A half-hour special Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate is set to entertain kids and families on HBO, HBO Family, Cartoon Network and Boomerang – as well as the regional streaming service HBO GO.
Part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative, the special is aimed at helping kids and families around the world feel connected in this time of uncertainty and features everyone’s favourite “Sesame Street” friends. Celebrity guests include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will premiere at the same time across HBO GO (where it will be available until mid-June), HBO, HBO Family and HBO On Demand* on Friday, 24 April at 8.30am. It will also air on Sunday, 26 April at 6.45am on Cartoon Network and 8.30am on Boomerang.
The half-hour special follows Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and a few famous friends as they find new ways to play and learn together. Celebrating everything from the EMTs, doctors, and other everyday heroes who are helping families through the health crisis to the simple pleasures of baking cookies at home, the playdate takes the form of a cosy video conference that will feel very familiar to today’s viewers.
Celebrities and Sesame Street friends will sing songs, play games, and take silly dance breaks. Tracee Ellis Ross plays a game of “Elmo Says,” Lin-Manuel Miranda pops in for a few rounds of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Anne Hathaway and Elmo get moving with “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and more. Kids will love getting a visit from their Sesame Street friends, and caregivers will appreciate how the special models playful learning opportunities they can use at home.
Sesame Workshop is committed to supporting families through this unprecedented time of uncertainty with the new Caring for Each Other initiative. As the situation evolves, SesameStreet.org/caring will be updated to meet the changing needs of caregivers and young children.
Caring for Each Other resources are designed to help parents provide comfort and manage anxiety, create routines, foster playful learning at home, and keep kids physically and mentally healthy. Additionally, over 110 Sesame Street ebooks are available for free on all major ebook platforms.