You've already scheduled so many playdate Zooms, but your kids are aching for more social interaction. Good thing Sesame Street, once again, has parents' backs during these strange times. Now, your kids can get some face-time with the one and only Cookie Monster. Our favorite fuzzy blue hoarder of chocolate chip sweets is hosting Cookie Monster Snack Chat, a weekly, interactive show on YouTube that's focusing on recipes and sharing—all in two minutes.
The new series, with new episodes on Tuesdays, is part of Sesame Street's Caring for Each Other initiative, which was created to support viewers during the COVID-19 health crisis: “Children thrive with structure in their lives, and they learn best through play—even in everyday moments. So our site is filled with content you can use all day long to spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and focus a bit on yourself, too. After all, it's important that we take care of ourselves, so that we can best care for our families.”
So far, Sesame Street has released two episodes of Snack Chat. The first episode,“Share a Cookie with Cookie Monster,” is pretty self-explanatory. The two-minute-something video opens with Cookie Monster reminding viewers to wash their hands before they dig in and enjoy a cookie with him. "How is your snacky?" Cookie Monster asks, giving kids at home an opportunity to respond (and they better say their cookie was good...you spent all night making those...).
Despite the monster's love for cookies, it doesn't seem like every week will be about the sweets. In the second video,“Make a Smoothie with Cookie Monster,” the puppet steps away from the sugar to hawk fruit (maybe he can get your kids to eat something that's not Goldfish or cookies). The smoothie recipe is simple: Put any fruit you have into the blender (Cookie Monster uses strawberries), add a little milk, some ice, blend it all together, and boom, you've got yourself a smoothie to enjoy with your favorite big-eyed Sesame Streeter.
Fear not, per Cookie Monster himself, "Me not changing my name to Fruit Smoothie Monster," which is some much-needed consistency in these unprecedented times.
