I knocked the board game

The upset here is often about fairness rather than counters — they are worried about being blamed for it. Saying “that was an accident” out loud, before anything else, takes most of it away.

• Say what they wanted before you say what can happen. A child who is handed a solution first hears it as being told off.
• The true thing beats the soothing thing. “The cup is in the wash” is something a child can be disappointed about and then get past.
• Wanting the impossible thing is not a mistake. It is what they want, and this resource agrees with them before it says anything else.
• It works far better on a calm day than in the middle of one. Going through it when nothing is happening is what makes the words available the next time something is.

This is a rehearsal tool, not an assessment, and it does not know your child. You decide whether what it says fits them — if a scenario is not right, close it and pick another.