Common Sense Media Review
By Christy Matte
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Making music with Elmo and Abby is educational and fun.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Sesame Street: Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece
What's It About?
In ELMO'S MUSICAL MONSTERPIECE, Elmo and Abby Cadabby set out on a journey to learn more about musical instruments, rhythm, pitch, and tempo. Along the way, they'll play a variety of games on their own, with the Count, and with a group of Honkers. One of the games is \"Grab That Instrument\" where Abby asks the player to help her collect a specific type of instrument as they fly by. Another, \"Ring Ring Quack\" has kids creating patterns of sounds by collecting certain items in a pre-determined order. In \"Shake Your Maracas,\" kids help Elmo make music by shaking the Wii remote. When the music stops, the kids have to stop shaking. Kids can play through the entire story line of Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece, choose the game they want to play, or use a custom playlist of games that their parents have created.
Is It Any Good?
Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece does a good job of presenting directions, and the games seem to flow together. When kids make a mistake (or the controls don't register properly), the prompting is subtle, but effective. The characters gently remind kids of the objective. The games are cute and have a certain repetition that allows kids to progress in skill without feeling like they're playing the same game over and over.
Perhaps the only thing lacking in the gameplay is some freeplay activity without a specific outcome attached. Some of the games would lend themselves to open exploration and many kids will crave some of that time for experimentation. The parental area is fine, and it's nice to have the curriculum goals for each area, but the statistics don't have a lot of substance. Despite these minor shortcomings, Sesame Street: Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece is a wonderful educational title for introducing kids to music, and a fun game in entertainment value alone.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about rhythm. What exactly is a rhythm? Do you like playing rhythm games?
Families can also talk about musical notes. If you have an instrument at home, show how songs are made up of musical notes and how the same notes can make a completely different song.
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo 3DS , Nintendo DS , Nintendo Wii
- Subjects : Math : counting , shapes , Arts : music , rhythm
- Skills : Collaboration : cooperation , Communication : listening , Creativity : making new creations , Thinking & Reasoning : problem solving , solving puzzles , thinking critically
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Warner Bros. Games
- Release date : June 15, 2012
- Genre : Preschool
- Topics : Arts ( Music and Sing-Along ) , Numbers and Letters
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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