Tonies Box for 2 year old

[Turtletortle]

My DS turns 2 in November and I was wondering if a Tonies/Yoto box would be suitable for him for Christmas or if I should leave it another year or two? I’ve seen a few people getting them for their DC this year & I like the look of them but unsure on what age they’re best for.

Also as a side note - are they worth the money? Or would I be better off not getting one at all and sticking with books? Like I say I like the look of them but I’ve not seen one in action!

My 5 year old is now suddenly enjoying his Yoto, having had it kicking around doing nothing for years. We just bought one for our 2 year old's birthday, thinking he'd use it one day in the future, and he's using it very sensibly already. Different characters. They both still like books.

Oh gosh yes, DS2 got his for Xmas just after he turned 2 (November baby). He’s almost 5 now and we use it nightly - DS2 falls asleep to it in minutes and then DS1 takes it up to his bed 😄 it’s a bit annoying how expensive the tonie characters are but you can do a swap with friends/Facebook marketplace them etc.

Also we have blank tonies which grandparents have recorded onto which is nice!

Thank you so much for your replies, think that’s me sold with it now!

I do love that they can use them for years as well so they’re worth the money in the long run if I think about it like that.

Also LOVE that you can record your own! I didn’t know that was a thing - I’ll have to keep me eyes open for any deals coming up before Christmas now 😀

We love Yoto here. I think Yoto has much more longevity than Tonies, and the cards are cheaper than the Tonies figures. You can also record onto blank Yoto cards, or even make Yoto cards from CDs you own by ripping them to MP3 files on a computer (or MP3 files in general).

Definitely prefer Yoto to Tonie, as I love how we can play the cards using our phones plus the Yoto app, and also on Apple play on our car, and can also turn the Yoto on from our bed if our five year old wakes up early.

She loves the daily podcast and thinks she is super grown up like DP listening to a podcast. 😂

It seems like an needlessly expensive setup to me.
My kids listen to music and stories on their music bunny, a pretty much unbreakable mp3-player/music box for kids that gets charged through USB and that's also how you put files on it. Any kind of mp3 file, self-recorded story, downloaded YouTube music file,...
It was 50 quid, and several years later my kids have chewed its ears, danced around the living room with the bunny in their arms for hours, taking him on long car journeys,... and he works just fine still.

Alilo Honey Bunny it seems to be called and the price is now more like 60 (I bought mine years ago, the very basic model, no screen display or whatever - I liked not having a screen)

We have a Yoto and it has been used every day since it was bought in April 2021. The cards hold their value so we have started to sell them in the Yoto FB group and then use the money to buy different ones. I have a referral link here for 10% off if you are interested

prz.io/VZ6vl9KSV

@Zezet needlessly expensive? You're recommending a £60 MP3 bunny when Yoto mini is also £60 and can also do self recorded stories, MP3 files and YouTube to MP3 recordings? Premade cards can be bought for as little as £5 using deals, discount codes, club membership etc which is good value compared to other ways of buying audio content like CDs or Audible credits. You can also get content from libraries using Borrowbox. The screen shows a basic icon so kids can tell which track is playing, eg out of multiple short stories which is really very handy. And I don't think my 8 year old DS would be too keen on carrying a bunny around with him. We previously tried a SanDisk MP3 player which was really not user friendly at all and ended up never being used.

We have a yoto and it’s brilliant, has been used every day since it arrived at Xmas

Yoto mini would be my vote but probably more suitable from about 2.5/3 depending how capable your child is. It will then last until they're like 10 If you get a Toniebox it's going to be redundant much sooner.

I would have preferred a Yoto but my 2 YO got a Tonie for her birthday and she absolutely loves it. But she particularly likes singing and dancing so it's ideal for her. She can use it on her own no problems. I figure it won't last her as long but on its current 3-4 hour/day usage, that'll still be ok.

Going against the grain here but I was in exact same position as you last year with a recently turned 2yo, he honestly hasn’t got the best use out of it and barely looks at it and is book mad. Maybe in the next year or two they might take more notice

I’ll look at the other recommendations as well and thank you for the referral link with the discount!

I suppose it’s different for each child, thanks for all the replies, DS also loves a good dance so it would be good for the music side too. I suppose I’ll give it a couple months & see if I think he’d use it. I’m trying to think of things that will hold his interest through the year that he’ll go back to, joys of having Christmas and birthday so close together!

I have an 8 year old with a Yoto and a nearly 6 year old with a Tonie. Also a just 3 year old who I think is still perhaps a little young, I might wait till his birthday next year. Both the 8 and 5 year old love their boxes and both are totally appropriate for their age.

Having had both of these I'd say maybe wait till next Christmas for the Tonie box. The Yoto is something they'll appreciate when older (and gives you something to fill another Christmas or birthday). I find sometimes when they get something too early for their development they just get used to seeing it and then never bother with it.

My 3-year-old got a Tonie box for his 3rd birthday and listens to it every night before he falls asleep! He goes through phases of which one he likes- Thomas, Spot and Peppa are all firm favourites. He has headphones for it which he likes to use in the car. It came with a recordable one and you can also download songs and stories onto it. DS has a days of the week/ months of the year song he enjoys and I'm planning on putting some other music on there. Definitely worth it.

I like the idea of a mini yoto for my 8 year old, for when we travel, but have been put off by the cost. Am I missing something? A selection of audio books costs anywhere from £10-30 for a few books. This is so expensive - is there a cheaper way of accessing audio books for the yoto/Tomie?

When my daughter was 5, I found her a small boombox in a charity shop for £5 and and selection of audio and music CDs. We sometimes borrow audio CDs from the library too. She was able to operate the boom box by herself from age 5 and has been listening to music and stories for the past 3 years with no adult input to download another app or charge with a usb cable. Total cost - about £15 plus electricity.

@Moonlaserbearwolf it sounds like you have a set-up that works great for your daughter so it sounds like Yoto wouldn't be worth it for you. My children tended to scratch CDs and break the cases so Yoto is more hard wearing for us. This is how we keep costs down:

1. Borrowing e-audiobooks from the library. You get the file in MP3 format and put it on a blank Yoto card (which can be bought in a multipack for around £2 each, then written over as many times as you like). You are supposed to delete the file when the loan period is up. So essentially free apart from the Yoto card.
2. We have made Yoto cards out of CDs we already owned using blank Yoto cards as above. I got the full set of Roald Dahl stories for £15. Any bargainous CDs in charity shops can be made into Yoto cards as long as you have a laptop with CD drive.
3. Some audiobook content is either very expensive on CD, uses tons of CDs for one book (Harry Potter!) or not made in physical format, only on Audible etc. You can use a converter to get Audible stories in MP3 format then put on a Yoto card.
4. There is a Yoto club where for £10 a month or less if you pay upfront for a year you can choose two cards per month from a selection, so equivalent of £5 each. This also gives you 10% off and free shipping, which also works with the weekly deals on cards. So I've had some bargains on premade cards that way.

I'm not trying to sell Yoto or anything - I have no connection with them! I just really like it and think it's a very well thought out system.

Thanks @Fabuleuse that's so helpful.

So the Yoto definitely sounds like it would be more hassle for me than our boombox setup, but has the benefit of being more robust. I guess we're lucky we have loads of old audio CDs so it seems silly to change to a Yoto at this point.