Arabic Sesame Street helps children explore emotions
Sesame Workshop, the non-governmental organization behind series like "Sesame Street," teamed up with the International Rescue Committee to produce a new show for Middle Eastern children affected by war and displacement.
"Frustrated" was not a word used by five-year-old Tamer until he watched the children's show “Ahlan Simsim," the Arabic version of the "Sesame Street." He learned the word from the show’s blue monster Gargur — Grover in the English-language version — during a lesson on how to express “some of the more difficult feelings,” his mother said.
Tamer joined children from all over Syria last month for a special screening of Sesame Workshop’s new Arabic retooling, which focuses on helping displaced children in Syria and the surrounding region learn to identify and deal with their emotions.
