I agree that consistency in expectations with children is key - sometimes some children can master the rules with one or two reminders and other children take longer to 'grasp' the expectations and natural consequences for behaviours.

With children of all ages - in addition to making expectations for behaviour clear - making sure that their learning the natural consequences of misbehavior is key ... so in this case I would tell the child 'Uhhh uhhh - hands off not for touching' and redirect them away from the safety corner with a reminder 'if you want to pick you can pick at this' and provide them with something that can be 'picked at and taken apart' like a puzzle or something ... the message being sent that they are there for a purpose to keep the children safe, a part of the environment and must be respected - if you need to 'pick' here is something you CAN pick ... IMO this teaches the child that we respect their 'needs' by recognize they were just curious about this picking/pulling sensation but want to keep them safe!

Now if the child were to keep returning to pick at them than I too would put them in what i call a TIME IN in a play yard, highchair or some other confined area with the message 'Danger - hands off. You touch that again you have to play HERE cause I need to keep your safe'. I call this a time in because it is not 'punishment' to be placed here - it is still another form of redirection but with a 'condition' that must be met to come out of the activity ... there is something to 'do' in the playpen and so forth but the choices are limited and the message is if you want to be free and have more choices you PLAY SAFE FOLLOW THE RULES!

IMO a TIME OUT by traditional definition is a child misbehaves and than the child is sent somewhere alone with nothing to do but to 'think about what they did' and they stay their for the length of time of the adult feels was warranted for the 'crime' so to speak ... however IME having seen these used in centre care for years they rarely teach the children how to 'problem solve and make better choices' because the child sits there either being angry or confused and 'guesses' at what they want to adult to hear - usually the 'sorryeeeeee' phrase without knowing truly WHY they are sorry ... IMO they are definitely NOT effective with young children who cannot connect the behaviour of 5 minutes ago to why they are sitting on a chair or step or corner now let alone what the adult truly wants them to 'say' to get off the step or chair.

That said I response to the 'what do you do if they scream their head off' at being removed from a situation .... while I do not do 'time outs' in that traditional sense - I do not tolerate 'tantrums' in my program either - screaming and thrashing in anger at not getting your own way regardless of your age is not a suitable form of communication - when a child attempts to do this they are given to the count of 5 to take deep breaths and calm back down so we can TALK this out and if they cannot or will not than they are offered the option to go lay down on their bed/cot until such a time they are prepared to talk ... again to me this is another variation of the TIME IN because the child is in control of how long they are there with the expectation of what needs to occur for them to return to the group being clear ... calm yourself down and be safe ... it is also a natural consequence to their behaviour because screaming/thrashing is too loud on the ears of others and puts others at risk of being hit/kicked and well my job is to keep everyone safe - including them so I am providing them a safe place to meet their emotional needs to 'be angry' while keeping others safe too Eventually they learn to 'discuss' their angry feelings before getting to the point of having lost control and to problem solve conflict or miscommunication with others.