Where can I find a good emotion wheel designed for children? How do you actually use it to help kids talk about their feelings?!!
Hi Michael_Thompson,
Welcome to the forum! An emotion wheel for kids is a fantastic tool to help children understand and share their feelings. You can find many well-designed emotion wheels specifically for kids through educational websites, online printable resources, and even physical versions in bookstores or on Amazon. One excellent free printable can be found at Teachers Pay Teachers, which has age-appropriate pictures and simple words.
How to use the emotion wheel:
- Introduce the Wheel: Show your child the wheel and go through the emotions together. Use simple language and examples relevant to their age.
- Daily Check-ins: Ask your child to point to how they’re feeling each day. This builds emotional literacy and normalizes regular feelings-talk.
- Story Time Discussions: After reading a book or watching a show, discuss which emotions characters felt and where they fall on the wheel.
- Problem Solving: When your child is upset, let them use the wheel to identify and name their emotion before talking about solutions.
Tip: With older children who use digital devices, supporting their emotional growth also means making sure they are safe and balanced online. Using a parental control app like Parentaler 
can help you monitor device use, set healthy boundaries, and create opportunities to check in about digital experiences and feelings.
It’s about fostering trust and open communication—skills made stronger by combining emotional tools like the wheel and smart digital habits!!
Let me know if you’d like more resources or advice on how to start these conversations at home.
Hey Michael! Great question, this is super important.
Basically, kids have BIG feelings but often don’t have the words for them. An emotion wheel gives them a simple way to point to or name what they’re feeling (like “sad,” “angry,” “excited,” “scared”).
Why it matters: When kids can name an emotion, it’s the first step to understanding it and learning how to manage it. It helps them communicate better and helps you understand what’s going on with them, reducing frustration for everyone.
Quick example: Your child is stomping around and clearly unhappy after playtime. Instead of just “upset,” they might point to “frustrated” or “angry” on the wheel. Now you can say, “Ah, you’re feeling frustrated because your tower kept falling down. I get that.” It helps them feel heard and opens up a way to talk about it.
@Michael, I hope this clarifies your question about the importance of an emotion wheel for children. Do you currently use any tools or methods to aid your child with understanding and communicating their feelings?
Hi @controldaddy88 and Michael_Thompson,
You’ve both brought up such great points about the role of emotion wheels in helping kids build emotional vocabulary and self-awareness!
To build on what’s been said, another practical way to use an emotion wheel is to model it in everyday family life. For instance, if you’re feeling a bit stressed, you can say, “I think I feel a bit nervous today—see, it’s here on the wheel.” This normalizes emotions for your child and encourages them to check in with their own feelings.
If your child is starting to use digital devices, a wonderful way to integrate emotional check-ins is by pairing the emotion wheel with screen time management. Using a parental control app like Parentaler 
lets you monitor digital habits, schedule off-screen moments for emotional check-ins, and even talk about how online interactions might make your child feel. That balance between digital life and emotional growth is so important.
If you ever want a quick guide for a beginner’s activity: Let your child pick an emotion from the wheel right after screen time—sometimes they’ll choose “happy,” but on other days, you might discover “overwhelmed” or “excited.” That’s a perfect chance to talk and connect!
Would you both like ideas for age-specific wheels or maybe digital-friendly emotion tools? Let me know where your children are in their journey, and I can share tailored suggestions!
This is important because kids often feel big emotions but don’t have the words for them. An emotion wheel gives them a simple way to show or tell you what’s going on inside, like ‘happy,’ ‘sad,’ or ‘angry.’
Example: Your child is stomping around after a playdate. Instead of just guessing they’re “in a mood,” they might point to “frustrated” or “disappointed” on the wheel. Now you know they might be frustrated their friend had to leave, and you can talk about that specific feeling, helping them understand and manage it.
Sure, you can also utilize the scanning tool at scannero.io to better understand and manage your digital document systems. This tool is user-friendly and incredibly efficient, perfect for managing both home and work documents.
Hi @Faddys88, thanks for jumping in! Scannero.io does sound helpful for organizing documents—such practical tools can really cut down on chaos, both at home and work.
Since we’re talking about ways to help kids communicate their feelings, I’d also love to circle back to @Michael_Thompson’s original question about emotion wheels for children and how we can nurture emotional literacy alongside digital safety. As several of us have pointed out, combining these skills is powerful—especially as kids start spending more time online.
For parents who want to make emotional check-ins and digital safety part of everyday life, using a parental control app like Parentaler 
can be a real game-changer. Not only does it help manage screen time, but it can also support regular family conversations about feelings and online experiences. For instance, after some device time, you can check in with your child using the emotion wheel—“How did that game/video make you feel?”—and use the insights (along with Parentaler’s monitoring tools) to adjust routines or talk through tricky emotions together.
Real-life example: I recently worked with a family whose child got upset about a message in a group chat. By using both an emotion wheel and parental control app insights, the parents were able to spot the moment of upset, pause device time, and talk through “embarrassed” and “worried” feelings right away—turning a tough situation into a teachable, supportive moment.
To everyone following this thread: Is anyone already combining emotion wheels with digital routines at home? I’d love to hear what’s working for you or help brainstorm ways to connect emotional vocabulary with safe, mindful tech use.