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How to make a consequence wheel

Short answer

How to make a consequence wheel: agree on four to eight options, divide a circle into equal slices, write one option in each, and add a pointer that can stop on any slice. A physical consequence wheel can be a paper plate, cardboard, or a dry-erase round. Hang it where you will read it before anyone is upset.

Do the agreement before the craft. A beautiful wheel with slices you will not enforce is a decoration. A crooked plate with four honest lines will do more on a Tuesday morning.

This page is the shared method. Deeper cuts live on the cardboard, paper plate, and dry-erase pages. Templates are on the template page.

Five illustrated steps: a short written list, a circle divided into six slices, a marker labeling a slice, a paper-clip pointer, and the wheel hanging on a hook.1Agree2Divide3Label4Pointer5HangDecorate only after the words are honest
Agree, divide, label, add a pointer, then hang it. Decorate last, if at all.

Spin only what you already agreed to.

Use the free wheel

Decide the slices in pencil

Sit down on a calm day with the child if they will join you. Collect ideas. Cross out anything you will not do. Keep four to eight lines. Lynn Lott and Jane Nelsen’s Wheel of Choice materials leave blank slices for a family’s own solutions. You can do the same: one slice that says “our idea” is allowed to stay blank until the review date.

Read every survivor out loud. If you stumble over a sentence, shorten it. The pointer will not clarify a vague slice.

Pick the circle that fits the next month

A fluted paper plate is enough to learn whether your family will use a wheel at all. Two cardboard circles glued with the flutes crossed stay flat on a door. A laminated print of the blank wheel, or a round whiteboard, is the one you wipe on the review date.

Supplies you are likely to have are compared on the materials page. Skip lights, batteries, and anything that looks like a casino.

Three physical consequence wheels
VersionPointerRewrite later?
Paper platePaper clip on a brad, circle taped downNew plate, or tape over a slice
CardboardFixed clothespin or arrow, circle turnsNew label, or paint over
Dry-eraseEither pointerWipe on the review date

Make the odds honest

Mark the center. Divide even slices. Six slices can follow a clock at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Eight slices are three cuts through the middle. NCTM’s Adjustable Spinner is a classroom demo of the same fact you need at home: a wider wedge lands more often. If you mean an equal chance, make the wedges match.

Decide what a landing on a line means before the first real spin. A simple rule is that the line belongs to the slice clockwise from it. Better: widen the wedges so the pointer clearly favors one of them.

Build a physical consequence wheel

Agree on four to eight options, divide a circle into equal slices, label each slice, add a pointer, and hang the wheel where adults will see it before they need it.

Supplies

  • A paper plate, two cardboard circles, or a round dry-erase board
  • Pencil and marker, or a dry-erase marker
  • Paper clip or a cardboard arrow
  • Brass fastener, or a clothespin as a fixed pointer
  • Tape or a hook

Tools

  • Scissors, used by an adult
  • Ruler
  • Optional: glue for a double cardboard circle

Steps

  1. Agree on the options. On a calm day, write four to eight options you will actually carry out. Cross out anything unsafe or anything you will not enforce. Read the remaining lines aloud.
  2. Choose and cut a circle. Use a paper plate, cut two matching circles from corrugated cardboard, or start with a round dry-erase board. An adult uses the scissors.
  3. Divide equal slices. Mark the center. Draw four, six, or eight equal slices. For six, use clock marks at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. For eight, cut the circle in half three times.
  4. Label each slice. Write one short option in each slice. Put a name in the center if you want. Pencil first on paper or cardboard. On a dry-erase surface, keep a paper copy of the same words.
  5. Add a pointer. Either tape the circle down and spin a paper clip or cardboard arrow on a brass fastener, or let the circle turn under a fixed pointer such as a clothespin on the frame. The pointer must be able to stop clearly on every slice.
  6. Hang it and practice. Put the wheel where you will see it before anyone is upset. Do one practice spin with no stakes. Set a review date. Change slices on that date, not in the middle of a landing.

Questions people ask

How many slices should we cut?

Four to eight. Six is easy to mark with a clock. More than eight gets hard to read and hard to mean. You can add a slice on the review date.

What if we do not have a brass fastener?

Spin the circle on a pencil held through the center by an adult, and clip a clothespin to a cardboard frame as the pointer. Or use the free wheel on this site until you have a fastener.

Can a child make it alone?

They can write and color. An adult cuts and attaches small parts. Keep brads and paper clips away from children who still put objects in their mouths.

Sources