Compliments and praise do not always come our way as often as we would like and when they do we are sometimes unsure of how to react to them. As adults we are all too often a touch cynical about compliments as we tend to think that they are preceding a request for something rather than just being what they are.

However, take a second and think more like a child does and imagine how it would feel if someone was telling you that you were amazing, fabulous or exceptional. Then think about how it would feel if everyone around you knew that that person thought you were all of these things. It would feel pretty great and do your self-confidence a power of good.

Interestingly, here at Brainwaves we find that our school stickers with these type of words on make a great reward for children as they help to make them feel more positive about themselves but also about their relationship with the person that gives them the sticker. Obviously, the idea of the stickers, along with many other rewards that we produce, is to help positively reinforce good behaviour in the classroom and thus make it more likely to be repeated.

The side-effect of the stickers – making the children feel more positive about their relationship with the giver – is probably just as valuable in the classroom as the original effect of promoting the reoccurrence of a specific behaviour. After all the higher a child’s self-esteem the more successfully he or she will interact with the world around them. As teachers we know this but in a busy classroom it is often just something else that gets lost in our struggle to keep up with all the demands made upon us. However, using school stickers is quick, easy and effective for this purpose.