All Hail the Mighty Chip Bucket!!

    I have been searching for and compiling ideas for time management for kids (if you want to call it that). I wanted try something new this summer and let the boys be in charge of how much time they got to have for TV and video games, yet I wanted to limit the amount that the total amount that  was given to them. Eventually I came up with this idea - The Chip Bucket. The boys will get a certain amount of chips each worth a half hour. The chips are labeled with their name and what activity they can be redeemed for.  This way the boys have the responsibility and freedom of choosing what they do and I can limit the amount of time they play on the Xbox without them being able to say "Nuhh-Uhh, we didn't do that yet!" 
    I wanted to make The Chip Bucket for under five dollars. I did it for FREE! I up-cycled with things in my dorm room. Originally I wanted to make each boy their own bucket and use wooden chips but I couldn't find the wooden chips in my budget and I didn't want to haul and flower pot full of dirt and dead flowers. For the bucket itself I just used a flower pot that I attempted to grow flowers in and failed at. As for the chips I turned to all of my used up notebooks. It's almost the end of the school year and there are going to be plenty of old used up notebooks floating around the house. Here's how to make your very own Chip Bucket!


Step One: Find a bucket and clean it out. Find a notebook with a plastic cover (I'm kinda picky about the type of paper I use and I love Five-Star notebook and they happen to have plastic covers) or notebook with a hard cardboard cover and cut the it off. 

 Step Two: This step is optional. I was wasting time before studying again so I found it absolutely necessary! :P I traced the bottom of my pot on the gray plastic and glued it to the inside of my pot. That way if their was water on the counter the chips wouldn't get wet since there are holes in the bottom of my flower pot.  

 Step Three: I used the cap of my calcium vitamins (the milk up here at school taste like plastic) as my template and traced it onto the back of my notebook cover. 

Step Four: Cut out the plastic shapes and label them. I labeled mine with their names and TV, video game, and bonus. The bonus is for is they do something really good and earn extra time. 

 Pretty Chip Bucket!

 I put a little message in there for them.

 All finished at the cost of $0.00! I happen to really like that price tag. I guess I'll see how well it works in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know!

Now I really need to get back to making psych note cards!! Two more days!!! Two more days until I can go home!