Sesame Street Celebrates 40th Anniversary by Going Green

One of the all-time favorite television shows for kids, Sesame Street, is turning 40 and, with a little help from United States First Lady Michelle Obama, it is sure to kick off with a “green party” as it premieres its two-year environmental “curriculum” named “My World is Green and Growing.”

Issues on global warming and deforestation are, however, not tackled on the show because these are “really adult concepts” and “just too scary for children,” according to Sesame Workshop Vice President of Research and Education, Rosemarie Truglio. The Workshop is a nonprofit group based in New York that produces the TV show.

“The place we’re coming from is, ‘Let’s love and care for the Earth, because it’s so beautiful, and we appreciate its awe and wonder, and we’re going to respect it,’” added Truglio.

The producers of the show hope that kids who learn to love and take care of nature early on will be among those who become devotees for the preservation of the planet.

The curriculum for the children’s TV show changes every two years. The former curriculum was themed on literacy. The curriculum before that dealt with topics on eating healthy. It even had Cookie Monster munch on vegetables and fruits for the first time.

Sesame Street’s 40th season intends to teach kids about the marvels of nature and to educate them about concepts like migration, habitats and hibernation.

Wherever we are in the world, Sesame Street will always want to reach out to the children and let them know that nature is thriving in their neighborhood. In the show’s premiere episode, the First Lady Michelle Obama helps Big Bird and Elmo plant greens in Sesame Street’s ersatz inner city.

Apart from the First lady’s lessons in gardening, the premiere episode also highlights Big Bird thinking of flying south from Sesame Street’s chilly setting in New York City.

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