Sesame Street – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Sesame Street

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

YouTube2006

85%

WISE Score

29.0M

Subscribers

The gold standard of preschool education, now with 4,000 videos on YouTube—just make sure you're using YouTube Kids.

Sesame Street

YouTube

2006

85%

WISE Score

29.0M

Subscribers

The gold standard of preschool education, now with 4,000 videos on YouTube—just make sure you're using YouTube Kids.

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29.0M

Screenwise Verdict

Sesame Street is the GOAT of preschool programming—there's a reason it's been around for 50 years. The content itself is a perfect 10: educational without being boring, diverse without being preachy, entertaining for both kids and parents.

The issue is the delivery mechanism. Putting this on regular YouTube is like serving organic vegetables on a gas station floor. The content is pristine, but the environment is sketchy. With comments enabled and the YouTube algorithm lurking one click away, you need to treat this like supervised screen time, not independent viewing.

Use YouTube Kids, cast it to your TV, or watch together. The actual Sesame content is unimpeachable—just don't hand a toddler an iPad with the YouTube app and walk away. With proper guardrails, this is some of the best educational content you can find for free.

Age Fit

Perfect for 2-6 year olds in the thick of preschool learning. Older elementary kids won't choose it themselves, though they might enjoy it nostalgically with younger siblings. The educational content is specifically designed for the preschool brain.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Five decades of modeling kindness, cooperation, and emotional intelligence. The show's signature mix of diverse human and Muppet characters creates a genuinely inclusive community where everyone counts. Pacing is gentle and age-appropriate for preschoolers, with consistent positive messaging without being saccharine.

Imaginative

Creative puppet characters, musical numbers, and playful segments that invite kids to count, sing along, and explore concepts. While the format is educational rather than open-ended creative play, it sparks curiosity about letters, numbers, emotions, and the world. The Muppet universe itself is wildly imaginative.

Safe

The content itself is impeccably safe—rigorously researched for preschoolers with zero concerning material. However, this is YouTube with 29 million subscribers and comments enabled on a channel aimed at toddlers. While the channel is official and moderated, the platform environment means kids could easily click away to unrelated content. YouTube Kids or supervised viewing is essential.

Enriching

Gold standard of educational children's programming. Rigorously researched curriculum covering literacy, numeracy, social-emotional learning, and life skills. Has been enriching minds for 50+ years with proven developmental benefits. The new 2026 archive deal will add hundreds of classic episodes, making it the largest Sesame library available.

Parent Info

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Why It Might Be Great

Five decades of research-backed curriculum that actually works—literacy, numeracy, emotional intelligence, the whole package
Genuinely diverse and inclusive in a way that feels natural, not forced; kids see themselves and others
Nearly 30 billion views and 4,000 videos means endless content, with hundreds of classic episodes coming in 2026
Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and the gang are legitimately beloved characters that teach without preaching
Free access to premium educational content that would otherwise require an HBO Max subscription

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What to Watch For

This is YouTube, not a kids' app—comments are enabled and the algorithm will happily serve up unrelated content next
Use YouTube Kids or supervised viewing; a 3-year-old should not be navigating regular YouTube alone
With 4,000 videos, quality varies—some are full segments, others are 2-minute clips that might lead to endless clicking

Conversation Starters

"Which character is your favorite? Why do you think Cookie Monster loves cookies so much?"
"Can you teach me the letter/number we just learned about? Where do you see that letter around our house?"
"How did [character] feel in that story? What made them feel better?"
"What was the silliest thing that happened? Can you act it out for me?"