Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie and the rest of the adorable characters of Iftah Ya Simsim — the first Arabic-speaking version of the television series Sesame Street — will now be back for a new musical show titled “The Treasure Hunt.” For families residing in Jeddah and Riyadh, Eid will be bigger and better as the 70-minute show filled with music and plays will be shown during the Eid-Al-Fitr celebrations in Jeddah on August 22-24 at Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events and in Riyadh on September 12-14 at Reem International Circuit. Iftah Ya Simsim offers its community an international show with local content. The show revolves around environment, conservation, traffic safety, healthy habits, numbers, letters, among many others. The topics are based on the curriculum developed by 80 educational experts from across the Gulf States in partnership with Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, Gulf Radio, and TV GCC Joint Program Production Institution. It was approved and inaugurated by Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah, Minister of Education, early in April of this year. On this occasion, Director General Ali, the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, said: “We recognize the ability of media and marketing channels as a teaching tool, especially as new technologies attract the attention of our children. This show consists of 14 intervals with educational content developed by educational experts who participated in the development of curriculum for the educational plan of “Iftah Ya Simsim” initiative as part of its education through entertainment activities. This is only the beginning of a great number of activities and events that will come in the future for all the children of the Gulf.” Ali further said, “Arab Bureau of education for Gulf States thanks the supporting parties including Gulf Radio and TV along with all the governmental bodies in Jeddah and Riyadh.” He also duly acknowledged Panasonic, and the event sponsors like Al-Eesayi Motors — Mitsubishi and Al-Sharbatly Fruits for extending their support and making it available for children during the festive occasion. The media also fully offered its support by providing an advertising campaign with Spacetoon, Rotana Khaligia, Rotana Cinema and Radio Mix FM. Dr. Al-Karni said that educational programs such as “Iftah Ya Simsim” is a great initiative by the Arab Bureau of education for Gulf States for providing learning opportunities to the young ones. On the other hand, Feras Adel Al Maddah, media and marketing representative of the Sesame workshop in Saudi Arabia emphasized that the workshop is well-known globally as a non-profit educational organization working in the media in partnership with both the public and private sectors for the mobilization of combined efforts to create a generation that values cultural.
