20 Genius Potty Training Reward Ideas (that seriously work!)

Here are some clever and creative potty training reward ideas to get your child super psyched about training.

Let me start this blog post by asking you something. Would you rather potty train a child whose resistive and uninterested or a child whose eager and excited to train?

Any parent, it doesn’t matter who you are, would much rather deal with the latter.

Unless of course you’re loony and like the idea of forcing a tantruming, screaming child on to a potty seat while they splurt out pee everywhere.

I’ve dealt with both types and let me tell you, trying to potty train a resistive, uninterested child is the equivalent of trying to brush your teeth while simultaneously stuffing Oreos down your throat.

In short, if you seriously want to see results while potty training you have to first sit down and think hard about what motivates your child.

Every kid is different and as a parent YOU know your child the best.

So think long and hard about this way before you even start training.

I trained both my kids in 3 days flat. I wrote a detailed post which you can read here: 15 Steps to Potty Train a Stubborn Toddler Girl in 3 Days.

Here are 20 potty training reward ideas to get you inspired and start brainstorming. Some of these are ideas to get your toddler excited about training while others are rewards you can give for their successes.

But before that, let’s have a look at some pro tips on how to use rewards for potty training effectively in order to see results.

How to Use Rewards for Potty Training Correctly and Effectively

1. Think about what motivates your child

Every child is motivated by different things – a reward that worked for your first child might not work for your second. Spend some time thinking about what motivates your toddler.

2. Start small

Some parents think rewards = buying outrageously expensive gifts.

This isn’t true in the least. If your child is happy with 2 MnMs for a successful bathroom trip there’s no need to give her 10.

So remember: keep it simple and don’t over do it.

3. Give the reward immediately

It’s really important to give the reward immediately after your child’s success.

If you wait too long they won’t be able to connect peeing on the potty with the reward and hence will miss out on the positive reinforcement you’re trying to create.

Positive reinforcement is the introduction of a stimulus that increases the probability of that behavior occurring in the future.

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4. Switch it up

If you stick to one kind of reward after each success it could get boring and predictable for your child.

So switch it up.

Use the ideas below to get creative and try out different rewards every few days.

5. Dont reward accidents

Never give the reward to your toddler before they’ve had a successful trip to the bathroom.

Or worse, if they have acccidents.

This will completely destroy the whole point of the reward system.

Also, remember that you are NOT bribing your child.

You’re rewarding them.

It’s important to be clear about the distinction.

While bribe precedes a behavior, a reward follows it and can play a positive role in buiding positive reinforcement.

This post is all about potty training reward ideas that help motivate kids during training.

Now that you know how you use rewards effectively, let’s dig right into it. These are some of the best potty training reward ideas to get your toddler super excited about training.

20 Potty Training Reward Ideas (that seriously work!)

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1. Use Praise Abundantly

If you study toddler psychology, you find that it’s sometimes the simplest of things that motivate young children.

Praise can be one of the most effective tools in getting your child totally psyched.

It’s important that the praise is genuine.

You have to actually be feeling it.

Use your language, facial expressions and entire body language to let your child know how thrilled you are.

Children can feel the excitement and it quickly translates into how THEY feel.

I remember high fiving, dancing, praising, squealing, clapping and singing each time my toddler had a successful trip during her 3 days of training.

Kids live to see their parent’s face light up with a smile and when they see that going to the bathroom makes that happen, they want to recreate that again and again.

2. Tinkle Treats

Tinkle treats are delicious little treats that you give to your toddler for each success. Think jelly beans, chocolate raisins or bite sized cookies (be careful not to give anything that could be a potential choking hazard).

This is a great way to motivate your little one.

If youre thinking “umm but I don’t want to give my child candy each time she pees or poops for the rest of her life” then don’t worry.

Most parents use treats for the first 3-5 days of training and then phase it out. I only used it for the first 3 days and had no problems with stopping on day 4.

Also, it’s best to opt for treats that are delicious AND have lesser sugar content than most popular candies. Ideas include:

YumEarth Organic Fruit Flavored Giggles Chewy Candy Bites

Annie’s Organic Berry Patch Bunny Fruit Snacks

Annie’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

3. Basket of Joy

Maybe you don’t want to use candy as a way to reward or your kid isn’t much into sweets.

You could get small little gift items. Then wrap them up in wrapping paper and put it all into a basket. Place the basket within sight and out of reach of your toddler.

Then for each successful trip to the toilet, give them 1 sticker on their reward chart. If they collect enough stickers at the end of the day, let them pick 1 present from the basket. Here are some ideas for cute and affordable gifts for toddlers:

Wooden Stacking Dinosaur Toys for Kids

SEPHIX Go, Go! Cute Swimming Turtle Bath Toys for Toddlers

Spike The Fine Motor Hedgehog

Educational and Learning Animal Jigsaw Puzzle

4. Potty Training Activity Book

A superb way to motivate, teach and get your child excited about potty training is to do fun activities with them.

This potty training activity book has been designed to not only explain potty training in a fun way but also to get your kid super motivated to ditch the diapers.

Sounds too good to be true?

Check out the potty training ultimate bundle which includes the potty training activity book and other crazy helpful tools to help parents keep calm and sane during training.

5. Arts and Crafts Supplies

If you’d rather not reward your child with things like candy or toys then another alternative is to reward them with arts and crafts material.

This is a double win because not only will it serve as your child’s reward but will also help them stay busy AND creative (you’re welcome!)

Here are some super affordable and cute art material ideas to get for your toddler:  

Crayola Markers

Washable Paints

Honeysticks Jumbo Crayons

Melissa and Dough Water Wow

RELATED:

12 Easy Toddler Activities to Keep your Toddler Out of Trouble | No Prep Indoor Activities

15 Genius Non Toy Gifts for Toddlers Who Love to Draw

Are you looking for a potty training method that is 100% respectful, gentle, and easily
adaptable for ANY child, family situation, or schedule?

You need to check out Gentle Potty Coaching by Kim West.

A unique, much-loved by parents potty course using a method that avoids bribing and shaming your children, and skips the endless power struggles, accidents, and frustration.

6. Bubbles

Something as simple as getting a bottle of bubbles can totally get your toddler psyched. For each successful trip to the toilet, blow bubbles with your toddler, to show how excited you are for their success.

7. Potty books

Go out with your toddler and buy/borrow from the library some fun potty books. Let your toddler choose.

Now stash these away to be read ONLY when your child is on the potty.

RELATED:

10 Inspiring Ideas For Setting Up An Insanely Cute Toddler Reading Corner

Absolute Best Way to Teach Reading: Children Learning Reading Review

Many parents struggle with keeping their toddler on the potty long enough to actually do something. So this is a great way to encourage them to stay longer on it.

8. Balloons

Which kid doesn’t like balloons? Get a packet of balloons and for each successful tinkle in the toilet, celebrate by blowing up a balloon. At the end of the day you and your toddler can count the balloons to see how many successes you’ve had.

9. Stamps

Stamps are so much fun and because they are easy to use and come in such a variety of colors/shapes/characters, many toddlers love them.

Start off by getting a kid’s stamp set and then hiding it somewhere. Next, make some important looking potty training tickets. When your toddler has a successful potty trip, hand them a ticket and let them stamp away.

10. Potty training doll

Whoever invented the concept of a potty doll must have been a genius! This is a really great way to not only motivate your child to train but to also help them understand the whole process of potty training.

So this is a kind of doll that your child can give a feeding bottle to and then put on the potty. While they train their doll, they get trained in turn. It’s genius.

Here are the potty training dolls parents are loving:

Melissa & Doug Drink and Wet Poseable Baby Doll 

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Potty Time Toy

11. Happiness jar

Make a list of different things your child loves. It could be anything – extra cuddles, screen time or fudgy brownies. Now write them down on chits of paper, fold up the papers and put it into a glass jar.

Call it the happiness jar and make it look pretty if you have time (or let your toddler decorate it with stickers and gems and ribbons).

Each time your toddler has a successful trip, let them pick out 1 chit of paper and get that reward.

This is a really cool reward system because there’s an element of surprise which really adds to the excitement.

12. Visual representation

Some kids are visual learners and like to be able to see a visual representation of their success. You could take a jar and let your child put a piece of lego in it for each success. Once they’ve filled up the entire jar with Legos, they can get a bigger prize.

Related Posts:

15 Clever Tips for Leaving the House While Potty Training

10 Truly Awful Potty Training Mistakes You Should Know About

Toddler Keeps Removing the Diaper – 10 Foolproof Hacks You Need to Try

13. Personalize the throne

Which kid wouldn’t like to sit on a potty with colorful stickers and gems? If you’re using a potty chair in the house, let your little one personalize it.

Let them use markers, stickers or gems. This will help get them excited about training and more motivated to sit on the potty for longer.

14. Using food coloring

Why not turn potty training into a cool science experiment? Put blue food coloring in the potty seat and tell your toddler the color will change when they pee inside.

It’s worth it to see your child’s excitement when they see the water color turn green!

15. Reward charts

A reward chart is a very powerful way to motivate a child during potty training. Kids have a chance to get a sticker for each success which they can put up on their chart. It’s really motivating for them to see the chart fill up with shiny stickers!

Plus you can even let them collect a certain number of stickers and then get a small prize.

Grab our adorable potty training charts for FREE by signing up below. We’ll send it straight to your inbox.

Use Potty Training Gear as a Reward

16. Potty chair of their choice

Do you plan on getting a travel potty (which is basically a portable potty you can take with you on the go)? Why not use potty gear (which you already plan to buy) as a reward for your child’s training progress.

So let’s say your child has collected enough stickers and now its time to get them a bigger present. You could let them choose a portable potty chair or seat of their own choice. This would serve as a reward and also motivation to use the potty chair when you’re on the go.

17. Big kid underwear with favorite characters

Same logic as above. Use potty gear (in this case big kid underwear of your child’s choice) as a reward for their successes.

By the way, getting ones with their favorite characters on it can be a genius way to motivate them to stay dry. Simply tell them that the kitty, dog, unicorn or whatever is on it, doesn’t want to get wet.

This is a tactic that worked WONDERS with my 2 year old.

18. Potty training watch timer

Which toddler wouldn’t like to wear a cool, older kid wrist watch? So why not get smart and get them a potty training timer watch.

This can double as both a reward for their training as well as a reminder that let’s them know it’s time to head to the loo.

19. Fun looking soap

Teaching (and motivating) toddlers to wash their hands will be a big part of toilet training.

Many kids can get very forgetful, resistive or plain lazy when it comes to washing their hands after using the bathroom.

Sometimes all it takes is an inticing looking bottle (read: one thats plastered with a cute character) of soap to handle this battle.

So consider getting them a fun looking soap dispenser as both a reward and also a way to motivate them to wash their hands.

20. Favorite straw bottle

If you’re following the 3 day potty training method you’ll need your toddler to keep drinking water frequently. A great way to encourage them to do so can be to get them a cute straw water bottle.

This can be one of the rewards for their training success and also encourage them to drink more water.

Ready to take potty training from stressful to fun? Check out the Ultimate Potty Training Bundle filled with goodies you can’t miss!

This post was all about potty training reward ideas that help motivate kids during training.

Liked this post? Share it with a parent whose struggling with potty training their kid.

Read these posts next:

15 Steps to Potty Train a Stubborn Toddler Girl in 3 Days

Potty Training Essentials You Absolutely Can’t Do Without

20 Insanely Fun Potty Training Activity Sheets for Toddlers

12 Genius Hacks to Make Potty Training Less Stressful

Insanely Cute Potty Training Charts to Help Motivate (Bribe) Your Toddler