Comparison

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles vs Monkey Math School Sunshine

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

Head to head
About

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

This app helps young children develop cognitive thinking and fine motor skills through interactive puzzles. It features easy-to-move shapes that snap into place, revealing images and professional voice recordings of words spoken by a speech therapist. The app offers a wide variety of puzzles, including animals, letters, numbers, and musical instruments, in a fun and engaging format.

Highlights
  • Interactive shape puzzles
  • Speech therapist voiceovers
  • Develops cognitive thinking
  • Enhances fine motor skills
  • Educational content (animals, letters, numbers)
  • Sound effects
Features
Read full description

From the creators of the hit, award winning, iPad app Drawing Pad! ShapeBuilder educates & entertains your little one with easy to move shapes that snap into place on top of silhouette puzzles. Each puzzle has 5 to 10 pieces & after positioning all of the pieces, the real image is revealed along with a professional voice recording of the word spoken by a licensed speech therapist that specializes in early child development. ShapeBuilder encourages cognitive thinking & fine motor skills plus exposes young minds to new music instruments, animals, produce, objects & the alphabet in a fun & engaging format with LOTS of sound effects! Designed for kids! No menu buttons on the puzzles to get in the way of game play! Highlights: Total of 173 puzzles! 30 Music instruments with sound effects 21 Fruits & Vegetables 45 Animals - awesome sound effects! 26 Letters - speech therapist sounds out each letter in a fun way 20 Numbers - one through twenty! 31 other fun items like Firetruck, Police Officer, Garbage Truck, and Volcano Random play resets after all puzzles are completed. Kids have so much fun trying to guess what the puzzle will be! By Darren Murtha & Chris Lott for kids and toddlers in preschool, kindergarden & firstgrade! App for kids 3 to 6 years old - MANY 2 year olds play this too but you may have to play together at first. (Perfect for toddlers / preschool / kindergarten / first grade / and babysitters) In 2009-2010 previously featured as an Apple Staff Favorite! (July) and iTunes App Store Essential for Toddlers (October) FEATURED IN: MACWORLD "App of the Day" tinyurl.com/app-of-day THE WASHINGTON TIMES tinyurl.com/sb-washingtontimes USATODAY.COM tinyurl.com/sb-usatoday SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE tinyurl.com/sb-sanfran O'REILLY's Book "Best iPhone Apps" http://tinyurl.com/sb-best-iphone-apps BEAT "Wheels on the Bus" on O'Reilly's APP SMACKDOWN tinyurl.com/app-smackdown "ShapeBuilder earns an edu.Mac.nation daddy score of "A" - Immediately my son was able to locate & move the pieces into position. The audio quality is fantastic, the application is stable, & the variety of puzzle types kept my son engaged & entertained. Together we worked on completing the puzzles & saying out loud what the images were." Michael (an elementary school teacher) from www.edumacnation.com "If you’ve got a preschooler then ShapeBuilder is a great app for your iPhone...This app is great on many levels & a terrific combination of learning & fun." The iPhone Mom (www.theiphonemom.com) "A great little jigsaw app for children aged 3 to 5 years." Daniel Donahoo, Geekdad at wired.com

About

Monkey Math School Sunshine

This app offers a playful beach-themed world for children aged 3-6 to build fundamental math skills through interactive games. It features 9 engaging activities that teach counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, and more, with adaptive difficulty and a rewarding aquarium collection system.

Highlights
  • 9 interactive math games
  • Teaches sequencing, patterning, counting, adding, subtracting
  • Adaptive difficulty levels
  • Uninterrupted and unlimited play
  • Interactive aquarium rewards
  • Number tracing and shape identification
Features
Read full description

From the creators of the top selling Preschool App “Monkey Preschool Lunchbox”! Join your child’s favorite monkey in math games and activities in a playfully designed beach-themed world. Monkey Math School Sunshine allows your child to build fundamental math skills while they are endlessly entertained. Your child will count, add and sort their way through engaging games with uninterrupted play. For ages 3 to 6. Praise for Monkey Preschool Games: "5/5 Stars" SmartAppsForKids.com "5/5 Stars" KidsEducationalApps.com “One of the first apps I’d get for a toddler.” BestKidsApps.com MONKEY MATH SCHOOL SUNSHINE FEATURES *9 interactive games that teach kids about sequencing, patterning, counting, adding and subtracting. *With very little interface, your child presses one button to immediately launch into uninterrupted play. *Uses Knack Technology to instinctively adjust the challenge levels to each individual player. *Irresistibly cute monkey guides the child through game play with animated celebrations for correct answers and gentle redirection for incorrect ones. *Kids collect prizes to fill their very own INTERACTIVE AQUARIUM. *Uninterrupted and unlimited play: game continues as long as the player desires. KIDS LEARN WHILE THEY PLAY: *ADD IT UP and TAKE IT AWAY Use your addition and subtraction skills to solve math problems. Trusty crab assistants supply multiple-choice options. *PATTERNS Monkey has a problem: Objects keep popping out of his bucket, creating a pattern - but one piece is missing! Help Monkey by completing the pattern with the choices provided. *SHAPES Is it an octagon? Or maybe a hexagon? Count each side of these shapes and help Monkey figure it out. *SEQUENCES Monkey has a group of numbers in the right order, but some are missing. Help him complete the sequence with the correct numbers. *LESS/MORE Monkey loves to blow bubbles, when he does, groups of shells, fish or turtles are inside each bubble! Use your expertise to figure out which bubble has either the most or least objects inside. *BIGGER/SMALLER Which bubble has the bigger number? Which bubble has the smaller one? Help Monkey figure it out by popping the correct bubble. *CONNECT THE DOTS Baby Turtle is stuck on the beach and she needs your help to get to the sea! Connect the dots to show her the way. *WRITE IT UP! Help Monkey learn his numbers by tracing them in the sand. *BUBBLE POP Monkey is running out of time! Pop all the bubbles that have either the right number or the right amount of objects inside before the time runs out! * Contact THUP! * Have some comments on our apps? We'd love to hear it! Want to find out what we're doing next? Come visit us: Email us: support@thup.com Like us: http://www.facebook.com/THUPgames Follow us: http://twitter.com/THUPGames

Screenshots

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles4 screens
Monkey Math School Sunshine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Monkey Math School Sunshine at 4.3 against ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's 4.1. Monkey Math School Sunshine also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 8 months) and price ($1.99 vs $2.99). ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles costs $2.99 and Monkey Math School Sunshine $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Monkey Math School Sunshine holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 86 and 57 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 90% of Monkey Math School Sunshine's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles ships an update every 8 months, Monkey Math School Sunshine every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 29, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles versus Monkey Math School Sunshine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShapeBuilder Preschool PuzzlesMonkey Math School Sunshine
Price$2.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.1 (86 ratings)4.3 (57 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews90.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings86 — better57
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB252 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMurtha Design LLCTHUP Games

Customer experience

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

All ratings86 ratings
Positive72.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral7.5%
Negative9.3%

Monkey Math School Sunshine

All ratings57 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral3.5%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews195 reviews
Positive90.3%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.6%

User reviews

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

From 86 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎓 Educational for young kids
  • ⭐ Engaging and entertaining
  • 🎨 Vibrant graphics and visuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and compatibility issues
  • 🔇 Missing sound or audio features
  • 🔁 Repetitive puzzles
  • 🕰️ Puzzles advance too quickly

Monkey Math School Sunshine

From 57 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and educational
  • 🚀 Keeps kids engaged
  • 💡 Customizable difficulty levels
  • 👍 Rewards system motivates learning
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound issues after updates
  • 🔋 Aquarium fills up too quickly
  • 🔍 Limited game modes and progression
  • 🔍 Repetitive gameplay

Bugs and requests

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • No sound or audio issues
  • Puzzles not displaying correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More variety and new puzzles
  • Ability to pause, replay, or navigate puzzles
  • Customization options (e.g. difficulty, categories)
  • Support for multiple languages

Monkey Math School Sunshine

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Voice directions cutting out
  • Number bubble counting issues
  • Inconsistent touch responsiveness

Requested features

4 requests
  • More advanced math concepts
  • Ability to disable certain game modes
  • Option to save progress across multiple users
  • Expanded aquarium or multiple aquariums

In-app purchases

None

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

No in-app purchases

None

Monkey Math School Sunshine

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles free?
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Monkey Math School Sunshine free?
Monkey Math School Sunshine costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or Monkey Math School Sunshine?
Monkey Math School Sunshine is rated higher. ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles averages 4.1 out of 5 from 86 ratings, while Monkey Math School Sunshine averages 4.3 from 57 ratings.
Do ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or Monkey Math School Sunshine have ads?
Neither ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles nor Monkey Math School Sunshine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or Monkey Math School Sunshine?
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles ships an update every 8 months, and Monkey Math School Sunshine every 4 months. Most recently, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles was updated on September 29, 2026 and Monkey Math School Sunshine on September 29, 2026.

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