Guess what?

 

Madeline Fretz - This is Steven, one of my Facebook friends and a former Sprout worker. I became friends with him when he commented on one of my posts on a Sprout fan group on Facebook. This Christmas I got the Goodnight Stories DVD and it was established I was going to New York City tomorrow. But you know what my biggest present was this year?

I’m talking about THIS! Steven sent it to my Mom, she sent it to me, and I uploaded it to my YouTube channel. It has some of the old gang (Kelly Vrooman, Sean Roach, Kevin Yamada, Carly Ciarrocchi, Michele Lepe, Forrest Harding, and Stacia Newcomb) wishing me a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Plus, Forrest showed me what they used for Chica's squeaks and made a reference to "Nothing Better," Kelly sang a Christmas version of the Birthday Song, Stacia did a Star impression, and Carly showed a painting of her and Chica. OMG! These guys know my name, and even know I’m the world's biggest fan! I’m lucky! All my friends will be jealous! 

Thanks a lot, Steven. Merry Christmas to all!

Click here to show a painting of you and an old friend on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Merry Christmas Sproutlets!

 

Here’s what I got in my stocking this morning.

Madeline Fretz - This is it, Sproutlets and Grown-up Sprouts! It’s Christmas Morning! So, I requested a lot of rare Sprout stuff on my Christmas list, yet all I got was this. Lastly, I at Parents and Kids Share Together wish you a happy 2022 and beyond!

The Let's Snow Show

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

In 2005, when Sprout was still a sprouting seed, it hosted a holiday stunt called The Let's Snow Show, hosted by The Birthday Show's Kevin Yamada and The Good Night Show's Melanie Martinez, their two on-air hosts at the time.

In between Sprout Christmas specials, Yamada and Martinez showed craft snowflakes sent in by Sproutlets like you, and a craft PDF on Sproutletsgrow.com showed Sproutlets how to make them.

We don't have any footage or promos of this event, but if we do get any, it’ll be quite a Sprouterrific surprise.

Click here to show craft snowflakes on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Barney's Christmas Star

 

Barney's Christmas Star is a 2002 Christmas special starring Barney the Dinosaur as he looks for a Christmas tree star in his friend's attic.

The special aired on Sprout from 2010 to 2014, during both Elmo's Movie Merry-Thon and Merry Movies.

Click here to look for a Christmas tree star on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!

 

Madeline Fretz - In 2002, Sesame Workshop released its first Elmo's World Christmas special - Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!, except it wasn’t really a Christmas special. It was more about the traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other winter holidays.

The special aired on Sprout in 2010 during Elmo's Movie Merry-Thon, in which Elmo himself would host Sprout Christmas specials and appear on The Sunny Side Up Show. It aired again in 2011.

Click here to host Sprout Christmas specials on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Caillou's Holiday Movie

 

Sprout sure has had many holiday traditions over the years … Sprout's Snooze-a-Thon, Preschool Musical on a Stick, Elmo's Movie Merry-thon, The Chica Awards, Merry Movies, etc, etc… But I think that their most prominent and longest-running holiday tradition was airing "Caillou's Holiday Movie." It was quite obvious, since Caillou was their longest-running show. The special was released in 2003, and revolves around the titular character learning about Christmas traditions and winter holidays around the world.

The special premiered on Sprout in 2007, as the channel was celebrating "Hooray for the Holidays." It aired alongside Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember, Angelina Ballerina: All Dancers on Deck (which wasn't really a Christmas special), and the very first Sprout's Snooze-a-Thon (then called A Good Night of Sweet Dreams).

From Sprout's TV schedule:

"Caillou learns about special Christmas traditions from all around the world in "Caillou's Holiday Movie"! Watch the US Broadcast Premiere December 17 & 20 at 5pm ET and December 25!"

As time went on, the special aired as part of Elmo's Movie Merry-thon and Merry Movies, and Sprout even aired a back-to-back marathon. Its last airing was on Universal Kids in 2018.

The Chica Show characters sing a song from Preschool Musical

 

Well, Sproutlets, it’s almost December, and December means Christmas, not to mention Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the holidays. Are you getting excited? I know I am!

Here is a 2014 Christmas promo that featured Kelly, Chica, Bunji, and Stitches from The Chica Show singing "We Love the Holidays" from Sprout's Preschool Musical on a Stick. The song was originally sung by Nina and Star from The Good Night Show.

Anyways, it’s interesting to see Sprout reuse a song from the first generation era, as, like "Jingle All the Way" and a few Let's Go Show songs, they’ve been using "We Love the Holidays" instrumentally in promos and in Barnyard Boogie online games. 

Click here to reuse a song from the first generation era on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

The Chica Awards

 

From 2012 to 2014, Sprout aired a special version of The Sunny Side Up Show called The Chica Awards, in which viewers would go to Sproutonline.com to vote for categories such as "Best Original Song," "Best Screenplay," "Best Special Guests," and "Best Siblings" and see them on TV on the big day. In 2012, the broadcast was held on December 23rd.

In 2014, Fire HDX sponsored the Chica Awards.

Click here to vote for categories on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

A Sesame Street Christmas Carol

 

Madeline Fretz - All children’s shows, except one, end or get cancelled. Sesame Street has been constantly revamping each decade, with new characters, segments, and even the format.

In 2006, Sprout got into the holiday spirit BEFORE Thanksgiving by premiering the direct-to-video special A Sesame Street Christmas Carol, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol starring Oscar the Grouch as Ebenezer Scrooge, on demand. The special was available from November 17th to 23rd, and premiered on the linear channel in December. (source)

The special uses clips from previous Christmas specials - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Elmo Saves Christmas, and Elmo's World: Happy Holidays, which premiered on Sprout in 2010.

Click here to use clips from previous Christmas specials on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

My Week with Sesame Street: Movie Merry-thon

 

In 2010 and 2011, Sesame Street's Elmo hosted a marathon of Sprout show Christmas specials called "Elmo's Movie Merry-Thon." Aired specials included "Elmo's World: Happy Holidays," "Barney's Christmas Star," "Barney's Night Before Christmas," "Caillou's Holiday Movie," "Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember" (the one with Elton John), and "Bob the Builder: Snowed Under." Elmo also appeared on The Sunny Side Up Show.

Sprout’s Snooze-a-Thon

 

Ever watched something on TV and just thought it was so boring-- "Wow, what a snooze-a-thon"? Ever Christmas Eve from 2007 to 2015, Sprout gave new meaning to the term, with a 12-hour continuous stream of sleeping characters from shows and blocks.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I thought now would be a good time to take a look back at this special annual event.

The event's official summary from Sprout's press room:

Sprout, the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers, is offering a unique solution this Christmas Eve for parents trying to get their little ones settled down and ready for bed. 

From 6:00 p.m. ET on December 24 straight through to 5:00 a.m. ET Christmas morning, Sprout will air the “Snooze-A-Thon,” an 11-hour, uninterrupted block showcasing popular nighttime host Nina and her puppet sidekick Star from The Good Night Show® snoozing comfortably on the set, along with clips of beloved characters from preschool favorites like Sesame Street®, Dragon Tales™, The Hoobs™, Pingu™ and Berenstain Bears™ catching some zzz’s.  So, no matter what time of night the kids are up checking for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof, parents can tune into Sprout to show them that even their favorite television friends are fast asleep waiting for Santa to arrive.

“Parents have told us that bedtime is the most challenging time of day, and getting children settled in on Christmas Eve can be even more difficult,” said Andrew Beecham, senior vice president of programming for Sprout.  “We help parents wind down their kids every night with The Good Night Show, but wanted to do something unique and fun for this special evening.”  

Sprout also aired "Nina Sleeps," an on-demand version of this event.

Anyways, the Danish children’s channel DR Ramasjang includes a ten-hour loop of their characters sleeping every night since 2009, oddly similar to what Sprout did.