'Sesame Street Presents: The Body Exhibit' Opens 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 8, 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.

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."

Sesame Street Presents: The Body features three different education zones related to the human body:

1. Your Insides - "Your Insides" is an exploration of what goes on inside the body. Activities include the "Count's Organ Organ," which musically teaches kids about their internal organs' locations and functions; "Digestion with Oscar," a display that shows kids what happens to food when they eat it; and "Oscar's Sneeze Machine," where children pull a lever to irritate a big nose that actually sneezes on them!

2. Your Outsides - Children learn to identify different body parts, learn what they do, and explore the many ways they can put them to use. Exhibits include "Your Wonderful Hands," featuring puzzles, sign language games, shadow puppets and more; "Your Legs and Feet," an interactive exhibit that shows what happens when you put your legs in motion, and "Your Amazing Body," an interactive video game where children choose the correct body part based on clues from Ernie and Bert.

3. Staying Healthy - Whether you are exercising, playing, dancing or even sleeping, your body is always hard at work. Learn how staying clean, eating healthy foods, and getting plenty of physical activity as well as sleep can help the body stay healthy. Ernie and Rubber Ducky get kids started in "Rub-A-Dub Tub," a silly game that shows them just how much fun staying clean can be. Then it's on to "Mr. Hooper's Store," where children scan groceries and learn specific messages about how different healthy meals are good for their bodies and "Baby Bear's Mini Mart," a toddler-sized activity area where children can stock up on a variety of colorful, healthy foods. And kids can put their bodies to the test in "Rosita's Locomotion," where they learn how the heart and different muscles work while pumping, rowing or running.

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 23 through September 8, 2015. For information about tickets, group rates and specials visit www.mods.org.