Do you use token boards with your students? They are a great way to motivate students to complete tasks or to demonstrate appropriate behavior. Token boards serve as a way to delay reinforcement and show the students exactly how much work they need to complete before they earn the reinforcer.
Do you want to know how to make the token board even MORE motivating? Make it a puzzle! And not just any puzzle... THE puzzle. What does your student love? Elsa? Moana? Football? Superheros?
Creating a puzzle token board is easy, and guess what.... I made a template to make it even easier for you!! Click HERE to pick it up for free. In the file you will find 7 premade puzzles. However, if your students are anything like mine, they have very specific interests. Most of the puzzles that I use with my kids are individualized and based on their favorite characters. I like to do a google image search to find real images of my students' favorite things.
Now that you have the template, lets get down to business.
1. Select your clip art or do a google image search for whatever motivates your student
2. Copy the image and paste it into the template
3. Adjust the size of the image to fit in the top box
4. Copy the image and paste it into the bottom box
5. Double click the bottom image
6. Choose the "color" option from the upper left corner
7. Select the "washout" in the "recolor" section
That's it! You have now designed your puzzle board! Now that the puzzle board has been created, it is time to print it off and put it together.
1. Print off the page and cut out each image
2. Laminate the images - I like to use the Scotch 5x7 Thermal Laminating Pouches - 5mm (one for each image). The smaller size and thick pouch make them perfect for creating uniform and durable token boards. The 5x7 size tends to be a bit pricey, unless it is on sale. You can also use the standard 8.9x11.4 size, you just won't end up with the thick outer edge. The key is the 5mm film. It makes the token board so much more durable.
3. Cut the full color image into multiple pieces. I typically cut mine into 4 pieces, but you can cut more in order to increase the demand of the task.
4. Attach velcro to the pieces and the board to create the puzzle. How do you determine which type of velcro to put on each side? I remember the phrase: Soft Stays, Hard Travels - The soft side stays on the board and the hard side travels on the pieces.
Aaaannnnnnd DONE! Your token board is ready to go! But wait... do you want to add one more visual that will support your students? Try adding the classroom expectations on the back. I refer to these each time my students earn a piece of the puzzle. These expectation strips are another FREEBIE in my store!
Do you use token boards with your students? Let me know how they work for you!
(This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I only link to products that I personally use and find beneficial. Please click HERE for more information.)
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