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Sesame Street for Military Families

Benefit overview

For many years, colorful Sesame Street characters such as Elmo and Big Bird have helped children learn while having fun. Sesame Street for Military Families draws on these familiar friends to help children ages 2 to 8 and their parents through the complexities of relocations, deployments, transitions and more.

How this benefit helps

Sesame Street for Military Families is a free multimedia website that features engaging videos, fun apps, helpful tip sheets and articles that address the ongoing needs of military-connected children and their parents. It’s offered in both English and Spanish.

Supporting military families

You can help you and your child gain resilience and have fun along the way. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find.

Sesame Street for Military Families’ Everyday Parenting content offers tools and ideas to model the importance of self-care for you and your family. Read and play as a family or on your own. Learn ways to cultivate flexible thinking, foster the importance of “me time,” respond to big feelings and build mind-body-emotion connections.

  • Changes Big & Small tip sheet: These tips offer information for parents on building a sense of security during periods of transition and strategies for providing reassurance, such as establishing regular rituals.
  • It’s An Adventure! video: In this video, Muppet friends Elmo and Rosita help military-connected children see changes such as starting a new school or moving into a new home as exciting adventures.
  • New Friend Coupons: This downloadable coloring sheet makes forming friendships more fun. Children can cut out the coupons and give them to their new classmates.
  • Conversation starters: Getting your child to communicate about their feelings can take a little creativity. Download these instructions for a finger-puppet show with conversation-provoking scene-starters.
  • Building Community With Sesame Street and Military OneSource ResourcesThis MilLife Guide provides resources, from Military OneSource and Sesame Street for Military Families, to help build community and strengthen family bonds.
  • RoutinesMilitary children benefit from consistent routines. Explore tips for smoother mornings, shared meals, bedtime and more. Access easy-to-use tip sheets to help create comforting daily habits for your family.
  • Self-Expression: Elmo and friends teach children how to express themselves — through song, laughter, hugging, moving and talking — in this entertaining video series.
  • Feeling FacesMuppets Elmo, Abby and Oscar help children explore their feelings in a fun online card game and printables.
  • Breathe, Think, Do With Sesame appThis mobile app helps children learn how to calm down and solve everyday challenges by helping a Sesame Street monster friend.
  • Injuries: Rehabilitation: When a loved one needs extra support, it can mean big adjustments for everyone in the family. But no matter the caregiving situation, embracing a sense of family togetherness will help.
  • Injuries: Long-Term CaregivingAdditional topics include talking about brain-related injuries, helping each other after an injury, dealing with sad and angry emotions, and more.
  • When Families Grieve: In this video, Elmo and his family gently explore grief, understand loss, express emotions and remember loved ones through comforting stories and supportive conversations.
  • Something Small: This gentle story can help children understand grief by showing how small acts of remembrance can bring comfort after the loss of a loved one.
  • Additional resources: If you need even more resources on grief, you can check out this list of links to helpful sites.

How to access this benefit

Start learning, playing and having fun. Visit Sesame Street for Military Families.

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