Spark Curiosity
Sesame Street in Communities
May 22, 2025
Curiosity is the key to learning. When you encourage children to ask lots of questions, you’re helping them build their natural curiosity and think like scientists. Our partners at Sesame Street in Communities have great resources to help you encourage curiosity with those in your care.
Bert & Ernie Reuse and Reinvent! (Game)
Invite children to help Ernie and Bert in their upcycling adventure… and become inspired to think of items even simpler than the ones Ernie and Bert are creating!
Questions, Questions! (Article)
Young children are natural scientists. They are full of curiosity about the world. That curiosity means they will have a lot of questions, which are wonderful invitations to play. When children ask questions, you have a chance to turn that curiosity into action! This article is about using children’s questions as a springboard into playful learning.
Just Ask! (Video)
Listen to this song together, then ask, “What are some questions you have?” Get a piece of paper and start by listing all of the question you can think of that start with “how.” Then, list questions that start with “why,” “where,” “when,” and “who.” Fill up the whole page. Now, make a plan for how you are going to find some of the answers!
Garden Senses (Printable)
Screen-time can help families learn and connect, and taking screen-time breaks can, too. Screen-time play and real-time play can go hand in hand. As an example, you and your child might first watch a video about nature together, and then go outside to continue the learning.
You can use this printable to help you tune into the wonder of nature in your community and document your experience. Draw what you hear, smell, feel, and taste.
Exploring Outdoors (Video)
Watch Elmo, Abby, and Louie explore differences between leaves at the park. Then think about things you see in everyday life that appear similar, but upon closer observation, are actually quite different.
For instance, during snack time, observe the seeds in an apple. They all may appear brown and small, but if you observe closely, you’ll notice that they’re actually all different shades of brown, different shapes, and different sizes. At the park, pick two blades of grass. Notice how they both appear thin and green, but they’re actually different sizes, different shades of green, and perhaps different textures.
Track It (Printable)
Print this page, trace the animal tracks, and then head outside together to see if you can spot any tracks along the sidewalk, at a park, or even on a tree. If you find some tracks, use this page as a guide to figure out which animal might have made them. Do they look like dog tracks? Could they be tracks from a bird?
Write, draw, and talk about what you observe. You might also take a picture of the tracks and find out which animal made them by looking them up online or in the library.
For more resources, visit Sesame Workshop’s Curiosity webpage.