“If you show me that you can be a good child today, you can have as many chocolates as you want after dinner.” Haven’t we all heard this at some point or the other in our lives? This was the first time our parents started rewarding our behavior and actions. So, then we knew, if we behaved in a certain way, cleaned our room, slept at a given time, dressed in a certain way, scored a set target of, and so on, we would be rewarded.

The need to incentivize kids and their efforts at an early age plays a huge role and goes a long way. These rewards do not just translate to material items and accomplishments but also the assessment of learning notices a leap. They stand for material and financial gains that individuals achieve if they behave and carry themselves in a certain way in society. This is a metaphor for a future of success or failure.

What does a person usually compare and analyze before investing any capital or effort-based resource, time, money, labor, and so on? A person compares effort vs. rewards. The whole purpose is to incentivize the efforts of students to foster a system of winning and building the same mindset. This would get the students into the habit of putting their best foot forward as competition with a reward demands an adrenaline rush and builds a fun competitive environment.

One way to reward the efforts of students is by unlocking games and technology can be of great use here. In a technology-driven world, most students play games and find recreation while playing.

For instance, Dhruv is six years old, and he needs to learn the table of 12. Now, he is also a massive candy crush enthusiast, and his mother is very aware of his child’s interest. What his mother does is give him an if-then situation. She tells him, if he learns the table and recites it to her before 7pm the same day, she will let him play Candy Crush on the phone for 30 minutes. This excites Dhruv as it has something in it for him which he loves, and he would readily start studying and learning.

This method has proven to be an excellent way to motivate students to study as this contains a benefit for them. More and more students are driven for gaming and their efforts and hard work can be streamlined using this way of recognition and rewards and this would translate directly into their assessment of learning.

Most students are not generally motivated towards studies and academics because they feel that there is no reward and recognition of their work and efforts, this demotivates them deeply and they do not want to work hard further.

It is up to us mentors, educators, and parents to understand this psychology of students and motivate them towards their goals and tasks by recognizing them, praising them, and rewarding them to make this journey of education and learning as exciting and fun as possible.