Reinforcement Ideas~ THE 2nd 50

We are posting over 100 ideas for reinforcement! This is the 2nd set of 50 ideas~!

1. Banana Ears! Say, “Ohhhhh, you want a (food) in your ear?” “Nooooooo.” “In your nose?” “Noooo.” “On your head?” “Nooooo.” “Oh, in your mouth!” In an unpredictable fashion.
2. Mr. Froggy! Put the child on your lap and say, “Mr. Froggy’s sitting on a rock, along comes (therapist), and the Froggy goes “kerplop!” Throw the child on couch or beanbag chair. (Or let the child fall through your legs).
3. Thumb Wrestle! Thumb wrestle by hooking fingers together with the child, with your thumbs on top. See who can trap the other person’s thumb. Do it with both thumbs sticking out a large, stretched-out sock, or through a cardboard wrestling ring.
4. Puppet Teacher! Have a stuffed puppet praise and tickle the child. Have the puppet give the instructions.
5. Mandy! Sing Barry Manilow songs with either a good or an outrageously bad voice.
6. Funky Dancing! Sing and dance to really funky songs. Hold the child in your arms, or on your feet.
7. Cookie Monster Praise! Practice your imitations of kid show actors, such as Barney, Goofy, or Cookie Monster. Give praise in their voices.
8. There’s a Monster at the End of This Book! Play with the Sesame Street Book, “There is a monster at the end of this book.” Ham up the Grover parts. Use each page as a reinforcer.
9. Blow Raspberry’s! Give Raspberry’s (blowing and making noises) to the belly or fake tickles kissed to the ticklish part of the neck.
10. Hair Torture! Lay the child down and gently sweep your hair over their face with “oh, no” or whatever to let them know it is coming.
11. Pillow Fight! Have pillow fights.
12. Let Me Draw! Try to draw on paper with the child pushing your hand to wreck the picture.
13. Motor Cycle Racer! Put the child on your lap, facing away from you, for a motorcycle ride. Use your fists as handlebars and rev up. Go around curves by leaning the child left or right with all important motorcycle sounds. Then crash!
14. Monster Palm! Draw a monster on your palm. Use the other hand to hold the wrist of monster palm so it can’t get you. However, we all know monster palm is stronger. Elicit the child’s help to get rid of monster palm.
15. Feed Me! Have the child feed you. Will he smear you?
16. Shall We Dance! Sing, “shall we dance” from the King and I with the Tango, where you hold the child cheek-to-cheek, then walk one way, then turn your body and cheeks and walk the other way. Freeze and play up the anticipation of lunging to “Shalala… Weeeee… DANCE! Dum Dum Dum!
17. It’s Time to Mambo! Do the “Mambo,” with your best John Candy imitation. Head upstairs to get Dad in on the dance. Dance a chain through the house to get Mom and siblings into it.
18. I’m Trying to Talk But Nothing’s Happening! Put tape over your mouth and try to talk – or pretend you’re trying to keep your hand from covering your mouth but can’t.
19. Macarena! Dance the Macarena. Learn all the moves in gross-motor imitation and build it together.
20. Who Let the Dogs Out! Sing, “Who let the dogs out?” with exaggerated arm motions.
21. Media Player! Work with the computer on, and Microsoft Media Player turned on. Set it to a song or punch line that the child likes to hear, and click start to play it while the child watches the light show.
22. Tower Disaster! Set up a tower ten feet away and let the child run at it.
23. Who Let the Boy Fall! Hold the child up in the air and sing, “Who let the (boy) fall?” (to the tune of “Who let the dogs out?”) While pretending to drop the child.
24. I’ve Got a Secret! Tell the child, “I have a secret,” and when they listen up close, blow quiet raspberries to the ear.
25. Soft Tickles! Give soft ticklish back, arm, leg or foot rubs by slowly drizzling your finger tips over their skin.
26. Jump! Sing, “Jump” by Van Halen with a model and jump when the song tells you to.
27. I’m Shocked! Fall completely over with surprise and shock that the child answered the question correctly.
28. Car Ride! Line your chairs up next to each other and go for a car ride. Put seat belts on. Checks left and right for traffic, beep the horn, etc.
29. Electro-Glide! Do a line dance such as the “Achy breaky heart dance.”
30. Blanket Pull! Pull the child by a blanket wrapped around their waist in circles then tease, “Nope we got to go left, no right, no left…”
31. I’m a Little Teapot! Sing, “I’m a little teapot” and act it out, but have water to tease that you will pour on the child.
32. Aladdin’s Magic Carpet! Put the child on a towel or blanket and pull them across floor.
33. Chest Vibrator! Hit the child’s chest gently with your palms while they vocalize so they can hear the funny reverberation.
34. Kick the Can! Play kick the can by racing to be the first one to kick the can over. The child doesn’t know which trial you’ll let him go on, so you’ve got a head start. The anticipation of trying to race you keeps his attention. (But don’t cheat by going when he’s not attending!)
35. Water the Plants! The child helps water plants with a small pitcher.
36. Imitate the Child! The child says, “Uh” and puts their hand on table and you imitate. After a while the child realizes he can run the show in reinforcement.
37. Elevator Rides! Pick the child up – “First floor!” – Higher – “Second floor!” – “Do you want to go to the third floor?” Then, “Oh no! The elevator is going sideways!”
38. Chair Rides! “Fasten your seatbelt! Hold on to the chair!” Begin to lift chair off ground slowly. Then take off like a racecar!
39. Chair Tipping! “Fasten your seatbelt! Hold on to the chair!” Tip back just a bit at first. Next time a bit more, unpredictably.
40. Music Video Shots! Set up a music video on the VCR. You control the remote to dole out parts of the song as a reinforcer.
41. Butterfly Kisses! Put you eye next to their cheek and blink your eyelid onto it.
42. Piggyback Ride! Go some place fun (imaginary!). Watch out for the potholes in the road! Weave around drunkenly. Run unexpectedly. Be sure to bounce the child on your back.
43. Hand Spiders! Run your hand around on the table like spiders. Then let the child SPLAT them. Run at him and crawl onto him, if he’ll let you.
44. Removing body parts! “I got your nose (holding your thumb between two fingers, to look like a nose) – I’ll put it in my pocket – want it back?”
45. Big Bear Wants In! Stuff stuffed animals down the back of the child’s shirt, up the pants leg, in the sleeves.
46. The Big Spin! Pick the child up by the armpits for a big spin (don’t fall over!).
47. Pump Me Up! Say, “It’s time to pump me up!” Mimic two-handed bicycle pump while inflating your cheeks. Now you can’t talk, but hold the child’s hands and have them POP your mouth. You can also mime inflating your entire body by slowly lifting up onto your toes, and expanding your arms and stomach (in rhythm with the child’s pumping action).
48. Hot Hands! Place the child’s hands on yours. They have to pull them away before you can gently slap them.
49. Choosing Firsts! Take turns putting your hands hand over hand over hand over hand with the child – flat or on a pole, as you would do when choosing ‘firsts’ with a baseball bat.
50. Science Tricks! Baking soda dropped into vinegar makes a nice fizz volcano!

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