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The goofiness of Grover and the undeniable sweetness of Elmo. The innocence of Big Bird and even the moroseness of Oscar the Grouch.

These ageless characters and their peculiarities stake claim to a special place in the hearts of children and, maybe even more importantly, have been informal educators of the world's youth for generations.

"Sesame Street" will celebrate its 40th anniversary Tuesday, exactly four decades from the day the show first aired on PBS.

And while the "Sesame Street" brand has evolved over that time, its wholesome values and effective educational tools are as relevant as ever.

Inside the Barbarito & Beyers Preschool in Mays Landing on Friday, the children were unaware that their Sesame Street "friends" were about to celebrate a milestone birthday.

The children were too busy improving their problem-solving skills by putting together Sesame Street-themed puzzles, expressing their creativity by making Big Bird crafts and having their imagination captured by stories from a variety of "Sesame Street" books.

Barbarito and Beyers - which has six locations throughout Atlantic and Cape May counties - has incorporated the "Sesame Street" brand in one way or another since it opened its first center in 1979.

"By then, Sesame Street was already seen as a standard for educating children. It's like a little U.N., something that kids of all ages and from all over the world can identify with," said Bill Beyers, who owns Barbarito and Beyers with his wife, Janice Barbarito.

Beyers said children identify with the Sesame Street puppets similarly to how they relate to animals.

"There is a commonality for them when they are dealing with creatures, such as small animals, or in this case, 'Sesame Street' characters. They look at them as being more innocent, not authority figures," Beyers said. "It's a lot easier to motivate someone to learn when they can relate to something."

According to a 1970 study released by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, "Sesame Street" improved the cognitive skills of underprivileged children who watched it regularly by as much as 62 percent.

Mary Jane Coster teaches infants ages 6 weeks to 16 months at the AtlantiCare Kids Child Care and Early Learning Center in Galloway Township. As a mother of seven children, Coster said "Sesame Street" was a valuable educational tool of which her now-adult children are still fond. But Coster said that over the years, the "Sesame Street" brand has been able to adapt to accommodate parents wary of plopping their children in front of a television all day.

She said the brand provided child care facilities such as AtlantiCare Kids with toys that help children develop their motors skill, music albums that help them with rhythm and movement, and books that encourage them to learn about shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet.

The "Sesame Street" characters on the diapers the school uses also prove to be a conversation piece for children while they are getting changed, she said.

"I think the bright colors and the music draws in a lot of the children," Coster said. "The alphabet and numbers are always presented in different ways, and I think the talking characters are particularly inviting for children."

AtlantiCare also incorporates the "Sesame Street" brand in other ways.

Rosalind Norrell-Nance, director of the AtlantiCare Behavioral Health Atlantic City Family Centers, said that program uses "Sesame Street" materials throughout the year and that children as old as third grade still enjoy working with "Sesame Street" materials such as videos and computer software. The center has even brought the children and teenagers in its summer camp to visit the Sesame Place amusement park in Langhorne, Pa.

And AtlantiCare's Center for Community Health uses the "Health Habits for Life" program developed by Nemours Health and Prevention Services and KidsHealth, which uses "Sesame Street" characters to help promote healthy eating and physical activity in preschoolers.

But the valuable lessons that "Sesame Street" has provided over the years extend beyond cognitive development and healthy living.

The program introduced children to the reality of death with the groundbreaking episode "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" that aired in 1983 following the death of Will Lee, who played Jewish shopkeeper Mr. Hooper. It tackled adoption when Gina, a single-mom veterinarian played by Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly, adopted a baby boy from Guatemala. And it has been a longstanding champion for cultural diversity, with most of it human cast representing different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

"It was ahead of its time with introducing children to different races and classes," said Clint Beyers, 27, who is a director for his parents' preschools. "Even the puppets come from different backgrounds, where a character like Oscar the Grouch, who lives in a garbage can, gets along with Big Bird. And for that to happen at such an early age will help them to be more open-minded when they get older."

Lessons like these are what have educators confident that "Sesame Street" will still be relevant in another 40 years.

"Every once in a while, you meet someone who seems to have it all together, who can endure, no matter what," Bill Beyers said. "'Sesame Street' is like one of those people. It's just a winning package."

Contact Robert Spahr:

609-272-7283

RSpahr@pressofac.com

2 comments:

• iloveelmo2 (1) posts 2:05 pm

  As part of Sesame Street's first audience, and the mother of four who all grew up with Big Bird, Grover and Elmo, I find it disturbing that the Press would print a picture of infants sitting in front of a television while being restrained in a feeding table. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for children under age 2, even so-called educational television. These children are too young to benefit from the wonderful lessons Sesame Street teaches. At this age, they should be down on the floor, exploring those toys, reading the books and dancing to the music. While Sesame Street may be appropriate programming for preschool age children (4 and 5 year olds), television has no place in a quality infant and toddler program. Infants and toddlers need time to explore the world, build realtionships with their caregivers and learn about themselves. Their brain development occurs in the context of relationships with people, not fuzzy red monsters on a televsion screen.

• Wizenheimer (68) posts 8:20 am

  And this is news?

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