Returning: Sesame Street

An amazing 49th season of Sesame Street begins on ABC next week.

Celebrity guests this season include Tiffany Haddish, Keegan Michael Key, Blake Lively, Chance the Rapper, Amanda Seyfried, Zoe Kravitz, Questlove, Bill Nye and Solange Knowles!

The 49th season of the iconic children’s show Sesame Street will explore a “Learning Through Play” curriculum that models how kids can build school readiness skills as they try out different roles during play. In line with the new curriculum, the season will start with a new special that puts a madcap spin on the familiar pretend-playing different careers. Also new this season is “Abby’s Amazing Adventures,” a recurring animated segment starring Abby Cadabby that shows how girls – and boys, and fairies-in-training! – can take charge of their own journeys.
Underscoring the power of guided pretend-play, this season’s episodes illustrate how kids can get more out of playtime with a little bit of planning and gentle guidance. Each week, the Sesame Street gang pretend to be bus drivers, chefs, directors, veterinarians and more, complete with homemade props and scenery made from household objects.

Simple career-oriented play is common among children, but when helpful adults empower kids to create their own plans, a game of “restaurant” or “train” can turn into an opportunity to foster both academic and social-emotional skills.

“Children learn best through play because they are actively engaged in joyful and meaningful activities that can also be socially interactive and iterative,” said Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, SVP Content and Curriculum, Sesame Workshop. “It is through their play that kids learn to collaborate, self-regulate, communicate, and empathize with peers, motivated by their own interests and curiosities.”

By building on a common pattern of pretend play, this year’s curriculum will help children develop critical life skills and imagine new paths for themselves in a safe environment. Whether they’re building a school bus out of cardboard boxes or creating their own newspaper about life on Sesame Street, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and friends model how – with a little help! – children can start to see themselves in exciting futures while having fun together.

The concept of “Learning through Play” is whimsically interpreted in the season’s new primetime special, with special guests Blake Lively and Amanda Seyfreid. “When You Wish Upon a Pickle” follows the adventure when a wishing machine appears on Sesame Street and the magical pickle inside starts granting wishes! (Elmo finds out what it’s like to run Hooper’s Store, Cookie Monster’s wish for more cookies goes awry, Abby Cadabby teams up with her favourite storybook detective and more, until an unlikely – and grouchy! – hero restores order to the neighboirhood.) Individual episodes throughout the season also celebrate the role-playing theme, with the gang learning about scientific inquiry with Bill Nye, exploring the library with Zoe Kravitz, playing the drums with Questlove, and more.

9am Monday July 29 on ABC