Sesame Street and Headspace for Kids Launch Meditation and Mindfulness Youtube Shorts

Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Grover learn mindfulness techniques in a variety of YouTube videos from Headspace for Kids.

By Melissa Wickes December 7, 2020

In an effort to combat the stress and anxiety brought on by these volatile times, Sesame Street and Headspace for Kids are teaming up to create "Monster Meditations," six animated shorts to teach kids mindfulness, meditation, and social and emotional learning. The shorts will feature Cookie Monster, Elmo, Grover, and Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe as part of Headspace for Kids and can be viewed on YouTube and YouTube Kids. Monster Meditations is one part of Sesame Workshop's initiative to help parents and children with Coronavirus anxiety.

The shorts are around 3 minutes long and will feature animated versions of Sesame Street Muppets expressing feelings of frustration, impatience, being overwhelmed, nervousness, disappointment, and excitement. Puddicombe, who was formerly a Buddhist monk, will help the monsters learn various breathing techniques, sensory activities, and mindfulness techniques to help manage relatable but stress-inducing everyday scenarios.

“Learning the fundamentals of mindfulness early in life is an incredibly valuable skill to foster, especially at a time like this, when children and families may be experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety. It not only provides children with a greater sense of calm and clarity, but also helps cultivate the qualities of compassion, creativity, and kindness. In knowing that thoughts and emotions do not have to rule their lives, children can grow up empowered, comfortable with who they are, and free to explore their limitless potential," Puddicombe said in a press release.

Examples of Monster Meditation shorts include the following:

Cookie Monster is impatiently waiting for his cookies to finish baking, so Puddicombe teaches a game called "I Sense" to teach him patience
Elmo is having difficulty sleeping because he wants to play, so Puddicombe introduces Elmo to a wind-down activity to help him relax and fall asleep.

“With today’s unprecedented uncertainty, children may be experiencing a range of big emotions like anger, frustration, disappointment, and nervousness,” Rosemarie Truglio, P.h.D., SVP of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop said in a press release. “Through ‘Monster Meditations,’ we are modeling an array of mindfulness strategies and activities to help children manage and regulate their emotions. Whether taking slow, deep belly breaths, shifting attention by playing a game of I-Spy, or repeating affirmation self-talk phrases, we’re helping kids pay attention to what is happening around and inside of them.”

Headspace for Kids offers exercises for kids and their parents to teach the basics of mindfulness through breathing exercises, visualizations, and meditation. Headspace for Kids' visualization exercises aim to teach kids about openness and generosity.