-training chart to your little one:
Customize your potty-training chart or stickers based on your child’s interests, e.g., dinosaurs, fairy tales, cars, etc. This will make it more exciting for them!
Introduce the chart to your child and explain how it’ll work.
Hang the chart in a prominent place and at your child’s eye level. This will act as a reminder and allow them to see their own progress.
You may also want to encourage and remind them throughout the day to use the potty, and recognize toilet cues, or you may even find having a toilet routine helpful.
Reinforce and be consistent with the way you use the potty-training chart. Allowing your little one to add the sticker to their chart themselves may add to the excitement and better reinforce the connection between using the potty and receiving the reward.
Potty-Training Reward Ideas
As mentioned above, sometimes the potty-training chart and stickers are enough of a reward for your little one, and the excitement they get from watching their chart fill up over the week may be all the encouragement they need. However, if your child needs that extra incentive, you could consider adopting some of these potty-training reward ideas if they reach the goals you set:
Non-material rewards can include praise or a big hug from you or other family members. You may even find it fun to have a little celebratory song or dance to perform when your child reaches a goal. Try not to overdo it or turn it into too much of a big deal though as this can create too much pressure for a child.
Small, inexpensive rewards, such as stickers, crayons, or small collectible toys may be given to your little one when they reach a potty-training goal.
Books are fun and educational rewards for children, especially if you find some cute ones about potty training to further encourage them.
Big-kid underwear may be a fun incentive for your little one and an end goal for when they’ve learned how to use the potty. You may even want to introduce training pants when potty training.
Of course, potty-training rewards are optional, but if you do decide to offer them, it’s usually best to avoid large and expensive prizes. The focus is on your little one gaining confidence and learning to use the potty rather than on getting new toys. Experts also advise against using food as a reward.
Here are some more potty-training tips to help encourage your toddler on their new adventure.
Free Potty-Training Chart Printables
Check out some of our cute and free printable potty-training charts for potty-training toddlers.
Beginner Potty-Training Chart
This potty-training chart is simple and perfect for beginners in the world of potties. It’s divided into days of the week, and you simply pop a sticker on the chart each time your little one uses the potty.
What’s even better is that this printable reward chart is blank so you and your little one can decorate it with your own ideas—almost like a homemade potty chart.
Dinosaur Potty-Training Chart
This free printable potty-training chart is lots of fun for dinosaur fans. It contains a path that connects one dinosaur to its dinosaur friends. Each time your little one uses the potty, they can get a sticker or color in one section on the path, until they reach the end. Perhaps there’s even a reward waiting at the end for them—the choice is yours!
Potty-Training Chart Sticker Chart
This sticker reward chart helps your little one understand and become familiar with the different steps involved when using the potty. It also helps you keep track of their progress and what they need extra help with. Give a sticker each time one of the steps is achieved, and you can decide if there’s a reward involved when they reach the end.
Potty-Training Reward Chart
This printable rewards chart acts as a great incentive for potty-training kids. You can add a sticker or a smiley face each time your child uses the potty; once the chart is complete, you can give them a prize. You might choose to decide on a reward with your little one before starting or perhaps you’d prefer it to be a surprise. Either way, your child will be super excited to reach the end!
The Bottom Line
We hope the information and free printable potty-training charts provided in this article will help you and your toddler reach potty-training success! And if your little one masters daytime potty training, it might be time to start nighttime potty training.
Remember, it's important to have patience and consistency when it comes to this process, as every child learns differently. And if you need a little more help when it comes to potty training, you could try the 3-day potty training method or learn more about potty training regression if your little one is having some setbacks. And as always, celebrate the small successes, and don't forget to have fun!
How We Wrote This Article The information in this article is based on the expert advice found in trusted medical and government sources, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. You can find a full list of sources used for this article below. The content on this page should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult medical professionals for full diagnosis and treatment.
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