Or, they feel insignificant because parents rarely make time to play with them.

Maybe they don’t feel like they belong with their peer group. Instead, they lack the skills to manage their emotions. Positive parenting stresses that kids who misbehave aren’t bad. It’s usually a sign of something else entirely. Well, when it comes to misbehavior, that’s not the case. You know the saying: If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it’s a duck. The following are a few practical applications to make you ask, “ Where has this been my whole life?” Locate the Root of Misbehavior Luckily, the Wheel is another tool designed with similar strategic advantages in mind. (Our FREE Webinar offers a glimpse into these tools and this mindset.) It’s also about getting to the core of problems. Positive parenting is all about using tools to manage obstacles. The Wheel also enlists the help of colors to visually group, separate emotions, and intensify emotions.īut despite exploring feelings that are as varied as a Pantone palette, how can we truly apply the Wheel of Emotions to our daily lives and positive parenting journeys? Both are found on symmetrically opposite sides of the circle. The opposite of ecstasy, for example, is grief. The Wheel is also designed to mirror contrasting feelings. The center, like a pinpointed bullseye, represents the extreme version of those emotions.īecause emotions are notoriously complex, the pastel in-between spaces are labeled to show how different emotions can also blend together. The middle and outer rings represent the primary and secondary feelings that constitute mainstream emotions. Because sometimes, it’s not enough–or doesn’t feel quite right–to say you’re sad, happy, or scared: especially when somebody’s hiding in the closet over a homework assignment they would’ve sailed through last week. The goal of the Wheel is to help people understand and identify not only what they feel, but the specifics of those feelings. Robert Plutchik’s 2016 wheel (shown below). But for this particular article, we’ll be referring specifically to Dr.

No matter the version you use, each one dives into the intricacies of human sentiment. You can find one shaped like a pizza, another using emojis, and even a wheel turned into a board game. Shortly afterwards, in 1982, Gloria Willcox published The Feeling Wheel: A Tool for Expanding Awareness of Emotions and Increasing Spontaneity and Intimacy.Ĭountless versions of the feelings wheel now abound.

In 1980, Robert Plutchik developed what he called the Wheel of Emotions. Luckily, whether your child is a teary toddler or a raging teen, there’s a shortcut to deciphering them. They’re constant, primal–and kids can go through about a dozen of them in ten brief minutes. Why a Feelings Wheel Supports Your Positive Parenting Journeyįeelings make us human.

Emotions coloring wheel