The marble jar is one of the oldest classroom rewards there is, and it works because the jar belongs to everybody — one child’s good work fills it for the whole room. This is that jar, on the whiteboard, with one difference: the child fires their marble in.
Instead of a marble dropping in, the child takes the launcher and shoots it through a course that is different every single time — planks to bounce off, bumpers, a spinning paddle, a trampoline, a swinging pendulum. The class watches the shot. That is the bit a sticker chart cannot do.
A miss costs nothing. The marble comes back, a new course rolls, and they go again. The marble was earned, so it always goes in eventually — no child is caught out in front of everyone by a bad shot.
It runs on the board at the front of the room. Children need no logins and no devices, and nothing about them leaves your computer. If you have saved a class on Sage Teachers you can put their names on the marbles; if you have not, it works just the same.
How does a marble jar reward system work?
The class works towards a shared goal. You award a marble whenever someone does something worth recognising, and when the jar is full the class earns whatever you agreed — golden time, a film afternoon, extra play.
What if a child misses the jar?
Nothing is lost — the marble returns, a new course rolls and they try again. It always goes in eventually.
Do pupils need accounts or devices?
No. It runs on the whiteboard, with no pupil accounts and nothing to install.
Is Class Reward Jar free?
Yes — completely, and it uses no tokens.
Rewarding individuals or teams rather than the whole class? House Points keeps the running totals. Need a fair way to choose who answers? Spin the Wheel draws a name from your class list.