Understanding you and your child's temperaments can help with parenting. For example, melancholic children respond well to fairy tales describing hardships. The phlegmatic child likes comfort, to be kept warm, and delicious food. Sanguine children respond well to calm parenting but enjoy social situations. Choleric children like to be leaders and you may find letting them be in charge of tasks helps to give them direction. In Waldorf schools teachers work with temperaments to help children grow and develop.
Children of these temperaments are often drawn to these colors:
- Choleric: Red & Fire
- Sanguine: Yellow & Rainbow
- Phlegmatic: Green & Forest
- Melancholic: Blues & Ocean
According to Rudolf Steiner- the founder of Waldorf education - each phase of life has a temperament associated with it.
- Childhood: Sanguine
- Adolescence: Choleric
- Adulthood: Melancholic
- Old Age: Phlegmatic
A goal of adulthood is to bring all four temperaments into balance, to bring harmony into one's life.
Here's a list of animals associated with each temperament.
- Lion (Choleric/Dominance) Strengths— Visionary, practical, productive, strong-willed, independent, decisive, leader.
- Otter (Sanguine/Influence) Strengths— Outgoing, responsive, warm, friendly, talkative, enthusiastic, compassionate.
- Golden Retriever (Phlegmatic/Steadiness).
- Beaver (Melancholy/Compliance)
You can look at the characters in Winnie the Pooh to find the four temperaments - Eeyore is the melancholic; Rabbit choleric; Pooh phlegmatic; and Christopher Robin himself is the sanguine.
Take a quiz to determine your temperament. (A very fun activity to do with children - our family had so much fun discovering our temperaments!)
Let me know what temperament you and your children are in a comment below.
For further reading on this subject I recommend looking at Dr. Gilbert Child's work entitled Understand Your Temperament! A guide to the four temperaments: Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic and Melancholic.
i am choleric, and two of my teens are as well, the other is sanguine. if i recall correctly, steiner asvised against “assigning” a temperament to little ones and i understand why—mine are all and none of the above.
kathleen on
I’m not sure what I am! My answer was phlegmatic but I’m not sure I am. Maybe choleric! My 5 Yr old is melancholic and sanguine and my youngest seems sanguine and phlegmatic. I believe my husband is both phlegmatic and sanguine.
Emily siciliano on
I am melancholic. I would say my son is sanguine, and my daughter choleric
Hana on
I’m choleric and so is my son! Can you imagine! 🤷🏾♀️
Renee on
The quiz identifies my temperament as Phlegmatic, but I’m far from carefree, easy going or laid back; I could certainly benefit from being more Phlegmatic! I would describe my 4-year old daughter as Sanguine.
Julie on
I got melancholic. I would say my three year old is melancholic with some sanguine and my one year old seems to show phlegmatic. I love this way of looking at emotions!
Amber Ziebell on
I am phlegmatic. i think my older girl is choleric and my younger is mostly melancholic
laura on
2 phlegmatically here for those who took it! Both females in the house
Brooke Volpe on
I’m phlegmatic with a choleric son and a sanguine daughter. 😍
Christina on
I’m phlegmatic. My best guess for my toddler is that she’s choleric and it’s a little early to tell with my son but he seems to be leaning towards sanguine.
Sarah Rickett on
I am melancholic. My kids are too young but id say my son is choleric with a touch of sanguine and my daughter is phlegmatic. My husband is also melancholic and a bit phlegmatic!
Briana on
I am Phlegmatic and it seems that my daughter is sanguine and one of my sons is choleric and the other phlegmatic.
Emily Polhamus on