Fill in the reason
The reason line is what turns a generic certificate into something a child keeps. For being kind to your sister when she broke your model. For reading every night without being asked. For trying the sprouts. Specific beats glowing, every time, and children know the difference.
If you cannot think of something specific, the certificate is probably premature. A nice list certificate handed out for nothing in particular gets looked at once.
Where to put it
The usual places are inside a stocking, on a bedroom door, or left on the breakfast table on Christmas Eve. If you keep a visiting elf, it works well as the thing the elf leaves on its last night, alongside a goodbye letter.
Printed on 160gsm card it survives being carried round and pinned up, which is what happens to the good ones.
Multiple children
Print one per child, each with a different reason. Identical certificates with swapped names get compared within about a minute, and a child who notices theirs is the generic one takes the wrong message from it.
There is a two per page layout if you are doing a class or a large family, which halves the paper and still gives each child their own reason line.
Questions
- What goes on a nice list certificate?
- The child name in large type, a line saying what it is awarded for, the date and a North Pole signature. The reason line is the part that makes a child keep it.
- Can I type the name in before printing?
- Yes. Enter the name and the reason and both are set in the certificate, or print the blank version and write them by hand.
- What paper should I use?
- 160gsm card if you have it. A certificate gets carried around and pinned up, and card survives that in a way copier paper does not.
- Should every child get the same reason?
- No. Children compare certificates within a minute, and identical wording with swapped names tells a child theirs was not really about them. Write a different reason on each.