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New Collectibles

•11/01 - The Muppet Christmas Carol Pop! Figures: Bob Cratchit with Tiny Tim, Mrs. Cratchit, Charles Dickens with Rizzo, Fozziwig, The Marley Brothers, Scrooge

•10/24 - The Muppets Take Manhattan 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with Frank Oz Commentary

•10/1 - Supersize Count von Count

•10/01 - Sesame Street Action Figures Wave 1: Ernie with Rubber Duckie, Bert with Bernice, Count von Count, Yip Yip Martians

•9/1 - Fraggle Rock Action Figures Wave 1: Gobo, Red, Traveling Matt, Architect and Cotterpin, Flange

 
     

 

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NEWS

Sesame Street Season 45 premieres Monday September 15

Muppets star in Toyota Super Bowl ad campaign

"Lady Gaga & The Muppets' Holiday Spectacular" airs Thanksgiving

Frank Oz, Brian Jay Jones honor Jim Henson on The Today Show October 15

Muppet tech master and puppeteer Franz "Faz" Fazakas dies at 95

More >>

MERCHANDISE

"The Great Muppet Caper" and "Muppet Treasure Island" coming to Blu-ray December 10

"Jim Henson: The Biography" releases on September 24

"The Muppet Movie" anniversary edition arrives on Blu-ray

Video: "The Muppet Movie" coming to Blu-ray in 2013

More >>

Sesame Beginnings arrive on DVD in April

Sesame Workshop to roll-out Sesame Beginnings a research based DVD series created for parents and children six months and older

Courtesy of Sesame Workshop
November 8, 2005

Today, Sesame Workshop breaks new ground by introducing an innovative research-based DVD series for parents and young children that encourages learning through parent-child interactions. Based on research that shows that young children learn best when experiences are shared with a loved one, these DVDs -- Sesame Beginnings -- are specially designed to help parents and caregivers encourage their child’s curiosity and interest in learning during everyday interactions.

Sesame Beginnings offers age-appropriate content while entertaining, engaging and encouraging interaction between caregivers and their children. Featuring baby versions of the Sesame Street Muppets and their caregivers, these characters provide fun, engaging examples of these kinds of moments, while the various songs, activities and stories provide parents and caregivers with fresh material for interactions they can enjoy with their child throughout the day. The DVDs are also supplemented by a printed guide, offering parents additional tips for ways to extend the learning after viewing through activities such as feeding, bath time and playtime.

Thirty-six years ago, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization that created Sesame Street, broke new ground in television by proving the medium to be a positive learning tool for preschoolers. Today, Sesame Streetis considered to be the world’s largest informal educator of children. Now research is revealing that millions of children under the age of two are watching TV and videos, including Sesame Street. Consequently, Sesame Workshop felt a responsibility to better serve the families of children under two by creating programming that is specially designed to be developmentally appropriate for this younger age group, as well as, model interaction between caregiver and child.

Sesame Beginnings content was developed in collaboration with an advisory board of child development and media experts and ZERO TO THREE, a national nonprofit organization comprised of pediatricians, child development experts and researchers dedicated to promoting the healthy development of infants and toddlers. ZERO TO THREE is the primary source for development of the parenting content in the program, as well as, accompanying print materials written specifically for parents and caregivers.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Sesame Workshop’s Vice President of Education and Research, commented: “Research indicates that children learn best when experiences are shared with a loved one. In the style of Sesame Street, Sesame Beginnings was created with this dual audience in mind; while there’s age-appropriate content for the young child, the playful Muppet caregivers model fun songs and activities to be adapted by the adult viewers to create their own special moments with their children.”

“Our own research showed that Sesame Street videos were among those frequently viewed by the under two set, in spite of the fact that the content and curriculum of Sesame Street is designed for ages 2-5,” noted Sherrie Westin, Executive Vice President, Sesame Workshop. “With the Sesame Beginnings DVDs, we’re providing parents and caregivers of children under two with content specifically designed to use media as a tool to further adult/child interaction.”

Sesame Beginnings cast includes Elmo and his dad, Cookie and his mommy, Prairie Dawn and her mommy, and Big Bird and his aunt.

“Quality early learning experiences are grounded in strong parent-child interactions,” said Claire Lerner, L.C.S.W., ZERO TO THREE’s Director of Parent Education. “Sesame Beginnings DVDs offer parents a developmentally appropriate, interactive viewing experience.”

The DVDs, “Beginning Together” and “Make Music Together” created by Sesame Workshop and distributed by Sony Wonder will be in stores April 4, 2006. They will join the wide-ranging product line, Sesame Beginnings, which Sesame Workshop introduced last year, that currently includes apparel, books, products for health, body and home as well as seasonal products. As with all Sesame Workshop licensed products, proceeds from the sales of these videos help fund the Workshop’s educational projects for children around the world.

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   MORE SESAME NEWS

Sesame Street Season 45 premieres Monday September 15
Elmo Muppeteer Kevin Clash resigns from Sesame Street
Kevin Clash takes leave from Sesame Street
Sesame Street to air hurricane special Friday November 9
Sesame Street Old School Volume 3 coming to DVD November 6
Sesame Street Season 43 begins September 24 on PBS
Fan support essential for production to begin on "I Am Big Bird"
"I Am Big Bird" Caroll Spinney documentary in development

 

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