I was born in 1984, and by that time Sesame Street was a household name, with names like Big Bird, Elmo, Bert and Ernie cherished by young minds across the country. When reading about the show currently, I was surprised and intrigued to read that Sesame Street in Africa is introducing an HIV-muppet by the name of Kami. Sesame Street always pushed the boundaries of education, but this is a whole new level of progressive education, and one that should be aired on American television.

Cookie Monster was always my younger brother’s favorite, his spastic and mischievous nature a direct reflection of Cookie Monster’s own second long attention span and wildly gesticulating limbs. My younger brother was a living cookie monster, in a way. I was more of a Big Bird fan – larger than life, quiet, contemplative, the mediator of the bunch. The furrowed, thick brows and pessimistic countenance of Bert always appealed to my older brother, his serious face belying a more tenderhearted soul. Of course, the three of us watched plenty of Looney Tunes, Transformers, He-Man, and other cartoons of the time, but Sesame Street was a favorite standby, and definitely the one with most parental approval. I can’t remember how many times my parents would shake their heads over the racism in Looney Tunes, and the sheer idiocy of He-Man and his arch-nemesis Skeletor.

IDEO Toy Labs brings Sesame Street to the iPhone with Grover’s Number Special, a cute, interactive mini-story involving Grover as a waiter, and you as his assistant. Sesame Street always prided itself on interactivity, setting the model in a way for children to point and shout words and numbers at the television screen, unknowingly enhancing their numeric skills, language and word recognition. With a near indispensable tool like the iPhone, I suppose it was only natural that Sesame Street would form a partnership with a promising developer, to bring the educational value of their show to a whole new audience.

Beautifully rendered, Grover’s Number Special is like watching an episode of Sesame Street. You watch intently as Grover talks with his rumbling, scratchy voice, those familar, lanky blue limbs swaying beneath his waiter uniform, and laugh as he consistently trips or otherwise wastes perfectly good dishes of food, all to his customer’s chagrin. The special of the day is ever-changing, and each time, you must help Grover pick out the right ingredients in the right amount to put together the meal. For the pizza, a rain of cheese wedges, tomatoes and mushrooms twirl and tumble down onscreen, and it is up to you to tilt the screen back and forth to catch certain ingredients on Grover’s plate. Wrong ingredients bounce off with no consequence, and correct ingredients will register in the tally counter in the upper right, with Grover’s voice singing out “2!” or whichever number of bell peppers you currently have. Afterward, Grover calls out to the chef, Charlie, who is forever mysteriously absent, then makes a sound like the linguistic equivalent of shrugging his shoulders, covers the pan, and reveals two seconds later a magically formed meal. Ta-da! My, that sandwich looks delicious. Throughout the entire process, Grover clearly enunciates words (“baloney!”) and numbers (“4 bell peppers!”), and once the food is collected, he summarizes the information, (“9 ingredients!”). It’s all quite cute and quite clever, and it makes it all worthwhile in the end to have the lighthearted touch of Grover’s continual screw-up, tripping on nothing and sending the steaming soup you worked hard on flying to the ground. You start sympathizing for the balding, green muppet after awhile. If I would change anything, though, I would add a bit more to the cooking process, maybe dragging a few ingredients to the pot to aid in visual and word recognition. However, this may add a level of frustration to the game for younger kids that is avoided with the app’s current watch-and-learn premise. After all, it’s a Sesame Street formula that has stood the test of time.

Currently, IDEO Toy Labs is in the midst of releasing another Sesame Street collaboration, this one focusing on Elmo. It’s sure to be as cute and educational as Grover’s Number Special, and both are valuable kids app to have in your ever-growing iPhone repertoire.