Sesame Street’s Grover Offers Tips to Help Kids Cope With the Pandemic

It’s no secret that pandemic life has been hard on kids. Suddenly, schools are closed and playdates are cancelled, and kids may not understand why. Luckily, numerous companies have been working to provide emotional and mental health resources for kids over the past two months, including Sesame Street. Most recently, Grover joined a podcast to offer some of his tips on how kids can cope with their changed routines and “new normal.”

Grover joined NPR’s Life Kit Podcast for their first episode over the weekend, with hosts Anya Kamentez and Cory Turner.

“Hello, everybody! Hey, all you children and mommies and daddies. I hope you are all safe and well right now!” Grover says at the beginning of the interview. He talks with the hosts on topics ranging from what he does when he misses his friends, how he’s keeping busy and how he’s learning to manage feelings of sadness.

To keep busy, Grover explains he tries to help around the house, make his bed, put his dishes in the sink and pick up his toys. But, he’s also been helping in his neighborhood. “I am a delivery monster, and I go to the grocery store, and I pick up groceries for people who cannot go to the grocery store. I put on my mask and I am very safe. And I pick up groceries and take them to people like Mrs. Crustworthy.”

He continues that video chatting has been a great way to talk to his friends when he misses them. “Actually, just before talking to you, I was on with Snuffy. Well…his left eye anyway. It’s kind of hard to see all of him on a little tiny screen,” he mentioned during the interview, adding, “You know, I feel like I’m busier now than I was before. And I am seeing some of my relatives more often, albeit on Zoom or some other video chat. You can play with your friends. If you both have the same game, you can play the game together. You can play a board game. You can play card games with one another, and it is a lot of fun.”

However, even with all the increased video chatting time, Grover has been doing what he can to spend less time on screens, including reading books and daydreaming. “You can play with your toys and use your own imagination. You can go anywhere in your own imagination. Reading a book also is a fun thing to do by yourself. And your mind can go anywhere in a book as well,” he says, continuing. “I do like to daydream. I think it is very healthy for everybody to just take a moment and let their mind wander and see where it goes. I like to imagine that I am high on a mountain. I can see the whole world and all of my friends down below. And I wave to them all.”

He ends the interview by reminding listeners that it’s okay to be sad. “It is OK to be sad every now and then—that is only human. Or monster. Everybody who is alive gets sad from time to time, and that is OK. But this is going to pass, and we will all be able to get together and celebrate when we do.”

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