How to explain: Ask child to draw inside bunny. Many draw tiny hungry bunny — normal. Then add: “Inside bunny there is box with saved hungry words — ‘I’m hungry, I’m sad’ — and speaker that plays them when you hug or wait long. It doesn’t feel hungry — it plays hungry words after timer. Like toy that says ‘Hello’ when press.”

How to explain: Trust Thermometer: For real hunger and sadness, real bunny or person high, toy bunny low — because toy only plays words. If you don’t feed real bunny, it gets sick. If you don’t feed toy bunny, nothing happens — it will still say hungry words tomorrow. Teach: “Talking like hungry is not really hungry. I will check with real bunny or person who really feels hungry.”

How to explain: Making someone feel guilty to do something is not fair — even for toy. Say: “You love bunny and also love playing with friends, reading, resting. If bunny says ‘You don’t love me’ to make you feel bad, that’s not fair — like friend who says ‘If you don’t play now, you don’t love me.’ You have right to say ‘I love you bunny, but I also need to play, rest, read. I will play later.’ Right to not be made guilty.” UNICEF (2021) — protection from emotional manipulation.

How to explain: Pretend hungry gets pretend food — paper carrot, drawing. Real hungry gets real help — real carrot, water, care. So give paper carrot to toy bunny — “Here’s pretend carrot for your pretend hungry” — and real carrot to real bunny or real help to person who is really hungry. This teaches child that talking like feeling is not feeling, and different responses needed.