Sésamo's goals emphasized problem solving and reasoning, and also included perception, symbolic representation, human diversity, and the child's environment.

Other goals included community cooperation, family life, nutrition, health, safety, self-esteem, and expressing emotions.

Highly significant difference were found in tests about general knowledge, letters, and numbers after children were exposed to the show.

[1] Co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney was approached by German public television officials about a year after the US version debuted.

[2] In 2000, CTW vice-president Charlotte Cole estimated that there were over 120 million viewers of all international versions of Sesame Street,[4] and by the show's 40th anniversary in 2009, they were seen in more than 140 countries.

[13] Other goals included community cooperation, family life, nutrition, health, safety, self-esteem, and expressing emotions.

The board was responsible for choosing content from the CTW's inventory, and it had to satisfy the curriculum goals chosen by the Latin American researchers.

The set included a background of mountains, a vacant lot with playground equipment, houses, a combination repair shop and store-cafe, and the plaza's central fountain and benches.

[10] 130 half-hour episodes of the show's first season were shot in Mexico City entirely in Spanish, under the control of a Mexican research and production team.

One of its goals was instructing its viewers and their families about basic hygiene, "a matter of critical importance in an area of the world where gastrointestinal diseases abound and infant mortality rates are high".

[13] The third season of the show included characters created to "expose young Latin American children to both traditional and nontraditional role models".

Other human characters included: Jose, a shopkeeper and his young assistant, a student named Mercedes (Xochiti Vigil): a truck driver played by Tony Diaz; and a pilot (Fernando Balzaretti), who travelled throughout Latin American and came home to tell his adventures to his friends on the plaza.

It featured two new monsters named Lola and Pancho, a larger cast of children, more original music, and a new set designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

The season focused on a more innovative curriculum, developed by a board of Latin American educators and UNICEF, and included topics such as health, hygiene, safety issues, cooperation, counting, and the alphabet.

The producers created outreach materials for Hispanic families, for the purpose of promoting media literacy and helping parents improve their roles as their children's first teachers.

[16] The fourth season aired in the U.S. because of the large population of Spanish-speakers in the country; it was the first time an original co-production was shown in the U.S.[17][18] As Gary Knell, an executive at the CTW stated, "Our mission is to educate all kids.

[19] The fourth season was test-marketed for American audiences in April on PBS and Univision stations in Miami, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Los Angeles.

The test-run was successful, so PBS and Univision began airing it nationally in December; it reached 92% of the country's Spanish-speaking households.

The show's supporters believed that exposure to an educational program like Plaza Sésamo would result in the transfer of Spanish skills to English and increase literacy in both languages.

[20] A stakeholders meeting was convened in Bogotá in October 2012, consisting of interested parties from government and the private sector, and included officials from UNICEF.

Highly significant differences were found in tests about general knowledge, letters, and numbers after children were exposed to the show.

According to a press release announcing its opening, Parque Plaza Sésamo includes water rides, live entertainment, interactive, and educational elements.

In 2007, the Workshop participated in an extensive health promotion in Mexico; they put many of the characters of Plaza Sésamo on milk containers, which were given to schools, with positive messages about nutrition and exercise.