NEW YORK & SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Headspace, a global leader in meditation and mindfulness, and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, today announced a new podcast project that uses meditation and mindfulness techniques to help little ones relax during their bedtime routines. The first episode will launch on June 13, 2021, with 11 subsequent episodes launching every Sunday through August 29.
Developed by a team of early childhood and meditation experts at Sesame Workshop and Headspace, Goodnight, World! reimagines the popular sleepcast format to help children practice transitioning from their active days to naptime or bedtime. Each episode includes: a wind-down story narrated by a rotating cast of Sesame Street friends; a “sleep journey” led by one of Headspace’s sleepcast readers, designed to help kids prepare their minds and bodies for sleep; and a soothing soundscape of music and relaxing sounds that evoke favorite places like Big Bird’s nest and Abby Cadabby’s fairy garden.
“Maintaining healthy routines helps young children understand their world and feel secure -- especially this year, when we’ve all experienced so much upheaval and disruption,” said Gabriela Arenas, Sesame Workshop’s Vice President of Licensing, North America. “Even beyond bedtime and naptime, mindfulness is a powerful tool to help kids calm their bodies and regulate their emotions, skills that set them up for success in school and in life. We’re thrilled to work with Headspace to make the practice accessible to families everywhere!”
Episodes of Goodnight, World! are structured to follow families through a typical bedtime routine, supporting them every step of the way. In the opening stories, Sesame Street characters model the same feelings of reluctance that many kids experience before bedtime -- and tap into the same mindfulness strategies described later in the episodes! Guided “sleep journey” meditations use simple but effective techniques like belly breathing, visualizations, and affirming self talk to help kids independently manage the transition from waking time to bedtime. By the end of the episodes, little listeners -- and their Sesame Street friends -- are ready to say good night to the outside world and focus on their restful routines.
“Teaching kids the fundamentals of mindfulness and meditation that they can use not only at nap and bedtime, but any time of day, is critical in helping them grow and is at the core of our mission to improve the health and happiness of the world. That’s why we’re so excited to expand our resources for families through our partnerships with Sesame Workshop and Random House Books for Young Readers,” said Morgan Selzer, VP Content at Headspace.
To help kids and families build mindfulness skills they can use in any situation, Headspace and Sesame Workshop are also working with Random House Children’s Books to adapt their incredibly successful Sesame Street Monster Meditation series of animated shorts into a six-volume series of board books for children ages 2-5. The books will include the same characters, themes, and plotlines as the popular videos, which have been viewed more than 30 million times to date. (Goodnight Body with Elmo is now the 3rd most viewed video on Sesame Street’s YouTube channel!) The series launches with Sesame Street Monster Meditation: Being Patient with Cookie Monster on June 29, 2021, and continues with Sesame Street Monster Meditation: Getting Ready for Bed with Elmo on September 28, 2021. More books are planned for 2022.
“Sesame Workshop and Headspace have created something truly exceptional with their Sesame Street Monster Meditation video series,” says Sonali Fry, VP & Director of Classic Brands & Preschool Publishing, Random House Children’s Books. “Through entertaining stories that feature fan-favorite Sesame Street characters, they provide young children with valuable mindfulness techniques. We are excited to continue their mission through our new collection of board book adaptations, which will introduce emergent readers to a variety of helpful meditation exercises for every occasion.”
Available on all major podcast distribution platforms and in the Headspace app starting June 13, 2021, Goodnight, World! will join the robust “Sleep by Headspace” library of stories and sleep music. To learn more, visit https://www.headspace.com/goodnight-world.
About Headspace
Headspace was created with one mission in mind: to improve the health and happiness of the world. Reaching 70 million users in 190 countries, Headspace was one of the first meditation apps in the world and remains a leader in mindfulness and mental training. Headspace is committed to advancing the field of mindfulness through clinically validated research, with one of the largest research pipelines of any digital health and wellness company. Headspace operates a B2B business (Headspace for Work) to offer its mindfulness products and services to more than 2,000 companies, such as Starbucks, Adobe, Hyatt and Unilever, to help them build healthier, more productive cultures and higher performing organizations. Headspace supports government entities like New York State and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to offer digital mental health tools. Headspace partners with many of the world’s most-recognizable brands, including Apple, Sesame Street, Spotify, Amazon, and Nike as well as Netflix for a three part mindfulness series that premiered in 2021. Headspace Health is Headspace’s digital health subsidiary pioneering new ways to incorporate the Headspace mindfulness experience into digital medicine. Headspace has been recognized as TIME100’s Most Influential Companies of 2021, Fast Company’s 10 most innovative social good companies of 2021 and World's Most Innovative Companies. Other accolades include Apple's Best of 2018, Samsung's Best of 2019 and one of CB Insights' top digital health companies, along with being selected for seven Webby Awards in podcasts, health and fitness. For more information please visit us at www.headspace.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Random House Children’s Books
Random House Children’s Books (rhcbooks.com) is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re present in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically-funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.sesameworkshop.org.
