New Sesame Street Content for Children’s Grief Awareness Month

Sesame Workshop has released new content online to support children and families dealing with grief and loss in honor of Children’s Grief Awareness Month.

Among the new free English and Spanish resources are three new videos featuring characters from Sesame Street, including “Jesse Expresses Grief Through Play,” showing how children can express their feelings through play and how adults can help them in the process.

Additional videos include “Elmo and Jesse Remember Uncle Jack,” in which Elmo and Jesse celebrate Uncle Jack and show that there are various ways to remember and celebrate someone, and “Re-grieving as Seasons Change,” in which Jesse and her mom tackle how grief can come and go by sharing memories of Jesse’s dad and talking about their feelings together.

Other new resources are the read-along digital storybook Something New, in which Jesse learns to navigate grief as time goes on; the digital interactive game Express Yourself with Elmo and Jesse!, encouraging children to express their emotions through creativity; three new printable activities; and parent and caregiver articles that offer language, tips and strategies to help communicate with children about coping with grief.

Sesame Workshop received philanthropic investment from the New York Life Foundation, one of the largest funders in the childhood bereavement field, to develop the new resources, which are now available just in time for the holidays, a time when the absence of loved ones can be felt even more deeply.

The new resources are available on the Sesame website and are being distributed through the Sesame Street in Communities program.

“Experiencing loss and navigating grief is life-changing for young children,” said Jeanette Betancourt, Ed.D., senior VP of U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop. “Our resources not only provide ways for caring adults in children’s lives to help them cope with loss but also offer comfort, hope and ways to look ahead and start to heal as a family.”

“Through the collaborative partnership between the New York Life Foundation and Sesame Workshop, we are proud to offer accessible and free grief resources, especially for our youngest grievers who are often forgotten,” said Maria Collins, VP of the New York Life Foundation. “Grief is a universal yet unique experience that everyone will encounter, which is why we believe that providing language, tools and resources from an early age is imperative.”