Potty Sticker Chart Tips

For Natalie's first potty chart, I wanted to let her place the stickers herself where ever she wanted.  So, I divided a piece of poster board down the middle.  One half was for pee and the other poop.  Natalie's goal was to fill the pee side of the chart to get a reward (a Twilight Turtle).  I was glad I went with this system because Natalie had her own ideas about sticker placement.  She liked to group and layer them.

After a few weeks, the chart was no longer interesting to Natalie.  And, we had transitioned from Pull-Ups to undies.  We were working on getting all of the pee  into the potty.  So, I made a new chart.  This one had ten spots per line and twelve lines.  At the end of every line, she gets a small prize (like a dollar store board book or 99 cent pair of sunglasses).  At the end of the whole chart she will get to pick a big prize.  Currently, there has been talk of going out for ice cream.  Natalie of course wanted to put the stickers all over, but she caught on quickly that she had to place them in specific places.

We had some set backs during the completion of this chart, so we made a third chart.  I was inspired by the Candyland game board.  (picture to come when its completed).  Its worked well that we've been using Cars stickers on it.  Natalie has trouble following the road, though.  


So, here is what I've learned:

• Know your goal.  Your goal will determine how you set up your chart.  For our first chart we wanted to reward anything that got into the potty.  On our second chart we wanted to reward progress towards staying dry more often.  And I foresee a chart rewarding days in a row dry.  These goals determined how many squares (if any) we needed and how big. 
• If you are trying to fill a large space, don't give super small stickers as an option.  And vice versa.  If you want it to take a while to fill a smaller space, give small stickers.  
• Get super sticky stickers.  We had trouble with ours falling off. 
• Keep your chart out of reach of younger siblings. Don't underestimate those grabby hands. 
• When interest wanes, try getting new stickers.  Maybe get a relative involved by asking them to mail some stickers for the chart.  
• I wish I had made our charts portable.  Consider making them from a file folder.  Then you can fold it in half and tuck it in your bag when you go out.  This is especially great if you are going to have some day trips.