Another excellent video by Sesame Workshop - the two newest videos in its “Talk, Listen, Connect” project dealing with tough topics for young military children

Elmo videos help kids with 2nd deployment

Elmo’s dad is deploying — again.

He gets the phone call, sighs and turns to his wife and Elmo, the lovable red Muppet.

It’s official, his dad says: He has to go away again soon.

Elmo bursts into tears, and his mom and dad try to comfort him.

“When Daddy was away before, we did O.K., didn’t we?” his mother says.

And the Muppet family breaks into a song with the refrain, “We can do it, we can do it, we can do it like we did before.”

Sesame Workshop announced Tuesday that it is now distributing the two newest videos in its “Talk, Listen, Connect” project dealing with tough topics for young military children.

In the TLC “Deployments, Homecomings,” Sesame Street’s Elmo learns to adjust to the news that his dad is going away again. In the “Changes” video, Elmo’s friend Rosita learns to express her feelings and adjust to the new life after her father returns injured.

About 500,000 of the video kits are being produced, said Gary Knell, Sesame Workshop’s president and chief executive officer.

The free kits are provided by the Defense Department through Military OneSource, by the New York State Office of Mental Health, the Military Child Education Coalition, the United Service Organizations and through other outlets. Kits are also available in Spanish.

The videos and other materials can also be downloaded online.

The kits include:

• The Talk, Listen, Connect DVD.

• A magazine for parents and caregivers providing tips, strategies and activities to help comfort and reassure children.

• A children’s activity poster.

• Postcards featuring Sesame Street characters for parents and children to stay connected.

In both new videos, military children and their mothers and fathers offer insights into what they’re feeling and how they deal with those feelings.