Yubuu's Feeling Wheel in everyday Kita life

✦ For Kindergartens

Discover feelings together — playful, part of everyday life, with no big preparation needed.

Children experience countless feelings every day: joy while playing, anger after an argument, pride in an achievement, or sadness when saying goodbye to their parents. But many children can't yet put into words what's going on inside them. Yubuu's Feeling Wheel helps educators guide children through these moments playfully, in a safe space, with no pressure to perform and no right or wrong answers.

Why Yubuu's Feeling Wheel?

How Yubuu's Feeling Wheel can be used

Morning circle

Small groups

One-on-one support

Preschool groups

Conflict conversations

Emotional education projects

A calm prompt after a difficult moment

What makes Yubuu's Feeling Wheel special?

The focus isn't on finding the right answer, but on discovering together. Yubuu never judges an answer. Instead, Yubuu asks curious questions, listens closely, and invites children to get to know their own inner world of feelings. This creates an atmosphere where children feel taken seriously and can build trust. What makes it special: feelings never stay abstract. Spinning the wheel, matching the magnetic heads, the flash cards, the situation cards and the needs circles make feelings visible, tangible and understandable.

A window into children's inner world

For educators, Yubuu's Feeling Wheel is more than a game, it's also an observation tool. During play, it becomes visible which feelings currently occupy a child, how they interpret situations, and where there might be a need to talk. These observations help support each child more individually and sharpen your own educational work.

„Hello! I'm so glad you're here. Together we'll discover feelings, with no right or wrong. I listen, I ask questions, and I learn something new every day. Will you come along on our journey of discovery?"

— Yubuu

Who is the game for?

Early-years educatorsIntegration/inclusion educatorsSpecial-needs educatorsSpeech and language support staffKita directorsPreschool groupsFamily centres

A round follows five steps that build on one another. First, the child spins the Feeling Wheel and takes its magnetic head, a deliberate element of chance that also brings feelings into play that the child wouldn't have chosen spontaneously. Next, the child draws a question card and talks briefly about the feeling. Then comes a flash card: a short everyday situation where the child simply says whether the feeling fits or not. In the fourth step, the child places their magnetic head on a situation card that shows Yubuu with no facial expression. Finally, the child chooses from the needs circles what would help them with this feeling. A full round takes about 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the group and depth of conversation, sometimes longer. At the end, Yubuu leads a short reflection: How do you feel now? Did you enjoy the game?

Yubuu's Feeling Wheel is built on several recognised approaches from developmental psychology and emotional education. The meta-analysis by Durlak et al., covering over 270,000 children, shows that structured social and emotional learning programmes significantly reduce behavioural problems and strengthen self-esteem. Neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman has shown that simply naming a feeling has a calming effect on a child's brain, exactly what every round of the wheel practises. Research on embodied learning also shows that children learn more deeply when they act physically rather than just listen, which is why the game material is deliberately designed to be physical.