Yoto/Tonie

[Cuwins]

I am considering one of these for DD 2nd birthday.
Not sure which yet- Tonie it seems like she would be able to use independently sooner but Yoto seems like it might have longer use.
Couple of questions:

• How sturdy are they? She does still throw stuff occasionally or is just heavy handed.
• Yoto: how sturdy are the cards, worried she will rip/bend them
• What age could your child use them independently?

My big concern is that she absolutely loves books currently and we are a big book family, I'm worried if we get this she will stop being so interested in her physical books. Does anyone have any experience of that situation?

Yoto mini is great, very portable and seems sturdy so far though would recommend the protective case for them. the cards are similar in look and feel to a bank card. Yoto does a lot more than tonie eg radio, podcasts, clock, Bluetooth speaker, etc. but the tonie figurines are very sweet and makes it easier for non-readers to pick their stories. can’t comment on the full size yoto as I’ve never seen one in person.

I went for yoto for the longevity you mention. Cards are too sturdy to be bent by little hands, plus once you buy them you can play them using the app if one gets lost.
Hasn't had any impact on reading for us. She still prefers being read to by a human :)

Some people like to buy cards that match books so kids can read along as they get older, or look at pictures as the story is read to them. Also cards take up a lot less space than the figurines and can be stored in a folder.

DS got a yoto at 2 we have the original with a protective case and it's been used daily for almost 2 years now without incident and the cards as sturdy enough to stand up to small hands. He's also still a major bookworm so no need to worry on that front.

He could use it basically since he got it and now he's getting older he is able to change the tracks, put the radio on and find podcasts etc independently.

It's also lovely to see him use it in his play and I honestly cannot recommend it enough.

My eldest got a tonie box at 3yo, as the figurines seemed sturdier. It's survived all the rough handling and is still going strong 3 years later. It is good.

However, I got my younger child a yoto mini and love how portable it is. Easy to take on holiday or in the car. I think my eldest might have bent the cards at a young age, but my youngest is more careful. I think yoto do a wider range of stories and will last for a longer age range. I'd choose yoto every time now.

Yoto mini all the way!

Thank you everyone for your input

We have a Yoto for DD. It was her Santa present last year when she was 3y 3mos. She’s not as obsessed with it as some kids are, but she falls asleep listening to a story every night. I will be buying 4mos old DS one when he goes into his own room, as we can use it as a white noise machine initially before he takes an interest in the cards.

I was debating between the Yoto and Tonie too, but what swung it for me was the cards vs the Tonie figurines. Someone mentioned on a similar thread that the figurines can be tempting for kids to use as toys which means they’re more easily lost or tidied away with other toys, plus they’re more bulky to store or take along with you if you’re travelling. We bring DD’s Yoto on holiday with us and the cards go in a £2 card wallet I got off Amazon.

I’m also glad I went with the standard Yoto as opposed to the mini. The sound is better, the screen is bigger and as it lives on her bedside table 99% of the time the portability of the Mini would be wasted on her. From my time on Yoto Facebook groups people do seem to have more technical issues or faults with the Mini (purely anecdotal!) so I would maybe wait for a Gen 2 of that anyway. They do however also rave about Yoto’s customer service if there is an issue.

I have a Toniebox for DC3- he got it for his 3rd birthday and he loves it, as do his older sisters. He can operate it on his own and it's big and study enough to withstand plenty of rough handling and not get lost. He is very heavy handed. It gets used daily and we took it on holiday as well. The selection of tonies seems good and we have a range to suit different age and interests. The tonies characters aren't cheap but ok for a Xmas and birthday gift from family and often on 4for3. I still read a real story every night and my older kids read every night too, so it doesn't replace that. However my 8 year old finds reading very hard - so she really enjoys independently listening to stories she would struggle to read, like Matilda. My 3 year old would not choose to read a book- he's too busy charging around! My 10 year old is a bookworm but still enjoys listening to a story with the lights out as she dozes off. Not a consideration for my youngest, but my oldest two have tablets and it's stopped them asking to have tablets upstairs to listen to something before bed which I much prefer. I think those points apply equally to tonie and yoto player.

Can I recommend a Lunni. You just download the stories to that, it's interactive as well as there is a choose your own adventure element when selecting the stories. Works out cheaper than the other two as well.

I'm not sure if you've heard of them by my 6 year old loves her Voxblock. They are also an audio player, a more neutral design than Tonies (so suitable for kids a bit longer) and have more tangible blocks for books than Yoto. Also, you don't need any wifi so no issues with set up (we had Yoto first and switched). Here's the website: https://voxblock.co.uk/

In terms of not reading we've not found that, we still read with her and she reads sometimes (although learning). She tends to listen while playing or doing something.

I found this and thought it was quite helpful (I went for the Yoto in the end)

We got the yoto mini for our DD last year, she’d have been 21 months and has been able to use it herself from the beginning. We went for the yoto because I liked the idea of the portability and the cards being much easier to store/move than the figures.

The cards are almost like credit cards so plenty sturdy, and it’s been dropped without issue - we have got the adventure jacket thing on it. She did eventually kill it by pouring a glass of water on it, but it gets so much use we replaced it.

She’s a real book lover and still is, she prefers the music at the minute rather than the stories, and it’s great for travelling etc.