Sesame Street Presents: The Body – Exhibit Begins 5/22 at Museum of Discovery and Science

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? It's easy! Simply visit Sesame Street Presents: The Body - at Museum of Discovery and Science from May 22 through September 7, 2015.

Sesame Street Presents: The Body is an interactive exhibition all about you! The concept is a result of Sesame Workshop's initiative, Healthy Habits for Life, created in response to the current childhood obesity crisis in the United States. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, and Thinkwell Design & Production of Burbank, CA created this interactive experience that is locally sponsored by PNC Bank. Sesame Street Presents: The Body teaches families about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, especially at an early age.

"PNC has a long-withstanding relationship with Sesame Street and we believe in the power of entertaining and engaging programs like this exhibit to develop the next generation of healthy and fit young people," said PNC Bank Regional President Cressman Bronson, speaking on behalf of the PNC Foundation. "By investing in Sesame Street: The Body, we're helping children cultivate their problem-solving skills while enhancing their physical endurance and learning how healthy choices impact their bodies. This exhibit not only reinforces the significant commitment we're making in the future of children of this region, but we're teaching them about the importance of staying active, while having fun."

Sesame Workshop launched the Healthy Habits for Life initiative in May 2004, on Capitol Hill, to harness the power of Sesame Street to guide children and their caregivers through lessons related to healthy eating, the importance of physical activity, and other healthy habits such as hygiene and rest. Featuring a coalition of partners and an advisory board of health, nutrition, fitness and education experts, the program was created to develop and distribute multiple-media, age-appropriate content.

Sesame Street Presents: The Body offers an engaging, free-flowing learning experience set in the fun, familiar and reassuring world of Sesame Street. The loveable Sesame Street Muppets anchor an exciting collection of hands-on, interactive multimedia experiences that allow children to explore the human body and how to keep it healthy. Each exhibit area has multiple activities to provide age-appropriate and exciting learning opportunities for children at a variety of developmental levels. The exhibition emphasizes scientific investigation and developmental and curriculum-based learning goals for children ranging from two to eight years old. These learning goals tie into the National Science Education Standards, the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life Curriculum.

"Each component of Sesame Street Presents: The Body is geared toward children's natural excitement about learning," added Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Vice President, Education and Research, Sesame Workshop. "We believe that children learn best through active participation and self-discovery. The interactive exhibit features a wide range of opportunities for children to observe, investigate, experiment and talk about what they are learning with their parent or caregiver. Thinkwell has done a superb job of incorporating our content and characters with their design."

"Sesame Street Presents: The Body is an amazing educational attraction," says Joe Zenas, Principal of Thinkwell Design and Production. "It is a hands-on, interactive learning experience that uses Sesame Street and its incredible cast of characters to deliver real science and education in wildly kinetic, imaginative and unforgettable ways."

This exhibit covers everything from fingers and toes to ishy, squishy insides!

Your Outsides - Identify parts of the body, learn what they do, and discover new ways to use them.

Get playful pointers in Your Wonderful Hands with puzzles, sign language games,
shadow puppets, and more

• Learn what happens when a body starts moving in Your Legs and Feet
• Join Bert and Ernie playing the Your Amazing Body interactive video game and try to correctly identify parts of the body

Your Insides - Uncover facts about the skeleton, muscles, and organs

• Play the huge Count's Organ Organ to learn about internal organs and what they do
• Follow food on its journey through the body in Digestion with Oscar
• Pull the lever on Oscar's Sneeze Machine and unleash a giant sneeze

Staying Healthy - Learn good daily habits for staying well

• Scan groceries in Mr. Hooper's Store to learn about a variety of healthful foods
• Get moving at Rosita's Locomotion and discover how exercising puts the heart and other muscles to work
• Toddlers can visit Baby Bear's Mini Mart and stock up on colorful foods to enjoy any time
• Have good clean fun playing the silly video game, Rub-A-Dub Tub, with Ernie and Bert

There is an online component that allows children and their adult caregivers to further explore and learn about the subject at hand. The Web site, www.sesamestreetpresents.org, is designed so that children and adult caregivers can explore the exhibit prior to their visit and caregivers can download guides and educational material.

Sesame Street Presents: The Body will be at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale for a limited time, May 22 through September 7, 2015. For information about tickets, group rates and specials visit www.mods.org.