Comparison

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox vs Elmo Calls

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

Head to head
About

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

This app offers seven engaging educational games for preschoolers aged 2-5. Children help a friendly monkey pack a lunchbox by learning about colors, letters, counting, shapes, matching, and identifying differences. It provides unlimited play with positive reinforcement through animated stickers and voice recordings.

Highlights
  • 7 educational games
  • Teaches colors, letters, counting, shapes
  • Matching and difference identification
  • Lovable animated monkey guide
  • Animated sticker rewards
  • Unlimited play
Features
Currently charting
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The #1 preschool game in the app store. Learn and have fun by helping monkey pack lunch! Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a collection of seven exciting educational games for your preschooler (ages 2 to 5). *** FEATURES *** -7 different games that teach kids about colors, letters, counting, shapes, sizes, matching, and differences. -Lovable animated monkey helps kids along as they play the games. -Dozens of sounds and voice recordings of colors, letters, fruit names, and more. -Animated Stickers! Kids get sticker rewards to encourage their progress. -Designed for preschoolers -- no confusing menus or navigation. -Unlimited play! Each game flows right into the next. *** INCLUDED GAMES *** 1. COLORS. This picky monkey only likes fruit of a certain color, touch only the color they like to pack the lunchbox. Teaches colors, color names, and grouping. 2. MATCHING. Match pairs of fruit hidden behind the cards to pack lunch for this monkey. 3. COUNTING. Count off the fruit the monkey is looking for to fill up the lunchbox. Teaches numbers and counting. 4. LETTERS. This monkey only wants fruit that starts with a certain letter, pick the fruit that starts with that letter. Teaches letters and letter sounds. 5. PUZZLE. This monkey's fruit broke into pieces! How odd! Put it back together for them. Teaches shapes and pattern recognition. 6. SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. Help the monkey spot the fruit that looks different, or is a different size. Teaches patterns, bigger, and smaller. 7. SHAPES. Help the monkey find the fruit in the shapes. 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

About

Elmo Calls

Engage in interactive video and audio calls with a beloved Sesame Street character. This app encourages imaginative play, teaches healthy habits, and fosters self-confidence through fun conversations and scheduled calls.

Highlights
  • Receive audio and video calls from Elmo
  • Send and receive voicemails from Elmo
  • Live video of user during calls
  • Schedule calls for various situations
  • Learn about healthy habits and letters
  • Engage in imaginative play with Elmo
Currently charting
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This is an app full of fun phone calls from Elmo, which will help teach your child about healthy habits, self-confidence, and letters. Pick up the phone, Elmo’s calling! Receive video calls, audio calls, and voice mail from Sesame Street’s own furry, red monster. Or, give him a call yourself! With Elmo Calls you can laugh, play, and sing with Elmo! FEATURES • Receive audio and video calls from Elmo, or dial Elmo yourself. • Receive voicemail from Elmo regularly and listen to the messages any time. • See live video of yourself in the corner of the screen while you’re chatting with Elmo. • Grown-ups can activate calls or schedule calls for a variety of situations, such as time to wake up! (more calls for going to the doctor, bath time and learning to potty available with additional call packs) LEARN ABOUT "Elmo Calls" encourages children to engage in imaginative play, practice listening skills and sing songs with Elmo! This app also fosters self-confidence by encouraging children to celebrate important life moments, such as visiting the doctor, going to the potty and learning the alphabet! CALL PACKS Elmo Calls comes with The Sunny Day Sampler Call Pack. This pack includes 13 fun-filled calls for you and your child to enjoy right away! For even more calls, get "Playdate with Elmo" which is ready to download, plus you can buy additional Call Packs easily right within the app: • Firsts and Celebrations: Special calls for special days. Elmo calls you during big events, such as your birthday! • Elmo is Proud of You: You're proud of your achievements and so is Elmo! • Feelings: Everybody has feelings and Elmo can call you to share and talk about those feelings. • ABCs: Saying your ABCs is fun! It’s even more fun with Elmo! • Special Visits: Elmo wants to talk about your special plans for today. • Holidays: Holidays are fun to celebrate and Elmo wants to celebrate with you! • You Can Do It!: No matter what you're learning, whether its your ABCs or using the potty, Elmo wants to cheer you on. • Sing with Elmo!: Elmo sings for you! You can sing along or just listen. • Happy Habits: Healthy habits are more fun when you do them with Elmo. • Laugh with Elmo: Elmo just wants to say hi! • Playdate with Elmo: Play and pretend with Elmo! Ready to download! TIPS • Please allow Notifications to receive scheduled calls from Elmo! ABOUT US Sesame Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Delivered through a variety of platforms, including television programs, digital experiences, books and community engagement, its research-based programs are tailored to the needs of the communities and countries they serve. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org. ABOUT IDEO IDEO is a human-centered design and innovation firm ranked independently among the ten most innovative companies in the world. Learn how our team of child-development experts, veteran toy designers and interaction designers approach the creation of award-winning kid apps at www.ideotoylab.com. PRIVACY POLICY The Privacy Policy can be found here: https://www.sesameworkshop.org/privacy-policy/ CONTACT US Your input is very important to us. If you have any questions, comments or need help, please contact us at: sesameworkshopapps@sesame.org.

Screenshots

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox4 screens
Elmo Calls4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Monkey Preschool Lunchbox at none against Elmo Calls's 11. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months) and review sentiment (86% vs 73%). Elmo Calls's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 4.1). On price, ratings volume, ads and chart position 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

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox costs $1.99 and Elmo Calls $1.99 up front. Elmo Calls sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Elmo Calls holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 325 and 956 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of Monkey Preschool Lunchbox's written reviews are positive against 73% of Elmo Calls's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ships an update every 3 months, Elmo Calls every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox versus Elmo Calls: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonkey Preschool LunchboxElmo Calls
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating4.1 (325 ratings)4.3 (956 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.6% of reviews — better73.5% of reviews
Number of ratings325956 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#25 — better#29
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size235 MB171 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTHUP GamesSesame Workshop (Apps)

Customer experience

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

All ratings324 ratings
Positive73.8%
Neutral7.4%
Negative18.8%
Written reviews299 reviews
Positive85.6%
Neutral4.0%
Negative10.4%

Elmo Calls

All ratings956 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.6%
Written reviews275 reviews
Positive73.5%
Neutral4.7%
Negative21.8%

User reviews

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

From 325 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging for kids
  • 🎓 Helps with learning colors, shapes, and numbers
  • 💰 Great value for the price
  • 🎉 Keeps kids entertained for long periods

Room to improve

  • 🔁 Repetitive gameplay
  • 🧠 Too easy for older kids
  • 🔇 Annoying monkey sounds
  • 💾 No ability to save progress

Elmo Calls

From 956 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💕 Fun and engaging
  • 👍 Great for kids
  • 🤩 Elmo calls are entertaining
  • 😊 Brings joy and laughter

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Weak parental controls
  • 📵 Scheduled calls don't work as expected

Bugs and requests

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Game freezes after extended playtime
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Difficulty levels to challenge older kids
  • More variety of mini-games
  • Option to turn off monkey sounds
  • Ability to save sticker collections

Elmo Calls

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Video calls don't work
  • Purchased content not restoring
  • Scheduled calls not triggering

Requested features

4 requests
  • More character call options (Big Bird, Cookie Monster, etc.)
  • Ability to record video calls
  • Improved UI for young users
  • Scheduled calls that actually ring the device

In-app purchases

None

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

No in-app purchases

11 purchases

Elmo Calls

One-time11
  • "Playdate With Elmo" PackFree
  • "Feelings" Pack$0.99
  • "ABCs" pack$0.99
Show 8 more
  • "Special Visits" Pack$0.99
  • "Firsts and Celebrations" Pack$0.99
  • "Elmo is Proud of You!" Pack$0.99
  • "Laugh With Elmo!" Pack$0.99
  • "Happy Habits" Pack$0.99
  • "You Can Do It!" Pack$0.99
  • "Sing With Elmo!" Pack$0.99
  • "All Calls" Pack$6.99

Questions

Is Monkey Preschool Lunchbox free?
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Elmo Calls free?
Elmo Calls costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Monkey Preschool Lunchbox or Elmo Calls?
Elmo Calls is rated higher. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox averages 4.1 out of 5 from 325 ratings, while Elmo Calls averages 4.3 from 956 ratings.
Do Monkey Preschool Lunchbox or Elmo Calls have ads?
Neither Monkey Preschool Lunchbox nor Elmo Calls shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Monkey Preschool Lunchbox or Elmo Calls?
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ships an update every 3 months, and Elmo Calls every 7 months. Most recently, Monkey Preschool Lunchbox was updated on October 31, 2026 and Elmo Calls on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Monkey Preschool Lunchbox or Elmo Calls?
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox currently peaks at #25 in the App Store charts, and Elmo Calls at #29. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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