Incorporating Sesame Street characters, youth volunteers perform as puppeteers and put on a live puppet show for children from various organizations and elementary schools. This entertaining and exciting interactive show gives young children the opportunity to learn life-saving skills and disaster preparedness.
“Holding the attention of a four-year-old while lecturing on a topic like earthquake safety would be nearly impossible without the puppet show,” said Erica Helson, Youth Services liaison for the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. “Elmo comes out and the kids are star-struck; they listen carefully as he teaches them about earthquake and safety tips.”
The children are trained in three shows: Beat the Quake, Crawl Low in Smoke, and Stop, Drop, and Roll. Each consists of educational skits and features lively music, all performed by their friends from Sesame Street. Characters give children directions on what to do during an earthquake or fire and youth volunteers follow-up the show with additional information. Parents are advised to practice emergency drills at home and are encouraged to build a disaster kit for their family.
On September 11th, 2009, the Youth Services program from the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the American Red Cross was recognized by the Los Angeles City Council for their outstanding work in training over 1,000 children this past year.
For information about hosting a disaster preparedness puppet show or becoming a Red Cross youth volunteer, please contact Erica Helson at (310) 477-2172 or at Helsone@arcla.org.
Below is a slideshow from a puppet show held at the West Valley Regional Branch of the Los Angeles Public Libraries
Below is partial footage of the Beat the Quake show with a brief introduction
