Sesame Street has long been synonymous with mastering the alphabet, counting to twenty, and living and engaging in a neighborly community. And when you look beyond the iconic television show, music videos, and other digital content, you’ll find far more than early academics.

Since its inception over five decades ago, Sesame Workshop has operated on the foundational truth that children do not exist in a vacuum. A child’s ability to learn, grow, and thrive is inextricably linked to the well-being of their circle of care — the parents, caregivers, and educators who make up their world.

The global conversation around maternal mental health has expanded and become increasingly prioritized in recent years, and Sesame Workshop has leaned further into its role as a support system for the adults in the room. By prioritizing the holistic development of the family unit, Sesame Street’s Muppet friends aren’t just encouraging kids to share. They’re encouraging parents and caregivers to prioritize their own well-being and support themselves and their children as they navigate tough times.

This philosophy is also at the heart of Sesame Workshop’s collaboration with the Ad Council’s “Love, Your Mind” campaign, which aims to make conversations around mental health more open, accessible, and actionable. Together, Sesame Workshop and Ad Council are helping normalize the idea that caring for your mental health is an important part of caring for your child and encouraging caregivers to seek support, resources, and community when they need it. Additional mental health resources and support for moms are available through the “Love, Your Mind” campaign at LoveYourMindToday.org.

Resources for Caregiver Resilience

For many parents and caregivers, self-care feels like an unattainable luxury or another item on an already long to-do list. Sesame Workshop’s Emotional Well-Being initiative was designed in part to disrupt this experience. Recognizing that a caregiver’s state can sometimes serve as an emotional thermostat for the entire household, the initiative goes beyond resources that help adults support children’s emotional well-being and provides a framework for adults to monitor their own emotions and stressors. It aims to shift caregivers towards mindful parenting by offering tools that help adults recognize and name their own emotions so they can better manage big emotions with their children.

Oftentimes mothers, especially in the postpartum years, perceive pressure to be constantly present, patient, and resilient that can feel overwhelming. Sesame Workshop’s resources are designed to remind caregivers that they deserve care, compassion, and support too.

For example, Sesame’s self-care resources acknowledge the pressure that parents — and especially mothers — may feel to offer carefully curated, enriching daily experiences for their young children while simultaneously managing their household’s mental load. These resources include digital content and guided activities that encourage parents to find manageable windows of time to check in with themselves and their peers. And so, even as Sesame underscores the idea that parents are the most important people in their young children’s lives, the resources also acknowledge the ups and downs of daily parenting and recognize the exhaustion and anxiety that can accompany modern parenthood. Parents are encouraged to practice self-compassion and commit to concrete self-care practices, rooted in the understanding that looking after yourself is an act of love for your child.

In general, these efforts and resources are met with deep appreciation, as was illustrated by the broad societal support for and engagement with Elmo’s viral check-in on social media. In what began as a simple public service announcement, Elmo asked a straightforward question: “Elmo is just checking in!

How is everybody doing?” Millions of adults responded with unprecedented honesty, sharing about their burnout, grief, and fatigue. The moment served as a cultural touchstone, demonstrating how Sesame Workshop’s reach extends far beyond the preschool demographic. It also highlighted the unique ability of Sesame’s Muppet characters to bypass typical adult defenses and open a door for genuine emotional reflection.

Commitment to a Collaborative Approach

Through its partnership with the Ad Council’s “Love, Your Mind” initiative, Sesame Workshop hopes to remind caregivers that asking for help is a sign of strength, not failure. When a mother is supported, her child is supported; when a family is resilient, a community is strengthened. We believe every member of a child’s circle of care deserves to feel seen, supported, and empowered. Because when caregivers are cared for, children thrive too.

Families looking for mental health resources, practical tools, and stories of support can visit the “Love, Your Mind” campaign page at LoveYourMindToday.org.

“Love, Your Mind” is supported by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Huntsman Mental Health Foundation.