Sprout® Celebrates the Holidays with Sesame Street®'s Elmo, Special Holiday-themed Movies and the Annual Snooze-a-Thon

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout is celebrating the season with everybody's favorite furry red monster, Sesame Street®'s Elmo, live on The Sunny Side Up Show on Tuesday, December 13 from 9:00 a.m. – noon ET. 

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Elmo will guest star, along with hosts Liz and Chica the Chicken, to sing holiday songs, read birthday cards, and share wishes from families all over the country.  Emmy Award®-winning performer and producer Kevin Clash is Sesame Street's Muppet Captain and force behind Elmo. 

The seasonal fun continues with holiday-themed movies throughout the month of December starring Elmo, Caillou, Barney™ the Dinosaur and Bob the Builder™.  Every Tuesday night (with repeats on Friday afternoon), Sprout will air a different holiday-themed movie: 

• Caillou's Happy Holidays – Tuesday 12/6 at 6 p.m. ET (with repeats on Friday 12/9 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET).  Caillou counts down the 12 days before Christmas using an advent calendar.  Each day, the family enjoys a brief story that explains different holiday customs from around the world. 
• Barney's Christmas Star – Tuesday 12/13 at 6 p.m. ET (with repeats on Friday 12/16 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET).  After decorating the caboose puts Barney and his friends in the holiday spirit, they trim the Christmas tree and go to grandmother's attic to search for the missing star. 
• Elmo's World: Happy Holidays – Tuesday 12/20 at 6 p.m. ET.  What present will Elmo give Dorothy, his beloved goldfish?  As he searches for an answer, Elmo learns about holidays around the world and discovers the many things that Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa have in common. 

Additionally, Sprout will air two special holiday-themed movie marathons:

• Elmo's Movie Merry-Thon – as part of Sprout's holiday extravaganza, Elmo will host a marathon of holiday movies on Friday, December 23 and Saturday, December 24 beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.  Movies will include Caillou's Holiday Movie, Bob the Builder: Snowed Under, Barney's Christmas Star and Elmo's World: Happy Holidays.
• Caillou Movie Marathon – back-to-back airings of Caillou's Happy Holidays movie will air on Christmas Day from the end of The Sunny Side Up Show at noon straight through to the beginning of The Good Night Show at 6 p.m. ET.  

Lastly, the popular Snooze-a-Thon will once again air from 6:00 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve 12/24 through 6:00 a.m. ET Christmas morning 12/25, featuring hosts Nina and Star from The Good Night Show® snoozing comfortably on the set, along with clips of beloved characters from preschool favorites like Sesame Street®, The Wiggles®, Pajanimals, LazyTown 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.

For additional information on Sprout programs or schedules, or to play games, download free coloring pages or find great activities for kids, visit SproutOnline.com.  To find out where Sprout is available in your area, call 1.8.SPROUT.411 or go to SproutOnline.com. 

About Sprout®

Available in over 50 million homes, Sprout is the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for children ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers.  The 24-hour digital channel, which launched in September 2005 along with the website (SproutOnline.com), is the only channel that follows the day of a preschooler from breakfast to bedtime with its distinctive, interactive programming and original hosted blocks.  Sprout's VOD offering is the #1 on demand service for younger children with over one billion views. 

Sprout is a partnership among NBCUniversal, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop.  Its program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based preschool shows includes:  Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™, The Wiggles®, Thomas & Friends™,  Caillou®, The Berenstain Bears™, Roary the Racing Car™,  dirtgirlworld and more.

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SOURCE PBS KIDS Sprout