I put the piece in wrong

Nothing is broken here — the piece lifts out and the puzzle is exactly as it was. The size of the upset is about the piece not fitting, not about damage. Saying out loud how easily it comes out is usually the whole of what is needed.

• 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.