The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) and Sesame Workshop collaborated to develop and launch a website that supports families and children coping with challenging circumstances and deployments. Launched in July 2009, the “Family Connections” website has become a highly valuable resource for military families.

The “Family Connections” website is a tool families can use to guide them through many of the challenges faced during the deployment cycle. With their favorite Sesame Street characters, users can create a family network to:

• Create and share artwork with a parent who is deployed.
• Post messages for family members to read.
• Upload and record videos and pictures.
• Access communication tips.

In addition to the “Family Connections” website, Sesame Workshop created an initiative to recognize the thousands of American children and families who know all too well what it’s like to see a loved one go off to war ¹: Talk, Listen, Connect.

Talk, Listen, Connect provides support and resources for military families with children between the ages of 2 and 5 who are experiencing the effects of deployment, multiple separations, and combat-related injuries.¹ Developed in 2006 to be a bilingual, multi-phase, multimedia initiative for young children and military families, Talk, Listen, and Connect provides powerful materials with strategies for children, parents, caregivers and service providers to use to face these issues. Media kits, each including a video for parents and their preschool children; a companion guide; resources for adults and children; and an extensive online component are available as a part of the initiative.² These materials help children and families understand and cope with challenges, and in doing so give military children a voice to express their feelings and concerns. For adults, the kits provide real-life examples of military families experiencing typical challenges and supply them with the tools to manage and overcome changes in their own family dynamics.²

The Sesame Workshop is also distributing materials to create “Sesame Rooms” at military hospitals, family support centers and libraries. The Sesame Rooms provide centers with “Room-In-A-Box” kits. These kits contain Muppet wall appliqués, a child’s table and chairs set, an Elmo ride-on toy, Oscar trash cans, a Cookie Monster clock, an Elmo restaurant set, a coloring easel, a Muppet welcome mat, stickers, posters, books and more.³ These rooms help establish safe, fun environments that encourage love, care and talking.³

The “Family Connections” website, Talk, Listen, Connect, and “Sesame Rooms” reiterate the commitment shared by military and civilian leaders to provide the best possible resources to service members and their families. Get more information on the Sesame Workshop Initiatives.

Sources

¹Sesame Workshop, Military Families Cope With Change, last accessed September 2011.
²Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Military Families During Difficult Transitions, last accessed September 2011.
³Sesame Rooms: A Bright New Project for Talk, Listen, Connect, last accessed September 2011.