A Tool for Emotional Clarity
The Interactive Emotion Wheel
A practical tool for naming what you feel with more clarity.
The Interactive Emotion Wheel helps people move from broad emotional language into something more specific and useful. It gives shape and words to what can otherwise feel vague, tangled, or hard to name.
Created by Kimber Hardick
Kimber Hardick created this tool from lived experience and from the belief that emotions are information, not problems to solve. Her broader work includes Emotional Surfing, the 5 C's, and Wait, What, Watch — practical frameworks for understanding what you feel and learning how to work with it.
Why This Helps
Clarity changes how you respond.
Many people know they feel off, reactive, overwhelmed, flat, or shut down — but they don't have clear language for what is actually happening. They describe it as "stressed" or "fine" or "just a lot," and that vagueness makes it harder to know what to do next.
The Emotion Wheel helps create more clarity, more precision, and more room to respond instead of react. When you can name what you feel with more accuracy, you have more choice about what happens next.
What's Inside
What You'll Find Inside
The Emotion Wheel landing page includes an adult version, kids versions grouped by age, simple and fuller ways to explore feelings, and a practical starting point for emotional clarity. It is one central page where you can choose the version that fits.
Getting Started
How To Use The Wheel
- Start with the broad feeling closest to what you sense.
- Move toward the more specific word.
- Notice what fits.
- Use that awareness to reflect, communicate, or choose your next step.
There is a simple mode for quick check-ins and a full mode for deeper exploration. If you don't know where to begin, you can search by feeling.
Who This Is For
Who This Helps
Individuals
People who want better language for what they feel so they can make better decisions about how to respond.
Parents & Caregivers
Adults helping kids find words for what is happening inside them, even when those kids can't explain it yet.
Teachers & Educators
Anyone working with young people who wants a practical way to build emotional vocabulary in the classroom.
Professionals Supporting Others
Coaches, counselors, and helpers who want a straightforward tool to use alongside the people they work with.
People Moving Through Stress, Grief, or Change
Anyone in a hard season who wants to understand what they are feeling instead of being swept away by it.
The Framework
The Approach
Emotions are like waves. You can't stop them from coming, but you can learn to work with them.
- Notice what you feel.
- Don't judge it too quickly.
- Create space before reacting.
- Treat emotions as information.
- Build skill instead of trying to control everything.
Start Where You Are
Whether you are trying to understand your own feelings or help a child find words for what is happening, this gives you a place to begin.
This tool is not a diagnostic instrument and is not a substitute for professional mental health support. It is a practical resource for building emotional awareness and vocabulary.