Happy Birthday, Elmo! And a Review of the Monster Maker

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but today is America’s favorite fuzzy red monster’s birthday.

Yup, Elmo turns 3 today (again, I know!) Happy Birthday, big guy!

In honor of Elmo’s birthday, I thought I’d mention this new app released by Sesame Workshop, which just so happens to feature the birthday boy himself.

Elmo’s Monster Maker App, which is now available on iTunes, is an app where kids of all ages can create their own monster. With all the different body parts, the choices are limitless as to how many unique monsters can be created. With this app, kids become more aware of several different body parts, with a little Sesame Street-style creativity.

On the heels of the positive response to Grover’s Number Special on iTunes, this is Sesame Workshop’s second app, and the first featuring Elmo.

What I enjoy about this app is Elmo’s interactivity throughout the process. He greets you at the beginning, directs you through the monster-making and then has some disco fun at the end too.  I love this app’s vibrant graphics which incorporates original Sesame Street video; although, the kid was a bit confused and didn’t “get” that this was an app, and not a video, until I explained it to him a few times. The camera option and being able show off each newly created muppet are definitely the kid’s favorite aspects.

I just saw this idea on the reviews on iTunes, but I’m totally assigning some monsters to my friends in my contacts list.  I can’t wait to see a funny monster when my mom calls.

I love cool apps as much as the next person, and as fun as Elmo’s Monster Maker is, $3.99 was on the steeper end for me. I usually only download free apps, but if I had the chance to try out this app before purchasing, I’m sure I’d gladly pay the price. But of course SS thinks of everything: they created a YouTube tutorial and teaser for just that purpose. Smart, eh?

Elmo’s Monster Maker is a fun app that inspires creativity while incorporating some really great original Sesame Street video. Despite the pricetag, I’d recommend this one to moms and dads to preschoolers and Elmo lovers alike.

Full disclosure: Sesame Street provided me a free code for the purpose of reviewing this app.