Yoto, MP3 player or something else?

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Wonder what others would recommend for 4 and 7 year olds? Ideally I’d like them to be able to listen to music, audio books (we have BorrowBox form library) and maybe podcasts (haven’t looked into this). I don’t really want Alexa dot (we have one in the house already) as I don’t want them going into just anything. I have an old iPhone but again don’t really want them having online access. I’ve heard yoto is better for that age than tonnie but both seem quiet expensive so wondered if any kid friendly MP3 players out there without internet that would work? Also any kid safe headphones that you’d recommend. TIA

We have a Yoto (children are 9, 7 and 4) and I was hesitant at first due to the cost, however they love it! It's used most days and taken in the car/on holiday. You can buy blank cards to record your own stories on aswell.

Oh thank you. Is it good for older children too (se Euler eldest is 9 so assuming so!) Are the stories very expensive? That’s my worry - I use the feee borrow box right now so don’t want to end up spending a fortune on stories. Thanks

My son has an echo dot because he has a speech disorder and Alexa can't understand what he says so it only works for me...I shouldn't laugh but it helps.

Before that though I just got him a Bluetooth speaker and controlled it through my phone :)

I'm really curious about this too. I've heard great things about the yoto player and I love the concept, but I'm really put off by the cost. Not really of the player but of the cost of the cards....

I really want to know the answer to this! I’ve spent a lot of time looking , and I’m not sure the yoto is for us. Really I want my eldest ds to be able to use Spotify on a music device that doesn’t have games and other stuff on it.

Yoto is fantastic.
It is also a Bluetooth speaker so you could still get stories from borrowbox and play them from your phone onto it like a speaker.
They also do make your own cards, so you could borrow audio book CDs from the library and put them on those.
My 4 year old has a yoto player and its a massive hit

@HungryHippo11 so would you say the advantage of yoto vs just playing BorrowBox books over another Bluetooth speaker is that the child has control?

[quote gigi556]@HungryHippo11 so would you say the advantage of yoto vs just playing BorrowBox books over another Bluetooth speaker is that the child has control?[/quote]
They wouldn't have control of it as a Bluetooth speaker, it would just play through your phone as usual.

We don't use it as a Bluetooth speaker that often, generally we use the cards which are between £5 and £8 each. My daughter likes to choose which one and listen to the same one over and over. If your children are likely to only listen to it once then probably just an MP3 player is better.