Comparison

Monkey Preschool Learning vs Design Squad Maker

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Monkey Preschool Learning

Engaging educational games designed for children aged 2-6. It offers a variety of learning activities covering letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, with adaptive challenges to suit each child's progress. Parents can track their child's learning journey through a dedicated section.

Highlights
  • Unlimited learning games
  • ABCs, numbers, shapes, colors
  • Adaptive challenge system
  • Progress tracking for parents
  • Free 7-day trial
  • Offline play after subscription
Features
Read full description

Hours of educational games and positive interactive screen-time for your child that will inspire a lifetime of learning. Monkey Preschool Learning serves up smart fun that helps kids aged 2 to 6 develop the skills they need to prepare for school and beyond. Hosted by the lovable monkey preschool crew, ready to guide kids through all the exciting ways to learn! Meet the monkeys: MILO Milo loves letters and his games will help lead the way to a lifelong love of reading. Beginning with a solid foundation including letter recognition & formation and leading all the way up to spelling & vocabulary building. ZUZU Zuzu’s workbook explores the wonder of numbers and math. Kids will build their STEM fundamentals with number sense, counting, sequences, arithmetic and so much more! JASPER Jasper is an artist and creative thinker. He will inspire curiosity with games about colors, shapes, memory, and associations that build essential skills and executive functioning. Designed by Thup Games, the creators of the award winning Monkey Preschool series, which has set the gold standard for early learning apps since 2009. Monkey Preschool Learning is our biggest yet, offering updated and expanded versions of all the proven educational games from our other apps plus so much more! FEATURES: • Unlimited access to tons of learning games, all in one place! • Expansive preschool learning including ABCs, numbers, shapes, colors, patterns, and more! • Knack system automatically adjusts challenges as kids learn • Experience the entire game with a free 7 day trial. • After subscribing, play anywhere without WiFi or internet • Regular updates with new games & experiences. • Use one subscription across multiple devices • Perfect for kids aged 2 to 6, preschool, kindergarten, and on! • Dedicated “grown ups” section lets you see how and what your kids are learning. • Safe! No advertising, in-app purchases, or data collection. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION New subscribers in both monthly and annual plans will have access to a free 7 day trial at the time of sign-up! If you change your mind, you can cancel at any time through your App Store account settings. • Once confirmed, payment will be charged through your iTunes account. • Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • You can cancel or turn off autorenew at any time in your user Account Settings. • You can use your subscription on any device registered with your Apple ID. Like all Apple subscriptions, family sharing can not be used to share subscriptions across different Apple IDs. • If you need help, or have any issues, you can contact us at anytime at support@thup.com PRIVACY: Thup Games is committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of your children. We adhere to the guidelines set forth by COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), which ensure the protection of your child’s information online. We do not track, store, or share with any third parties any data or personally identifiable information. For a more detailed privacy policy please visit https://monkeypreschool.com/privacy-policy/ TERMS OF SERVICEThis app uses the standard Apple Licensing EULA found here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ ABOUT THUP GAMES: Thup Games has been creating award-winning educational and entertaining games for kids over 20 years. Our Monkey Preschool games set the standard for early learning games on mobile starting in 2009, and we remain committed to making the best products for you and your kids.

About

Design Squad Maker

This app guides children through the engineering design process with interactive activities and explanations. It encourages problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity through hands-on projects and family collaboration. Aligned with STEM curriculum, it offers a safe and engaging learning experience.

Highlights
  • Unlimited design projects
  • Add sketches, photos, and notes
  • Editable portfolio
  • Animated engineering videos
  • Step-by-step guidance
  • STEM curriculum alignment
Read full description

DESIGN SQUAD MAKER APP FEATURES - Create unlimited design projects - Add sketches, photos, and notes - Save progress in an editable portfolio - Watch animated videos explaining the engineering design process - Walk through each step of the design process with a friendly host - Use tips and reflection questions throughout to support children's learning - Check out example project ideas - Find ideas for families to work together - Try quick activities to supplement design projects at home - Use at home and as part of Design Squad Maker workshops around the country - Aligned with STEM curriculum concepts - Co-developed with researchers and families - No in-app purchases - No advertising The Design Squad Maker app was rigorously researched and developed for use at home and in maker space settings. Its open-ended, hands-on approach gives kids control over their own learning, encouraging them to identify problems that matter to them and develop solutions. In addition, when kids solve problems, they learn STEM concepts, practice thinking critically and creatively, gain experience using tools and materials, and learn perseverance when things don’t go as planned. ABOUT DESIGN SQUAD MAKER This app was created as part of Design Squad Maker, a program that engages children and their caregivers in the engineering design process in museums, community maker spaces, and at home. Together, kids ages 8–11 and their caregivers come up with problems that they want to solve, brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, and test them to see how they work. They experience the same steps that engineers use to solve real-world problems. PRIVACY GBH Kids and Design Squad Maker are committed to creating a safe and secure environment for children and families and to being transparent about what information is collected from users. The Design Squad Maker app collects anonymous, aggregated analytics data for the purpose of improving the app experience—for example, determining which features are more popular in general. No personally identifiable data is collected. Photos taken during the use of this app are stored locally on your device as part of the explicit functionality of the app. The app does not send or share these photos anywhere. GBH KIDS does not see any photos taken by this app. To learn more about Design Squad Maker's privacy policy, visit https://pbskids.org/designsquad/blog/design-squad-maker/ FUNDERS AND CREDITS © 2022 WGBH Educational Foundation. Design Squad Maker is produced by GBH Boston and the New York Hall of Science. Design Squad Maker and its logo are copyrights of WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1811457. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Screenshots

Monkey Preschool Learning4 screens
Design Squad Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Design Squad Maker at 100% against Monkey Preschool Learning's 20%. Design Squad Maker also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.1) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Monkey Preschool Learning's advantage is ratings volume (13 vs 2). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Monkey Preschool Learning sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Design Squad Maker asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Design Squad Maker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Monkey Preschool Learning has 13 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Monkey Preschool Learning's written reviews are positive against 100% of Design Squad Maker's.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Monkey Preschool Learning versus Design Squad Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonkey Preschool LearningDesign Squad Maker
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (13 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size171 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTHUP GamesWGBH

Customer experience

Monkey Preschool Learning

All ratings13 ratings
Positive46.2%
Neutral15.4%
Negative38.5%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%

Design Squad Maker

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Monkey Preschool Learning

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$42.991 Year
None

Design Squad Maker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Monkey Preschool Learning free?
Monkey Preschool Learning is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Design Squad Maker free?
Design Squad Maker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Monkey Preschool Learning or Design Squad Maker?
Design Squad Maker is rated higher. Monkey Preschool Learning averages 3.1 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while Design Squad Maker averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Monkey Preschool Learning or Design Squad Maker have ads?
Neither Monkey Preschool Learning nor Design Squad Maker shows ads.

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