A classroom favorite for cultivating empathy, kindness, community membership and awareness of others.
What’s a real superhero? Someone who helps others because it’s the right thing to do (not because there is a reward for doing so). Doing the right thing feels good to everyone. With the help of a Hero Badge, your child can be a real superhero!
Acknowledging what children are doing right motivates them to do more positive things.
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What Makes a Hero Badge Unique
Reward your child with a DIY Hero Badge each time they do a good deed (which your child wears around their neck like a medal). Proudly wearing that badge all day will serve as a:
- Constant reminder to your child of the good they’ve done. It’ll build their self-esteem and confidence – a special kind of “good feeling” that will last with them all day (vs. an instantaneous reward).
- Visible reward that everyone will inevitably ask your child about. And your child will proudly want to share just how they got their special Hero Badge, developing their language and critical thinking skills.
How To Make a Hero Badge
- Define the values you want the Hero Badge to represent – What is a hero to you? What behaviors do heroes engage in?
- Give examples – Be explicit with your child about what actions constitute hero-like behavior. For example, “Help others when they’re in a stressful or difficult situation”, “Make others feel good about themselves”, “Help a friend who is feeling sad”, “Problem-solve a tricky situation.”
- Set expectations before you begin – Be clear with your child about who gets to decide what actions are worthy of a Hero Badge. At first, your child may want to tell you all the things they think they’re doing right. Do they get to decide? Or do you look for moments when they’re doing something positive, but not trying to get a Hero Badge?
- Create the Hero Badge – What will your badge look like? A smiley face? A rainbow? A high five? Make it your own! Here’s an easy DIY smiley face (our upcoming site will have printables for you):
- Trace the rim of a glass / mug on construction paper (the circumference of the “face”). You should be able to get 6 faces on an 8×11 piece of paper.
- With a marker, fill the face in with two eyes and a big happy smile.
- Cut your circle out, punch a hole at the top, thread the hole with a long piece of string (long enough so that the badge can hang around your child’s neck like a medal).
- Tip – It doesn’t have to be fancy to mean a lot to your child!
- Make a box of Hero Badges – Keep a stash ready to go. Knowing there is a full box just waiting to be awarded will entice your child.
Watch, listen and acknowledge – Be alert for those moments when your child is a hero, and let them know what they did to deserve it. Write a short caption on the back of the badge about the deed (e.g., “Jane held her brother’s hand when she saw he was scared at the dentist”). Just you wait – with that caption on the back, your child will be asking you to read that badge and recount their good deed all day!