A meltdown is not bad behaviour — it is a nervous system that has run out of capacity. Discipline delivered mid-storm rarely lands.
Regulate first, teach second. Lower your voice, get down to eye level, and wait. Calm is contagious in both directions.
Give the feeling a name. “You’re disappointed we had to leave” turns an overwhelming wave into something a child can recognise next time.
Revisit it later, briefly, when everyone is calm. That short conversation is where the actual learning happens.