This can be called the primary colors of feelings. Giving children the vocabulary necessary to understanding and expressing their feelings is the foundation for more difficult tasks in life, such as resolving conflicts. Use the natural circumstances of each day to build this vocabulary. This tool allows parents to demonstrate acceptance of all emotions but set limits on inappropriate behavior. For example, a parent might acknowledge a child's feeling of angry at their sister for taking their bicycle but state that it is not acceptable to hit her.
Parents can illustrate the full range of emotions by using colors.
Children can be asked to match a feeling with a color. Each child might pick a different color to describe a different emotion. Our experiences of our emotions are indeed very different and may provide parents with useful insights into their childs inner world. Red might be used for anger, blue for sadness, green for jealousy, yellow for happiness, and black for grief. Let children make a full rainbow of the emotions or have them draw a picture to show what they are feeling.