Caring For Each Other Resources
Your friends on Takalani Sesame are here to support you during the COVID-19 health crisis. We know that these are stressful times, and families everywhere are creating a new sense of normalcy. So our website is filled with content you can use to spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and focus a bit on yourself, too. The resources below can help your family play, learn, and breathe deeply together—and we’ll keep adding more in days and weeks to come, including new messages from your Takalani Sesame pals. Stay tuned for more! #CaringForEachOther
Activities for Kids
Encourage children how to save and budget.
Saving, Sharing, Spending
Setting guideline for shared spaces.
Shared spaces
Know that you are loved
You are Loved
Be kind to everyone
Spread Kindness
Take a break
Grover Takes a Break
Stay calm
Activities we love!
Practice gratitude
Gratitude Game
Calculate fear
Fear scale
Identify big feelings in your body
Where do YOU feel big feelings?
Safe coughing and sneezing
How to Cough and Sneeze Safely
Handwashing
We Can Wash Our Hands
Handwashing
Washing Your Hands Maze
Saving, Sharing, Spending
Saving, Sharing, Spending
Topic: Budgeting and Saving for Kids
Detailed Goal: Encourage children how to save and budget.
Audience: Children 3-8
Download and cut out these labels to encourage your children to learn how to budget. Allow your kid to colour the art as they would like. Attach each label to a clear jar and talk about how they could save, share and spend their money.
Shared spaces
Shared spaces
Topic: Shared Spaces
Detailed Goal: Setting guideline for shared spaces.
Audience: Children 3-8
Grover and his mom discuss the spaces they share and what they can and cannot do in each one.
You are Loved
You are Loved
Topic: Positive Parenting
Detailed Goal: Know that you are loved
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo learns that he is loved even on challenging days.
Spread Kindness
Spread Kindness
Topic: Stigma and Kindness
Detailed Goal: Be kind to everyone
Audience: Children 3-8
Spot the heroes in your neighbourhood and show them kindness
Grover Takes a Break
Grover Takes a Break
Topic: Persistence
Detailed Goal: Take a break
Audience: Children 3-8
Grover gets frustrated but learns how to take a break and persist.
Activities we love!
Activities we love!
Topic: Stress
Detailed Goal: Stay calm
Audience: Children 3-8
Doing things we enjoy helps us take care of ourselves and express our feelings. See what your friends on Sesame Street like to do!
Gratitude Game
Gratitude Game
Topic: Whole family solutions
Detailed Goal: Practice gratitude
Audience: Children 3-8
With your family, complete the gratitude game. See who can come up with the most examples: draw or write about things you’re grateful for or people you want to thank!! Remember to share with family and friends.
Fear scale
Fear scale
Topic: Fear
Detailed Goal: Calculate fear
Audience: Children 3-8
When children experience fear and other big feelings it is helpful to understand how big the feeling is. Begin by asking your child, what are you feeling scared about? How big or small is this scary feeling?
Where do YOU feel big feelings?
Where do YOU feel big feelings?
Topic: Big Feelings
Detailed Goal: Identify big feelings in your body
Audience: Children 3-8
Sometimes we can feel our feelings in our bodies, even before we know what to call them. Start a conversation with your child asking, “Where do you feel big feelings?”
How to Cough and Sneeze Safely
How to Cough and Sneeze Safely
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Safe coughing and sneezing
Audience: Children 3-8
Practicing safe sneezing and coughing can help prevent the spread of germs. In this sheet, Grover teaches your child the three steps to safe sneezing and coughing. File size: 787 KB
We Can Wash Our Hands
We Can Wash Our Hands
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Handwashing
Audience: Children 3-8
Washing our hands properly helps us stay healthy. In this sheet, Raya helps your child understand how to properly was their hands. File size: 1 MB
Washing Your Hands Maze
Washing Your Hands Maze
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Handwashing
Audience: Children 3-8
Washing our hands throughout the day keep germs away. Invite your child to use their finger to trace Cookie Monster's journey through this maze, and make sure he washes his hands along the way. File size: 1 MB
Videos
Make special time a daily routine
Me and We Time
Understanding behaviour as communication
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Everyone deserves kindness
Everyone Deserves Kindness
Take a break
Take a Break and Try Again
Take a Me Moment
Take a Me Moment
Notice, name, manage big feelings.
Big Feelings in My Body
Discover big feelings through play
Elmo Feels Afraid
Stay connected
Furry and Blue Family Celebration
Importance of self care
Mae's Minute: Self Care
Helping to identify and manage a child’s stress
Mae's Minute: Child Stress
Talking about feelings with trusted adults
Mae's Minute: Circle of Safety
Establishing rules and remaining calm
Mae's Minute: Keeping Control
Understanding germs/virs and Safe couging and sneezing
How to Sneeze with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
Safe couging and sneezing
The Sneeze Song
Mask hygiene
Elmo Learns About Washing Masks
Handwashing
Staying Healthy with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
Learning at home through play
Mae's Minute: Play is Powerful
Learning at home through play
Elmo's World News Special Report: Pretend Play
Learning at home through play
Elmo's World News Special Report: Freeze Dance
Learning at home through play
Elmo's World News Special Report: Imagination
Learning at home through play
Elmo's World News Special Report: Finding Shapes
Learning at home through play
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: All Kinds of Play
Learning at home through play
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: Wonder
Learning at home through play
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: How to Make Your Own Story
Virus facts, explaining to kids
Mae's Minute: Talking to kids about Coronavirus
Safe coughing/sneezing
Elmo's World News Special Report: Cover Your Cough and Sneeze Dance
Understanding germs/virus
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Virus Facts
Health promotion
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Vaccines
Social distancing rationale/practice
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Social Distancing
Me and We Time
Me and We Time
Topic: Special Time
Detailed Goal: Make special time a daily routine
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Abby and her mom talk about making special time part of their regular routine.
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Topic: Positive Parenting
Detailed Goal: Understanding behaviour as communication
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Grover learns how to see children’s behaviour as an effort to communicate.
Everyone Deserves Kindness
Everyone Deserves Kindness
Topic: Stigma and Kindness
Detailed Goal: Everyone deserves kindness
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Elmo and his dad will address stigma around COVID-19
Take a Break and Try Again
Take a Break and Try Again
Topic: Persistence
Detailed Goal: Take a break
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Grover and his family talk about persistence during these tough times.
Take a Me Moment
Take a Me Moment
Topic: Stress
Detailed Goal: Take a Me Moment
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Raya and Didi talk about stress with Aunty Fatima.
Big Feelings in My Body
Big Feelings in My Body
Topic: Big Feelings
Detailed Goal: Notice, name, manage big feelings.
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Elmo is feeling upset and his mom helps him notice, name and manage feelings in his body.
Elmo Feels Afraid
Elmo Feels Afraid
Topic: Fear
Detailed Goal: Discover big feelings through play
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Children express themselves when they play. Elmo expresses feelings of fear as he plays and Elmo’s dad learns that Elmo is feeling scared of germs.
Furry and Blue Family Celebration
Furry and Blue Family Celebration
Topic: Whole family solutions
Detailed Goal: Stay connected
Audience: Child and Caregiver
Grover and his family celebrate a favourite family tradition together—even when they are far apart.
Mae's Minute: Self Care
Mae's Minute: Self Care
Topic: Caring for yourself and others
Detailed Goal: Importance of self care
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae takes a minute from her break to encourage caregivers to find time for themselves during their busy day.
Mae's Minute: Child Stress
Mae's Minute: Child Stress
Topic: Caring for yourself and others
Detailed Goal: Helping to identify and manage a child’s stress
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae takes a minute to talk to caregivers about identifying when a child is feeling stressed and how to manage it.
Mae's Minute: Circle of Safety
Mae's Minute: Circle of Safety
Topic: Caring for yourself and others
Detailed Goal: Talking about feelings with trusted adults
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae takes a minute to encourage caregivers to provide their child with adults, other than themselves, to talk about what’s bothering them.
Mae's Minute: Keeping Control
Mae's Minute: Keeping Control
Topic: Caring for yourself and others
Detailed Goal: Establishing rules and remaining calm
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae takes a minute to help caregivers create a calm environment for children by setting rules and taking deep breaths.
How to Sneeze with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
How to Sneeze with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Understanding germs/virs and Safe couging and sneezing
Audience: Children 3-8
Germs can spread many ways, one way is through sneezing. Join Elmo, Raya, and Tala to learn more about how we can reduce the spread of germs through proper sneezing etiquette.
The Sneeze Song
The Sneeze Song
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Safe couging and sneezing
Audience: Children 3-8
Proper sneezing etiquette is important in reducing the spread of germs. Listen to the narrated storybook to learn more about how to cover your sneeze.
Elmo Learns About Washing Masks
Elmo Learns About Washing Masks
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Mask hygiene
Audience: Children 3-8
Listen to the storybook with your child to learn about the importance of washing your mask.
Staying Healthy with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
Staying Healthy with Elmo, Raya, and Tala
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Handwashing
Audience: Children 3-8
Washing our hands with soap and water for twenty seconds is one way to fight germs. Listen to the narrated storybook to learn the Healthy Hands Song to help you scrub your hands for 20 seconds.
Mae's Minute: Play is Powerful
Mae's Minute: Play is Powerful
Topic: Importance of playing
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae explains in a minute how playing can help with a child’s development and create a bond with their caregiver.
Elmo's World News Special Report: Pretend Play
Elmo's World News Special Report: Pretend Play
Topic: Staying inside
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo delivers a special news report with his friends about how playing pretend inside can be a safer option than playing outside.
Elmo's World News Special Report: Freeze Dance
Elmo's World News Special Report: Freeze Dance
Topic: Exercising inside
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo delivers a special news report with his friends about how playing freeze dance is a fun way to get exercise.
Elmo's World News Special Report: Imagination
Elmo's World News Special Report: Imagination
Topic: Using imagination to play
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo delivers a special news report on how children are using their imaginations to play indoors.
Elmo's World News Special Report: Finding Shapes
Elmo's World News Special Report: Finding Shapes
Topic: Recognizing and identifying shapes
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo delivers a special news report about finding shapes in everyday objects around the house.
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: All Kinds of Play
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: All Kinds of Play
Topic: Utilizing items around the house to play
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover put on a pop-up playdate using their imaginations and items found around the house.
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: Wonder
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: Wonder
Topic: Using “I wonder” questions when playing
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover perform another pop-up playdate on how to use “I wonder” questions when feeling bored inside.
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: How to Make Your Own Story
Pop-Up Playtime With Raya and Grover: How to Make Your Own Story
Topic: Using creativity to make puppets, a world, and a story
Detailed Goal: Learning at home through play
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover make their very own Pop-Up Playtime stories at home by crafting puppets, a world, and a story.
Mae's Minute: Talking to kids about Coronavirus
Mae's Minute: Talking to kids about Coronavirus
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Virus facts, explaining to kids
Audience: Children 3-8
Mae takes a minute to help caregivers talk to their kids about the coronavirus.
Elmo's World News Special Report: Cover Your Cough and Sneeze Dance
Elmo's World News Special Report: Cover Your Cough and Sneeze Dance
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Safe coughing/sneezing
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo delivers a special news report about how kids are staying healthy at home by coughing and sneezing safely.
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Virus Facts
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Virus Facts
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Understanding germs/virus
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover put on their own pop-up puppet show to explain what Coronavirus is and how germs can spread.
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Vaccines
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Vaccines
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Health promotion
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover perform another pop-up playdate to explain what a vaccine is and how it can help you fight germs.
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Social Distancing
Pop-Up Playtime with Raya and Grover: Social Distancing
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Social distancing rationale/practice
Audience: Children 3-8
Raya and Grover put on their pop-up playdate to explain how staying apart can help keep others healthy.
Caregiver Resources
Make a "together time" calendar
Make Special Time
Understanding behaviour as communication
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Stay connected safely
Family and Friends Map
Practice positive parenting
Everyday Choices
Reset a fun activity when stressed
Positive Ideas Jar
Recognize your circle of care
Circle of Care
Observe fear in children's play
Observing fear in play
Recognise big feelings
How do you recognise big feelings?
Taking care of oneself
Caring For Our Children
Virus facts, explaining to kids
Talking to Children About COVID-19
Taking care of oneself
We Are Safe and Together
Make Special Time
Make Special Time
Topic: Special time
Detailed Goal: Make a "together time" calendar
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo and his family create a "together time" calendar.
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Notice, Wonder, Respond
Topic: Positive Parenting
Detailed Goal: Understanding behaviour as communication
Audience: Children 3-8
Even parents on Takalani Sesame need to practice their resilience in parenting. We follow their steps to work through challenges.
Family and Friends Map
Family and Friends Map
Topic: Stigma and Kindness
Detailed Goal: Stay connected safely
Audience: Children 3-8
Elmo and his family talk about how to stay connected safely
Everyday Choices
Everyday Choices
Topic: Positive Parenting
Detailed Goal: Practice positive parenting
Audience: Children 3-8
Parenting is like doing a puzzle, you have to keep putting pieces together, and the pieces change with feelings, developmental growth, and big events.
Positive Ideas Jar
Positive Ideas Jar
Topic: Stress
Detailed Goal: Reset a fun activity when stressed
Audience: Children 3-8
Build a "Positive Ideas Jar" with your child. Brainstorm feel-better strategies, write them on pieces of paper, and put them in a jar.
Circle of Care
Circle of Care
Topic: Whole family solutions
Detailed Goal: Recognize your circle of care
Audience: Children 3-8
In your neighbourhood, who are the people that you have helped and have helped you during these times? Think of ways you and your family can do the same!
Observing fear in play
Observing fear in play
Topic: Fear
Detailed Goal: Observe fear in children's play
Audience: Children 3-8
Children express their feelings as they play. Observe your child at play and notice the opportunities to talk about feelings.
How do you recognise big feelings?
How do you recognise big feelings?
Topic: Big Feelings
Detailed Goal: Recognise big feelings
Audience: Children 3-8
Big feelings can be noticeable in your child’s body and behavior patterns in different ways.
Caring For Our Children
Caring For Our Children
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Taking care of oneself
Audience: Children 3-8
Uncertainty can be stressful for both caregivers and their children. This infographic provides caregivers with tips on how to facilitate calm and positive interactions and conversations with their children. File size: 5 MB
Talking to Children About COVID-19
Talking to Children About COVID-19
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Virus facts, explaining to kids
Audience: Children 3-8
Talking to children about COVID-19 can be tricky. This infographic provides caregivers with simple language and tips to share with their children to help them stay healthy and feel safe. File size: 4 MB
We Are Safe and Together
We Are Safe and Together
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Taking care of oneself
Audience: Children 3-8
Taking care of ourselves is taking care of our families. This infographic provides tips on how you can take care of everyone in your family, including you! File size: 3 MB
Storybooks
Kindness
Kindness Saves The Day
Big Feelings
Elmo's Big Feelings
Using your imagination
Let's Play
Understanding germs/virus
Staying Healthy
Kindness Saves The Day
Kindness Saves The Day
Topic: Social Emotional Learning
Detailed Goal: Kindness
Audience: Children 3-8
Did you know that we all have a special superpower? We all have the power to be kind! Being kind to one another helps make the world a better place. Read this book with your child(ren) to find out how the Sesame friends use their superpowers. How do you use your kindness superpower?
Elmo's Big Feelings
Elmo's Big Feelings
Topic: Social Emotional Learning
Detailed Goal: Big Feelings
Audience: Children 3-8
Children can experience big feelings in uncertain times, when their routines change, or when things don't go as planned. Read this storybook with your child(ren) to find out how Elmo coped with the big feelings he experienced after his plans changed.
Let's Play
Let's Play
Topic: Learning Through Play
Detailed Goal: Using your imagination
Audience: Children 3-8
Play can help develop your child's vocabulary, build their muscle coordination, and can even decrease stress levels for you and your child! All you need to play is your imagination. Read this storybook to see how the Sesame Street friends use their imagination.
Staying Healthy
Staying Healthy
Topic: Environment and Health
Detailed Goal: Understanding germs/virus
Audience: Children 3-8
Safe and proper hygiene practices are critical to staying healthy. This storybook introduces your child to the concept of germs, mask hygiene, and the importance of handwashing. File size: 6 MB