Tips for when everything isn't A-OK

Elmo's world is getting a little bigger. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that produces “Sesame Street,” is developing a prime-time special for the Public Broadcasting Service aimed at helping financially strapped parents and their young children. “Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times” is to be aired on PBS stations Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Co-hosts of the hour-long special are NBC “Today” show weatherman Al Roker and his wife, ABC news correspondent Deborah Roberts, along with Elmo from “Sesame Street.” The program will offer strategies and tips that can be integrated into families' everyday routines to help the physical and emotional well-being of children 2 to 8 through the tough economic times. The program also will feature Grover, Elmo's family, “Today” show financial editor Jean Chatzky and psychologist Joshua Coleman, author of books on family relationships. The special includes documentary footage of families getting by on less. The special is part of a two-hour economy-focused block of programming on PBS that also includes “Your Life, Your Money,” a show aimed at young adults that was produced by WNED, the PBS station in Buffalo, N.Y. “In these difficult financial times, we find that parents often lack the words to explain what is going on to their children, and that prevents them from having the necessary conversations,” Ms. Chatzky said in a statement. “We're able to give the families in the special, and the many others watching from home, the tools they need.” In connection with the program, Sesame Workshop will offer resources and materials at sesame workshop.org/toughtimes beginning on the broadcast date.