As if this trying time wasn’t tough enough for us adults, imagine being a child and trying to understand why you’re suddenly not allowed to go to school, to the park or even play with your friends.
If you’ve been struggling to explain the novel coronavirus to your children, you’re about to get some help from the experts at explaining tricky topics to kids: the characters from “Sesame Street.”
In partnership with CNN, the “Sesame Street” gang will host a special 90-minute town hall on Saturday, April 25 at 9 a.m. Eastern, all about the coronavirus. The show will include discussions on issues like education, anxiety, screen time and playdates.
“The ABC’s of COVID-19: A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Parents” will be moderated by Big Bird, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and CNN anchor Erica Hill. It will also feature experts and other “Sesame Street” characters, including Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Rosita and Grover, who will answer questions submitted by families.
Kids and parents can submit questions on CNN’s website. You will need to include your name and contact information. It’s likely not all questions submitted will be addressed but it’s worth a shot if your kids have been asking something particular during this pandemic.
The town hall will air on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. It will stream live on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps, without requiring a cable log-in, which means anyone can watch it for free. You can also watch on CNNgo and subscribers to cable or satellite systems can watch it on demand after it has aired.
This special town hall comes a couple weeks after the special show, “Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate,” that also tackled the coronavirus pandemic. That special showed how Elmo and his friends tried to figure out new ways to play together while also practicing social distancing. The program also highlighted how EMTs and doctors are helping us through this health crisis.
Sesame Workshop has done several other things to ease parents’ burden during this rough period. The company set up an entire online page full of free stuff for kids and parents right now, including learning materials, coloring sheets, games and e-books. They even released a special message for parents, reminding them to be kinder and gentler to themselves during this unprecedented time that is no doubt causing extra stress.
What would we do without “Sesame Street” during times like these?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
