We were so not focused on potty training for Cleo. But then all at once childcare fell apart. Suddenly we had a spot at a preschool that required kids to be potty trained and three weeks to make it happen. Three weeks. With a 2.75yo who had shown zero interest in the potty.
We needed something that would click fast. Sticker charts didn’t feel like our vibe. Too weighty. We wanted something physical the kids could watch fill up, something they could hold. Something that felt like a game and not a performance review. [Intrinsic motivation etc etc]
Who This Is (and Isn’t) For
If you’re potty training a toddler and sticker charts aren't it, this is your thing. It works especially well if your kid is motivated by watching progress happen in real time — tokens dropping into a jar is a lot more satisfying than a sticker on a page. It also works if you need to reward the attempt and not just the result, which turns out to be the whole game.
If your kid is already responding well to a sticker chart or some other system, you don’t need this. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
What We Actually Did
We bought the a Reward Jar (linked below) with poop, pee, and star tokens. It comes as a complete kit: a flat wooden jar shape with a clear front, plus a bag of wooden tokens shaped like little poop guys, pee guys, and stars.
When the kids peed, they put a pee guy in the jar. When they pooped, a poop guy. For just trying — and trying counts, that distinction matters — they got a star. The tokens stack up visually, the jar fills, and when it’s full, something fun happens. For us that was a lollipop party.
We also own the Star Jar from Hello Little Honey, which is a nicer product overall. Better build quality, cleaner design. We’ve used that one for sleep stuff and behavior things. But for potty training specifically, we wanted the poop and pee tokens. The visual matters. A toddler dropping a tiny poop emoji into a jar after using the potty is extremely motivating for them and honestly pretty funny for everyone.
The Case For
The framing is everything. You’re rewarding the attempt, not the result. They never feel like they failed — they tried, they got a token. That takes all the pressure off, which turns out to be the thing that actually makes potty training work. The jar makes the progress tangible in a way sticker charts just don’t. Kids can see it filling up. They shake it. They count the poop guys. Both of our kids were immediately obsessed.
Also: twelve dollars. For a potty training tool that actually worked in a three-week window, that’s nothing.
The Case Against
The build quality is also just okay. It’s a twelve-dollar Amazon product and it feels like one. The Star Jar from Hello Little Honey is meaningfully nicer in hand, but it doesn’t have the poop and pee tokens, and for potty training, those tokens are the whole point.
The tokens are thin. Like, surprisingly thin. They overlap and stack weird in the jar, which means the jar doesn’t fill up as visibly as you’d expect. This yields protest about unfairness. So - hack it:
The Hack
Evan fixed the thin-token problem by putting a thin foam sticker on the back of each token. It adds just enough thickness that they stop overlapping and actually stack in the jar the way you’d want. It takes five minutes and completely solves the issue. If you buy it, do this before you even start.
Our Pick
Qunclay Reward Jar (Fresh Style)
The one with the poop, pee, and star tokens. This is the one you want for potty training.
Shop on Amazon →
The Star Jar (Hello Little Honey)
Better build quality, star tokens only. Great for chores, sleep, and behavior — but no poop/pee tokens. May be unavailable.
Shop on Amazon →The One Thing Nobody Tells You
You’ll know it worked when they stop using it. Not when the jar is full — when they go to the bathroom and forget to grab a token on the way out. That’s the moment. The jar just quietly disappears from the counter one day because nobody’s reaching for it anymore. No ceremony, no graduation. They just... don’t need it. That’s the whole arc, and it’s weirdly beautiful for something involving tiny wooden poop emojis.
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Part of our All Things Potty guide.