Sesame Street and The Distractor
... or on using a finely tuned educational machine
Once upon a time I was one of the screenwriters for a children’s web show called Liberto & Valentina. It was one of the hardest creative challenges I’ve ever faced. Every script was a balancing act: how could I make something educational without losing the magic that makes kids laugh, wonder, and keep watching?
Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. Emily patiently guided me in crafting stories that would captivate 4- to 6-year-olds, while Lisa, with her expertise in curriculum design, was in charge of the educational content that I will then weave into the scripts. But the real turning point came when Stephanie, the project’s director, recommended me a little book.
That book led me to the greatest teacher I never knew I had: Sesame Street. This legendary show didn’t just blend education and entertainment, it fused them so seamlessly that generations of kids didn’t even realize they were learning. That’s why Sesame Street is the format we’re exploring today!
📰 What’s the format?
Sesame Street is not just another children’s show. It’s different in many ways. It was the first preschool program to:
Base its content on research
Build a curriculum through day-long seminars with child development experts
Fund studies to measure its effectiveness and outcomes
Bring together producers, writers, educators, and analysts to collaborate
The result is one of the most studied and monitored shows in TV history. Over 30 years of research show that it’s had a big positive impact on kids across many subjects…
🎛️ What are the features?
What made Sesame Street so successful? Let’s start with the foundations:
#1. It solved a clear problem
Sesame Street was born from a simple yet powerful realization.
In 1965, Lloyd Morisett, Vice-President of the Carnegie Corporation, walked into his living room to find his three-year-old daughter mesmerized by a TV test pattern, waiting for the day’s programming to begin. Across the country, millions of children were glued to their screens, but there was little to watch that served any real purpose.
Morisett saw an opportunity: what if television, already captivating young minds, could be used to teach? He partnered with TV producer Joan Ganz Cooney to explore this idea. Cooney’s research revealed a startling truth: while half the nation’s schools didn’t yet have kindergartens, nearly every home had a television. Children were already learning from TV; reciting jingles, reading product names, and memorizing slogans, but the content wasn’t meaningful...
This insight became the foundation of Sesame Street: harnessing the power of television to teach preschoolers in an engaging, impactful way.
#2. Research and Development came first
It took two years of development to get Sesame Street ready for broadcast. Every episode went through rigorous testing. Here’s how it worked:
Each one-hour episode included around 40 segments.
For a single season, this added up to 2,400 segments.
Every segment targeted a specific educational goal, defined with measurable outcomes.
Unlike earlier children's programming, the show's producers used research and over 1,000 studies and experiments to create the show and test its impact on its young viewers' learning.
“We look at the research, we bring in development experts and we look at the needs of kids presently. We’re always reinventing ourselves.” —Ben Lehmann, Director of Sesame Street
#3. Constant evolution
The show didn’t stop at its initial success. It kept evolving to stay relevant and effective. Each adaptation balanced Sesame Street's core educational goals with local cultural relevance. To reach children in diverse contexts, Sesame Workshop employed various media, including television, radio, mobile devices, and even low-tech solutions like repurposed carts with screens in underprivileged areas.
But from all these features, there’s one that stands out as particularly fascinating to me: the Distractor.
🔍 What’s the Distractor?
The Distractor was a tool used to measure how well Sesame Street held children’s attention.
During testing, researchers set up two screens. One showing a Sesame Street episode and the other displaying random, colorful slides (like a rainbow, or the picture of a tall building). These slides changed every 7.5 seconds, competing with the show for attention.
Observers watched the children and noted, every 6.5 seconds, what they focused on. If a segment couldn’t hold attention, it was reworked or cut.
As James Bridle described:
“By the third or fourth season, it was rare to see a segment with less than 85% attention. The team had a mechanism to identify the ‘fittest’ segments and decide what should survive.”
This process helped Sesame Street maintain attention ratings of 85–90%, with some segments reaching 100%. The Distractor turned the show into a finely tuned educational machine.
💡 Why is this format effective for learning?
The brilliance of the Distractor wasn’t just in holding attention. It helped the creators test and refine how well their segments aligned with key principles of effective learning. By identifying what truly engaged children and what fell flat, the team could craft content that wasn’t just captivating but also impactful.
This raises an important question: How do we balance engagement with meaningful learning, not just for children but for any audience?
When I was learning to write scripts (from that little book I mentioned before), I came across three principles of writing for children that might hold a key to that question.
The Distractor was a testing ground that brought these principles to life, ensuring each segment resonated deeply with its audience.
#1: Understanding the cognitive capabilities of your audience
For kids, this means recognizing their developmental stage (short attention spans, simple logic, and concrete thinking). For adults, it’s about acknowledging factors like prior knowledge and cognitive load.
#2. Content as the fulfillment of a need
The most engaging learning meets a tangible need. For children, Sesame Street taught numbers, letters, and social skills they needed for the world around them. For adults, the “need” could be professional growth, solving a problem, or simply fulfilling curiosity.
#3: Familiarity with what your audience already loves
Kids love humor, music, and playful visuals, and Sesame Street used all of them to teach effectively. Adults, too, are drawn to what feels familiar and enjoyable, whether that’s a particular tone, medium, or style.
These principles boil down to one timeless truth: learning succeeds when it feels personal, purposeful, and human.
💌 An invitation
How can you apply the magic of Sesame Street to your own learning or creative projects?
Think about your audience: What are their needs, abilities, and interests? Start there.
Test and refine: What could you create and test, just like the Distractor, to see what really works?
Blend the familiar with the new: How can you introduce fresh ideas in a way that feels engaging and approachable?
If you’re curious, here’s The Sesame Street Writers’ Notebook.
PS: And here are two of my favorite skits:
🏷 Summary
Understand your audience: Meet learners where they are to keep them engaged.
Design with purpose: Content is most effective when it fulfills a real need.
Test and iterate: Refining through feedback makes learning more powerful.
I appreciate your time. Thank you for reading! 💙
I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, constructive ideas…) as well as your tips or suggestions for future editions. I’d love to hear about you in the comments.
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