How an Emotions Wheel Can Teach Kids to Identify and Express Their Feelings

Key Insights

• Children often struggle to name emotions because there are so many subtle feelings to recognise.
• Labelling how we feel helps children to calm down and process difficult emotions more effectively.
• By showing layers of feelings and how these relate to other feelings, kids can move beyond basic emotions, such as “happy” or “sad”, and describe their emotions with greater precision.
• Identifying feelings empowers children to express themselves, regulate responses, and can strengthen relationships.

The Challenge of Naming Emotions

Emotions can be confusing, even for adults. For children, who are still building their vocabulary and self-awareness, it can be difficult to put their feelings into words. They might recognise when they feel “angry” or “sad,” but struggle to pinpoint if they’re feeling frustrated, disappointed, lonely, or worried. This is where an emotions wheel comes in: by providing a visual, organized way to explore feelings, kids can learn to identify and verbally communicate their emotions rather than acting them out or bottling them up.

What Is an Emotions Wheel?

An emotions wheel is a circular diagram that organizes emotions visually and shows relationships between primary emotions and their more subtle variations. The first wheel was created by American psychologist Robert Plutchik. Plutchik’s wheel featured eight primary emotions: joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, and anticipation. These were arranged in pairs of opposites, with different shades representing the intensity of each emotion.

Psychologist Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions that are universal across all cultures: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. These emotions are linked to distinct facial expressions, making them easy for children to recognize. These six emotions are the foundation for the wheel below. From these core emotions, the wheel branches outward to more subtle emotions, which helps kids to pinpoint and articulate more nuanced feelings. For example, a child might start by picking sadness in the centre, before moving outwards to lonely in the middle ring, and then isolated in the outer ring. This can also help children to recognise that emotions often have hidden layers, like an iceberg, where some feelings sit beneath the surface.

As with Robert Plutchik’s emotions wheel, colours help children distinguish the different emotions and levels of intensity. For example, sadness is shown in dark blue, lonely in blue, and isolated in light blue, which helps children to understand how emotions are connected but vary in depth.

Feelings Wheel (US and A4 size variations).

A Simpler Feelings Wheel for Younger Children

For younger children who may find a full emotions wheel overwhelming, a simplified version inspired by the Zones of Regulation may also be effective. The below Feelings Zones Wheel groups emotions into four easy-to-understand colour-coded zones: blue for low states of alertness (tired, sad), green for calm and ready to learn, yellow for heightened emotions (frustrated, silly, worried), and red for intense feelings (angry, out of control). This version uses clear visuals and simple language to help younger children to quickly recognize how they are feeling and link it to a zone. This also creates an opportunity for adults to model calming strategies and guide children in regulating their emotions.

 

Why Use an Emotions Wheel with Kids?

1. Labelling Emotions Reduces Their Power

Ignoring or pushing emotions away can make them stronger. In contrast, teaching children to label what they feel can help them to make sense of their emotions, prevents escalation, and provides a good starting point for problem-solving conversations with an adult.

2. Expanding Emotional Vocabulary

The emotions wheel can help children to learn new words for feelings beyond basic labels such as “angry” or “happy.” With practice, kids begin to notice the difference between being nervous and being terrified, or between content and joyful. This increased self-awareness also builds their emotional intelligence.

3. Supporting Emotional Regulation

When kids can identify their emotional state, they are better able to choose appropriate, responses, such as asking for help or use a calming strategy, instead of communicating through physical behaviours, such as lashing out. This improved ability to self-regulate is important for resilience and social success.

4. Encouraging Empathy and Communication

The wheel can also be used in pairs or groups to help children point to how they feel or ask others to share their feelings using the wheel. This has the potential to open up conversations and strengthen relationships.

 

Curriculum Connections

Here’s how the emotions wheel links to learning outcomes in both the UK and US school systems: 

Curriculum Area	UK (England)	US (CASEL Framework)	How the Emotions Wheel Helps
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education	Pupils learn to recognise and talk about their emotions, feelings, and behaviour.	Self-awareness: identifying emotions and recognising their impact.	The wheel gives children a concrete tool to name and describe emotions.
Relationships Education	Pupils develop positive relationships, empathy, and respect for others.	Relationship skills: communicating clearly, listening, and showing empathy.	The wheel provides a way to share feelings and understand others.
Health Education	Pupils understand how mental wellbeing is linked to expressing emotions and seeking support.	Self-management: regulating emotions and managing stress.	Children learn to regulate emotions by recognising and labelling them.
Wider Curriculum Links	Literacy: describing characters’ emotions in stories.	Social Studies/ELA: recognising feelings in social situations and literature.	Expands vocabulary and develops empathy in both academic and social contexts.

 

Final Thoughts

Children can experience a whirlwind of feelings every day, including joy, sadness, frustration, anxiety, excitement. Understandably, it can be overwhelming for them to put these emotions into words. The emotions wheel is a simple but transformative tool that can help children to name, understand, and manage their emotions, whilst also encouraging meaningful communication with others.

If you’d like to introduce this tool at home or in the classroom, you can find a printable Feelings Wheel for Kids here as a starting resource.

 

References and Further Reading

Plutchik, R. (1980). Emotion: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis. Harper & Row.

Ekman, P. (1999). Basic Emotions. In T. Dalgleish & M. Power (Eds.), Handbook of Cognition and Emotion (pp. 45–60). John Wiley & Sons.

 

Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/love-woman-summer-festive-8385033/