Sunny Day, Sweepin' the clouds away ....

I am not surprised by how much my 13 month old loves Sesame Street. She squeals in delight at the first sight of Murray announcing the word of the day. She is entranced by Cookie Monster and Elmo, and she loves to dance to all of the songs. 

Canadian Sesame Street muppets

Growing up Sesame Street was also one of my favourite television shows. Big Bird was my favourite and Elmo didn't exist in those days. I also watched the Canadian version with Basil the Polar Bear.

Despite it being 30 years since I learned from Sesame Street, I must admit that I still enjoy watching it with my daughter. The song adaptations are current and the movie parodies are fun, witty and most of all educational. I have listened to Cookie Monster's "Me Want It" parody of Icona Pop's hit song "I Love It" so many times with my daughter that I no longer remember the original lyrics.

When it comes to children's programming Sesame Street has developed the perfect formula to withstand the test of time and educate generations of children.

Sesame Street Fun Facts

Original orange Oscar the Grouch

• Sesame Street first aired on November 10, 1969.
• The first celebrity guest was James Earl Jones.
• Oscar the Grouch was originally orange.
• Oscar the Grouch is 43 years old.
• Big Bird is 8-feet 2-inches tall
• Big Bird received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994
• Grover has a key to the city of Bemidji, Minnesota.
• South Africa's version of Sesame Street "Takalani Sesame" has a yellow monster named Kami who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. 

  

  Kami - HIV infected muppet

• The Count's compulsive love for counting is known as "Arithmomania"
• Very rarely does Cookie Monster actually eat cookies. He eats rice crackers decorated to look like cookies.
• Cookie Monster is one of the few muppets on Sesame Street with 5 fingers - most only have 4.
• Cookie Monster's real name is Sidney. In a 2010 twitter post Cookie Monster tweeted "Me wasn't born with name 'Cookie Monster'. It just nickname dat stuck. Me don't remember me real name... maybe it was Sidney?"
• In 1980, C-3PO and R2-D2 visited Sesame Street on a secret mission to deliver a message to Oscar.

Source: muppet.wikia.com