Sesame Street licensing facts for kids

The American children's TV show Sesame Street is famous for all the cool stuff you can buy related to it! This includes books, magazines, videos, and toys that feature your favorite characters and themes from the show.

Who Makes Sesame Street Stuff Now?

Lots of companies make Sesame Street products today. Some of them include Fisher-Price, Nakajima USA, and Build-A-Bear Workshop where you can make your own Elmo or Cookie Monster. Hasbro makes a Sesame Street version of Monopoly, and Betty Crocker has Elmo Fruit Snacks. Other companies make things like air fresheners and clothes for kids.

In the past, many other companies also made Sesame Street toys and products, like Ideal Toys and Milton Bradley Company. There were even Sesame Street computer games from companies like Creative Wonders and Atari.

There's also a special line of products called Sesame Beginnings, which started in 2005. These products are for babies and their parents, including clothes and home items. They help parents and babies play and learn together.

Where Does the Money Go?

The company that owns Sesame Street, called Sesame Workshop, is a non-profit organization. This means they don't make money just for themselves. Instead, a part of the money from every Sesame Street product you buy helps to fund the TV show itself or its international versions around the world. This helps make sure more kids can enjoy Sesame Street!

Awesome Sesame Street Toys

Tickle Me Elmo Craze

Tickle Me Elmo was a super popular toy back in 1996. It sold so fast that people sometimes even had fights in stores to get one! This toy and its later versions were some of the most successful products ever launched by Mattel, the company that made them. Elmo even starred in a Christmas TV special that year.

Toy Safety and Recalls

In 2007, Fisher-Price had to recall many toys, including some Sesame Street ones, because of safety concerns. After this happened, Sesame Workshop announced that they would start checking all products themselves to make sure they were safe. They even said they might stop letting companies make Sesame Street toys if they weren't happy with the safety guarantees. This shows how important safety is for kids' products!

Sesame Street Books

Sesame Street books are sold all over the world, mainly by Random House in North America. In 2005 alone, over 18 million Sesame Street books and magazines were bought! These books often remind kids that they can learn a lot from the publications, even if they don't watch the TV show.

Live Shows You Can See

Ice Skating Fun

From 1975 to 1980, there was a cool ice-skating show called Sesame Street on Ice. It featured people dressed up as the characters, performing amazing ice shows with big budgets.

Live Stage Performances

Today, you can still see Sesame Street Live, which is a touring stage show with actors and dancers dressed as the characters. Every year, these shows visit about 160 cities across North America, reaching 2 million people! Since the first show in 1980, over 48 million kids and their parents have seen Sesame Street Live around the world.

Sesame Street Theme Parks

Busch Entertainment Corporation holds the rights for Sesame Street at its amusement parks in the U.S. They even have a whole park dedicated to Sesame Street called Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. You can also find Sesame Street shows at SeaWorld Orlando. In 2009, Busch Gardens Williamsburg opened "Sesame Street Forest of Fun," and "Sesame Street Safari of Fun" opened at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in 2010.

There's another Sesame Street theme park called Parque Plaza Sésamo in Monterrey, Mexico. And at Universal Studios Japan, you can watch a special 3D movie based on the show!

Characters for Good Causes

Even though Sesame Street characters usually don't appear in puppet form to sell non-educational products, they do show up to support important causes. For example, Big Bird has helped teach kids about wearing seatbelts and sitting safely in cars for the Ford Motor Company. Grover has promoted new ways for children to learn, and Elmo has even spoken to the US government to ask for more money for music in schools.

Sesame Street Around the World

Many international versions of Sesame Street also have their own merchandise! Shows like Barrio Sésamo (Spanish), Plaza Sésamo (Spanish), Sesamstraße (German), Sesame English, and Sesamstraat (Dutch) all have products featuring their local characters. There are also Shalom Sesame videos and books.