K'nex to create Sesame Street toys
By Staff -- Playthings, 9/13/2007 7:13:00 AM
HATFIELD, Penn.—K’nex will join the ranks of major children's property licensees next year through a deal with Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, to create educational Sesame Street-themed building sets for toddlers.
The new building sets, which will be available June 2008, will be specially designed for children ages 2 years and older—the youngest audience yet for K’nex—and will allow children to build their favorite Sesame Street characters, including Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Oscar and Abby. Each set will be filled with custom building parts and will contain age-appropriate educational content, according to the toymaker.
"We are extremely excited to be partnering with Sesame Workshop, an organization that believes in and promotes so many of the principles and values on which we’ve founded our company," says Michael Araten, president of K’nex Brands. "This new relationship provides a wonderful opportunity to work together toward our goals of helping children learn, grow, dream and discover."
Ann Kearns, vice president of licensing for Sesame Workshop, adds, "It’s a pleasure to extend the reach of Sesame Street through a partnership with K’nex. "Much like our beloved characters, K’nex products are trusted and loved by parents and kids. They encourage children to innovate and imagine without limits, and to realize that learning can be a fun, rewarding experienΗall things that we at Sesame Workshop strongly support."
