The role of formative research in teaching playful problem solving on Sesame Street

Through extensive research with early childhood educators, Sesame Workshop identified a critical educational need, as today's preschoolers commonly lack curiosity, creativity, and perseverance in the face of challenges – an issue that impacts their ability to navigate obstacles at school and in life. To address this educational need, Sesame Street designed a playful problem-solving curriculum to help foster preschoolers' curiosity, critical thinking skills, creativity, and perseverance which are foundational skills to instill a positive approach to learning. Following the Sesame Workshop Model, formative research played a critical role in Sesame Street story development, especially with a new curriculum focus that involved a unique story format designed to support preschoolers' comprehension. We conducted formative research, in schools (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) and virtually (during the COVID-19 pandemic), wherein children aged 3–5 years old watched a rough draft version of an in-progress script (a "storymatic") and researchers analyzed children's comprehension. Findings guided script development to enhance the educational impact of each story.