| Category | Details |
| Title | Painting with Cookie Monster |
| Season & Episode | Season 47, Episode 4714 |
| Main Muppet Characters | Cookie Monster, Elmo, Grover, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby |
| Human Guest(s) | Alan, Chris, Gina |
| Letter of the Day | P (for Painting) |
| Number of the Day | 18 |
| Theme | Artistic expression and self-control. |
| Lessons & Themes | Color mixing, artistic techniques (texture/abstract), and valuing art for its beauty. |
| Key Segments | Super Grover 2.0: Fruit, A Still Life, Elmo's World: Painting. |
| Air Date | April 8, 2017 (HBO) / November 13, 2017 (PBS) |
Summary
The street becomes an art studio. Alan suggests that Cookie Monster paint his feelings. This keeps him from eating everything in sight. Cookie Monster messes up at first. He eats his canvases because they look delicious. Alan and Chris teach him artistic concepts. They show him how to mix colors to create cookie brown. They show brush techniques to make it look like blue fur. Cookie Monster tries out different styles, like still life and self-portraits. He has a hard time not eating his work.
Cookie Monster's been messing around with abstract art. He designs for his own enjoyment. This work represents his love for cookies without showing one. This breakthrough helps him see the value in art. He gets that art is for looking at, not eating. Eating the painting would make him sad. He wants to enjoy its beauty. This lesson teaches self-control. Chris brings real cookies from Hooper Store as a reward. Cookie Monster enjoys his meal while he watches the show.
Parent's Guide
Cookie Monster doesn't have the same taste for cookie brown as the others. Alan shows him how to mix colors to get the perfect shade. Art combines creativity and chemistry. Primary colors mix together to make an endless range of shades. Trial and error shows kids that they're not limited by colors in a box. You can get exactly the right color by playing around with it. Mixing colors is a great way to learn about light and pigment. This turns a palette into a laboratory.
Cookie Monster creates abstract designs. The work is a visual expression of his joy and love for cookies. Art is a way to express deep feelings. A painting is like a window into an artist's soul. You use art to express feelings like love or hunger. Words alone don't always capture these emotions.
Cookie Monster eats his first two paintings. He's realized that his third painting makes him happy. He'd be bummed if the work was gone. He decides to hold on to the art instead of eating it. It's tough to learn that you can't have everything you want. You've got to develop some willpower and work towards preserving beauty instead of just going for the immediate gratification. This is a big step in emotional maturity. You start thinking about things in a different way, moving from physical needs to how things look. If you say "no" to things that are bad for you, you can keep the things that make you happy in the long run.
Alan suggests a self-portrait because Cookie Monster doesn't look like a cookie. The experiment produced an interesting result. Gina mentioned that the painted eyes look hungry. Painting a self-portrait makes you look closely at your own features. This helps them build a strong sense of self-identity and observation.
Cookie Monster really needs to stop thinking about food. He painted an abstract design that looked nothing like a cookie. This keeps his appetite in check. Abstract art doesn't have to look like anything in particular to be meaningful. Artists and viewers tend to focus on shapes and colors instead of literal translations.
Alan helps Cookie Monster with a special technique. This method really highlights the unique texture of the blue fur on the canvas. Great art uses specific techniques to mimic the real world. The brushstrokes create the illusion of soft fur or a crunchy surface.
