What behavior system should you use in your kindergarten classroom? It’s one of the most common kindergarten classroom management questions I see teachers asking during back-to-school season.
Should you use Dojo points? A classroom economy? Desk pets? A prize box? Should students earn points for positive behavior? What happens when they misbehave? Do you take points away or have students “pay” a fine?
There are so many kindergarten behavior systems to choose from that it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to find the perfect one. But before choosing a behavior system because another teacher loves it, there’s a more important question to ask: Does this behavior system actually make sense for five- and six-year-olds?
Kindergarten students are different from older elementary students. Many are brand new to school, and they’re still learning basic classroom expectations, routines, social skills, and even early academic concepts. A behavior management system that works beautifully in third or fourth grade may be unnecessarily complicated for kindergarten students.
In this episode of The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast, I’m sharing what I think kindergarten teachers should consider before choosing a classroom behavior system, why some popular systems can create more work than they solve, and what I looked for when choosing behavior systems for my own kindergarten classroom.
Classroom economies can be a fun and effective tool with older elementary students. Students might earn classroom dollars, save their money, decide what they want to purchase, and practice making choices about how they spend what they’ve earned.
But that’s actually a pretty complicated process.
Students have to understand how much they’ve earned, how much an item costs, whether they have enough to purchase it, and how much more they need to save. Meanwhile, the teacher has to manage the money, rewards, prices, store, and all of the other pieces that make the classroom economy work.
Now think about a kindergartener at the beginning of the school year.
Some kindergarten students are still learning to recognize the numerals one through five. They’re developing one-to-one correspondence and learning what those numbers actually represent. Asking those same students to understand a classroom economy adds an additional layer of complexity that they may not be developmentally ready for yet.
And it adds another system for you to manage.
Your kindergarten behavior system should make classroom management easier. It shouldn’t become another job you have to remember to do every Friday afternoon.
Another common kindergarten behavior management strategy is allowing students to earn points, tickets, classroom money, or another reward and then taking those things away when they misbehave.
I don’t recommend using what a child has already earned as a punishment or consequence for a different behavior.
For a five-year-old, losing points or being “fined” can be too disconnected from the behavior that caused it. Young children benefit from consequences that make sense in relation to what actually happened and happen close enough to the behavior that they can understand the connection.
Taking away something students have already earned can also affect trust. If I tell a student they earned something for demonstrating an expected behavior and then take it away later because they made a different mistake, that original reinforcement becomes less secure.
I want students to know that I’m on their team. Mistakes are going to happen, especially in kindergarten. Our goal should be to teach students the behaviors we want to see and give them opportunities to be successful, rather than creating a system focused on catching them doing something wrong.
If classroom economies, complicated point systems, and fines aren’t my first choice for kindergarten behavior management, what should you look for instead?
First, your kindergarten behavior system needs to be simple enough to use consistently.
You have enough to manage during a kindergarten school day. If your behavior system requires you to track individual point totals, update charts, manage prizes, remember who earned what, and run a classroom store, it may quickly become one more thing you have to keep up with.
Even a great behavior system won’t help if it’s too complicated to use consistently.
Your behavior system also needs to be easy for students to understand. Five- and six-year-olds shouldn’t have to remember complicated rules or do math to figure out how their classroom behavior system works.
That’s one reason I believe so strongly in using visual supports in kindergarten. Students should be able to see the behavior you’re working toward, understand the goal, and know what success looks like.
Most importantly, the goal of your kindergarten behavior system should be to help students succeed, not catch them misbehaving.
We want to notice and reinforce the behaviors we want to see more often. Just like we teach letters, numbers, or how to use a glue stick, we have to teach behavior. We show students what we expect, give them opportunities to practice, and reinforce them when they’re successful.
Before you commit to the behavior system everyone in your Facebook group seems to be using, think about the students who will actually be using it.
Ask yourself whether the system is simple enough for you to use every day. Will your kindergarten students understand how it works? Does it include strong visual supports? Is it easy for both you and your students? Does it reinforce the behaviors you want to see?
And most importantly, does the system make it easier for your students to be successful?
Your behavior system shouldn’t feel like a “gotcha” system, and it shouldn’t require so much work that you abandon it halfway through the year.
It should be one more tool that helps your students understand what is expected of them.
It’s also important to remember that your behavior system is not your entire classroom management plan.
In the previous episode of The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast, I talked about one of the biggest classroom management myths kindergarten teachers believe: that classroom management starts when behavior becomes a problem.
Strong kindergarten classroom management is much bigger than the chart, points, rewards, or consequences you use.
Your relationships with students matter. Your behavior systems matter. Building student independence matters. And all of those pieces need to be supported by consistency and simplicity.
That’s the foundation of the BRICK Method I teach inside Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint.
BRICK stands for Behavior Systems, Relationships, Independence, Consistency, and Keep It Simple. We build relationships, behavior systems, and independence through consistent, simple systems that work with real five- and six-year-olds.
Your behavior system is important, but it shouldn’t be the thing holding your entire classroom together.
So what behavior systems did I actually use in my kindergarten classroom?
Two of my go-to tools were Glow & Grow Behavior Notes and Build-a-Reward Behavior Charts.
Glow & Grow Notes gave me a simple way to celebrate positive student behavior and communicate behavior concerns with families. Instead of sending home a daily behavior calendar for every student, I could communicate when there was actually something worth sharing.
For whole-class behavior, I used Build-a-Reward Behavior Charts. These give kindergarten students the visual support they need to see what behavior the class is working toward, how close they are to reaching their goal, and what they’re working to earn.
The rewards don’t have to mean filling a prize box with toys either. Many classroom rewards can be completely free while still being exciting for kindergarten students.
Most importantly, these systems were simple enough for me to use consistently and easy enough for my students to understand.
✏️ Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint
Choosing a behavior system is only one piece of building strong kindergarten classroom management.
Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint is both a classroom management course AND a toolbox of ready-to-use resources designed specifically for kindergarten teachers.
Inside the course, I teach you how to build behavior systems, relationships, and student independence through consistent, simple systems using the BRICK Method. You’ll learn the strategies and understand why they work, and then you’ll have the actual classroom management tools and resources to help you put those strategies into practice.
You don’t have to finish a lesson and then spend your Sunday searching Pinterest or creating everything yourself. You get the training and the tools in one place so you can put your classroom management systems in place and walk into your classroom feeling confident and in control.
Kindergarten Behavior Blueprint is just $97 through August 5th. Today is the LAST DAY to save $50.
Teaching Exceptional Kinders Links and Resources:
The Kindergarten Writing Toolbox
The Kindergarten Management Toolbox
Follow me on Instagram @teachingexceptionalkinders
More about The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast
Welcome to The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast, your go-to guide for creating calmer classrooms and more confident writers in the wonderfully unique world of kindergarten.
I’m Amy Murray — former kindergarten teacher, Type C “organized-in-piles” human, and vanilla-latte enthusiast. After years of helping teachers streamline their classroom routines with tips and tools that actually make sense for 5- and 6-year-olds, I created this podcast to support you with the practical strategies you’ve been craving.
Each episode is short, actionable, and designed to help you:
✔ simplify classroom management
✔ reduce behavior chaos with systems that stick
✔ teach writing in a way that meets beginning writers where they are
✔ build routines that make your day flow
✔ use visuals, tools, and expectations that really work in K
Whether you’re a brand-new kindergarten teacher or a seasoned pro looking for clarity and calm, you’ll find step-by-step support to help you feel more confident and in control.
Because kindergarten isn’t just the new first grade, it’s a world all its own, and you deserve tools that actually work.
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Here’s to calmer days and more confident writers!
