Watch and Play: Cookie Monster's Magical Cart

In the Sesame Street episode Cookie Monster’s Magical Cart, (available now on Netflix and PBSKIDS), Cookie Monster is using his Cookie Cart to deliver cookies to all his friends, but he gets tired from pushing the heavy cart around Sesame Street.

Abby suggests using her magic to make the cart easier to move; she’s been practicing a new wand-wave for her spells. As she starts to wave her wand, an uncertain Cookie Monster tries to stop her, but it’s too late. Abby points her wand at the cart, and it suddenly starts to move on its own! Cookie Monster is frustrated because Abby is not listening to him. Now, he can’t deliver cookies to his friends. Cookie tells Abby how he feels, and she apologizes for not listening and for using magic without asking. Cookie Monster thanks Abby for listening now and is ready to make his deliveries again.

Learning to listen to others and to identify and express one’s own feelings is an important part of social problem solving. For young children, building skills like listening, emotion identification, and emotional expression can take time.

As caregivers, we can support children by encouraging them to take a breath and speak truthfully about what they are feeling. We can also express to them the importance of listening to their friends and imagining the perspective of others, as sometimes our friends respond to situations differently than we might.