The puppeteer Kevin Clash is one of the most creative people I have ever met. He was a keynote at the Teach, Think, Play 2009 conference we hosted at Columbia and his ad lib had the entire audience in tears laughing.
This first clip would be a great way to talk with older elementary kids about creating character. How do they make sure Elmo always sounds like a 3-and-a-half-year-old?
If you're just watching for fun - you might start the clip around 4:45 where Elmo talks about the housing crisis.
Also, if you've never seen these two - check out Elmo with Ricky Gervais (from the British Office)...