Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Sweet Rewards

Sometimes, you have to resort to a little bribery.  This past Saturday, the Learning Center Quad was temporarily down, and three-year old Timmy wanted to ride the lift.  He wasn't so sure about going on the "big" mountain just yet, but we knew just the thing to entice him: a stop at Chutters, a penny-candy shop at the top of the Zephyr Quad.  Somehow that run down Avalon just became a lot more alluring!

Chutters' claim to fame at their home store in Littleton, NH, is the World's Longest Candy Counter.  Although their Bretton Woods winter satellite shop isn't quite as long, there's still a dizzying array of sweets to pick from.  Customers can grab a bag and fill it with sours and gummies, jellybeans, licorice, caramels, and other traditional penny candies.  

Bridget and Timmy each got their own bag, and they gravitated towards their favorite gummy shapes: giant dinosaurs, colorful flowers, squirmy worms and several sizes of frogs.




Once outside, they each got to pick one piece of candy before heading down the mountain, with promises that they'd earn more candy for lots of good turns down the slope.  

We are working getting Timmy to be able to stop.  He loves to whiz down the trail in "french fry,"
with his skis parallel, but he's not really interested in learning to stop yet, which can prove troublesome at times.  Matt started him off down Avalon, a long, gentle ride down towards West Mountain and back to the base lodge, and had Timmy mirror his turns back and forth across the mountain.  It's a long run for a three-year old, but he was proud of making it down and ready for another piece of candy when we returned to the lodge.

Do you ever use treats to motivate or reward your kids?

Chutters at Bretton Woods is open on weekends and during school vacation weeks throughout the school season.

No comments:

Post a Comment