Episode 5431

Picture	Segment 	Description
 	COLD OPEN 	To introduce today's theme of playgrounds, Elmo asks a penguin what its favorite part of the playground is. The swings? The slide? The monkey bars? Actually, the penguin loves them all.
 	SCENE 1 	Today, Chris is taking Elmo, Abby, and Rudy to the playground. Chris says that he used to love going to the playground as a kid and it's both fun and healthy. The kids are shocked to learn that the playground is healthy, but Chris reminds them that the playground involves running around and playing outside. Chris also mentions the slide, which Elmo and Abby are super excited to go down.
 	SCENE 1 cont'd	At the playground is a big slide and a little slide. Elmo insists they go on the little slide, so one after another, the three of them climb up the ladder, count to three, and slide down the little slide. The three are ready to go again, but they spot a penguin on the big slide. This inspires Abby and Rudy to go down the big slide, too. Elmo instead opts to continue going down the little slide, having never been on the big slide before. Abby and Rudy try to get Elmo to understand how cool the big slide is, emphasizing its "more whoosh," so Elmo agrees to give it a try...
 	SCENE 1 cont'd	Elmo gets in line to go down the big slide. He watches Abby and Rudy go down it, nervously anticipating his turn. When he has no more excuses, he goes up the ladder... then back down again. Elmo confuses Abby and Rudy by telling them that even though he didn't go down the slide, he wants to. He has two feelings; he's excited to whoosh down the big slide but scared at the same time. Rudy, Abby, and the penguin all share that they were initially scared to go down the big slide, too. Abby tells Elmo that he needs to wait before he's ready to try again. The penguin shares one way he can become ready: belly breathing. Elmo tries this, and though he feels calmer, he is still too scared to go down the slide.
 	SCENE 1 cont'd	In another attempt, Rudy shares a song he learned in preschool that begins with "I can do it." Elmo thinks the song helped, so he tries again. He makes it further than the ladder, but he freezes at the top of the slide. He thinks he might never be ready, but his friends reassure him he will. Chris arrives and shares that he was scared of the same thing when he was younger. Chris remembers that the first time he went down the big slide, his dad held his hand, so Chris offers to hold Elmo's hand. He still is hesitant, but after he takes a deep breath and counts to three, he does it! Now Elmo's not scared anymore, and he's ready to do it all by himself.
 	Insert 	I Wonder, What If, Let's TryAlice isn't quite ready to go down her first ever slide, but after she slides down holding her mom's hand, she is ready to do it all by herself.
 	Muppets 	Elmo and friends sing and clap as they find out the letter of the day - P.
 	Film 	P Is for Playground -- A kid teaches about playgrounds over footage of children playing at one.
 	SCENE 2 	Slimey goes down the slide in the little playground Elmo and Abby built for him.
 	Muppets 	Cookie Monster's Foodie TruckStella and her nonna just got back from the playground and request one of their favorite snacks, figs in a blanket, as there are no more figs on their fig tree. Cookie Monster presents stuffed pigs wrapped in blankets and declares mission accomplished before learning that they asked for figs in a blanket, not pigs. Cookie gets the ingredients for the actual dish but once again brings pigs instead of figs, as he ate the figs. He and Gonger now need to head to the fig orchard...
 	Muppets 	Elmo and Abby pose as astronauts and sing about finding the number of the day by counting Martians. Today, there are 9.
 	Cartoon 	Sesame Street Nature ExplorersElmo, Tango, and Gabrielle find a sad Grover at the playground. He's sad because the playground is closed, but Gabrielle assures him that there's still plenty of fun to be had. Inspired by Tango running under a bush, the other three wonder how they can play in nature. Grover tries to play freeze tag with a shrub, but Elmo and Gabrielle tell a frozen Grover that's not what they meant. The two and Tango discover they can play in a "maze" created by trees, do rock parkour, and try to balance on a log. They show Grover (who's still frozen from his game) all the different ways of playing they discovered.
 	SCENE 3 	Elmo, Abby, Rudy, and the penguin sign off as Elmo slides down the big slide all by himself.
==Gallery==
S54-Slide1.jpg
S54-Slide2.jpg
S54-Slide3.jpg
S54-Slide4.jpg
Elmo-GreenSlide.jpg
Elmo-GreenSlide2.jpg
Abby-GreenSlide.jpg
ElmoTwitterSlide.jpeg
5431-SlimeyPlaygroundSet.jpg|playground set prop for Slimey
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 5431
 5431
Category:Sesame Street Episode Season 54