Bottom line: Highlights Monster Day is a delightful little free play app that lets your preschooler spend a day with an adorable monster. What does a monster child do all day? Let’s find out.
Highlights Monster Day will be reduced from $2.99 to $1.99 for 3 days
If you’d like to purchase Highlights Monster Day ($2.99, iPad/iPhone), please use the handy link below so they’ll know how you found them.
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No ads, no in-app purchases, external links in parent protected area
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As our app opens, it’s time to wake up and start the day. How do you wake up a monster? Throw open the drapes and hit the alarm clock, that’s how. Then head to the kitchen for breakfast where you can toast a lovely bagel for your monster friend to eat or feed him the fruit that appears to be dropping from the sky. Once your monster has eaten, it’s time to brush his teeth. And it’s a good thing, because his are looking pretty grubby. Brush, brush, brush until his teeth sparkle and then it’s time to get dressed.
What does a monster wear? Well these monsters appear to wear scarves and hats, plus glasses if you choose. You can scroll through for several different options of each to make sure your little monster is dapper for the day. Where next? Well, to school, of course. A quick bus ride gets us to school for the day’s activities.
First it’s geology where we hammer rocks to discover gems. Collect all of the ones on the board to complete your assignment. Then we head to our gardening class where we can grow a plant from a seed. And guess what? These plants produce fruit that is perfect for a little snack.
Our next class has us blowing up a small hot air balloon that then floats away before we head to the science lab for our volcano experiment. After we make the volcano erupt, we can head to lunch and feed our little monster friend from a conveyor belt of goodies. Then it’s off to recess.
What do monster kids do at recess? Pillow fight, of course. Toss feather pillows at your monster for loads of fun, but don’t hit him with the piano because that would hurt. Next you can play a quick game of basketball (I wonder if monsters play H.O.R.S.E.) before playing a fast-paced whack-a-monster game. Monster recess sure is fun!
The bus takes our monster friend back home just in time for dinner. Feed the little monster a healthy dinner as the sun is going on. Then it’s time to take a bath and brush those monster teeth again before heading to bed. But how do you put a monster to sleep? You can draw the drapes and tuck him in and then tap the magic night light to send him off to dream world.
You can do it all again with a different monster when the sun comes back up.
Watch Ellie bring this app to life here:
Overall, I found this to be a charming app for the preschool set with engaging characters and fun activities. I would like to see the addition of some different activities in future updates, because I do feel that the dozen or so that are available might become repetitive for a child that plays this app multiple times. But the addition of other classrooms (art class, chemistry lab, math class, etc.) and making them randomized in each playing could keep the app feeling fresh. This was my first experience with an app from Highlights (though my kids have enjoyed the magazines for years), and I look forward to more in the future. 4.5 stars.
Highlights Monster Day - Official Gameplay Trailer
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Kelli's kids are wrapping up their school year this week. Fun for them...crazy for all the grown ups. Smart Apps for Kids was paid a fee to review this app in a priority manner.
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