By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Sesame Workshop has partnered with the New York Life Foundation on new Sesame Street-themed resources for Children’s Grief Awareness Month.
The New York Life Foundation is a social impact division of the New York Life insurance company, and provides financial support to nonprofit organizations and community initiatives that are focused on children’s education and bereavement.
In this case the Foundation provided philanthropic investment to the Sesame Workshop nonprofit organization to support the creation of the new bilingual resources.
“Through the collaborative partnership between the New York Life Foundation and Sesame Workshop, we are proud to offer accessible and free grief resources, especially for our youngest grievers who are often forgotten,” said New York Life Foundation VP, Maria Collins. “Grief is a universal yet unique experience that everyone will encounter, which is why we believe that providing language, tools, and resources from an early age is imperative.”
Designed to support grieving children and families, the educational Sesame Street resources include three new videos, a digital storybook, an interactive game, educational articles and printable activity sheets.
The resources feature licensed characters from the Sesame Street TV show such as Elmo, Jesse, and Jill as they outline effective coping strategies associated with losing a loved one.
Some of the coping strategies discussed in the educational resources are creative expression, empathy-building activities, interpersonal communication, positive memory associations, and more.
“Experiencing loss and navigating grief is life-changing for young children,” said Sesame Workshop SVP, Jeanette Betancourt. “Our resources not only provide ways for caring adults in children’s lives to help them cope with loss, but also offer comfort, hope, and ways to look ahead and start to heal as a family.”
The Sesame Workshop resources are available for free in both English and Spanish at the official Sesame Workshop website and through the Sesame Street in Communities program.
The Sesame Street in Communities program supplies bilingual resources and professional development tools to childcare providers such as teachers, healthcare professionals and social workers.
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