Talk to me about yoto players!

[Yogurtraisins]

My son will be 5.5 this Christmas, really in to stories, theatre etc. Struggles to switch off at bedtime and has only just stopped needing us sat with him (for hours!) to get him to sleep.
Looking at the yoto players but overwhelmed with the choice!
Mini or full size?
It would probably be used mostly at bedtime but I do imagine he'd enjoy taking it out in the car/train etc too.
Any recommendations on stories too please?!
Or if a tonie box is better?! Help!

I've been watching a few on vinted but not sure what's a great price too if anyone has any advice in the second hand department

Mini 100%. Love ours. DS is 4.5

I have no advice but I’m in the same boat as my daughter has asked for a Tonie for Christmas, so I’m looking forward to the replies

If he's 5, yoto is probably better than tonie as it has older options of stories.

We have a mini, it does everything we need it to, bed time daily, travel and sometimes moved around the house.

The player is connected to the internet and the cards play when you insert them. When out and about, only cards you have inserted with an Internet connection work.

There's a daily podcast which my two boys love, called yoto daily. Lasts about 10 minutes and they listen before bed.

The cards are really easy to play, shove it in and it plays. You can skip between stories on the same card or chapters, using the dials at the front. There's an app I have on my phone which can remotely control it too, so I can turn if off once they're asleep.

Look out on Black Friday they often do a bundle deal.

Full size. Dd has had hers since she was 7 and she still uses it every night at 11. She loves the stories. Ive got another one for her younger sister

Mini. My oldest have the full size and youngest has the mini. Yoto is much better than tonie. Get him into listening to the yoto daily podcast.

We have minis too, they do tend to stay in their rooms at home but the mini is so much portable for taking in the car etc.

I’d recommend the Ladybird Audio Adventures cards, my dd is 6.5 and has the first 2 volumes which are fab.

My 8 year old has a Yoto and we are giving my 4.5 year old the mini one this year for Christmas.
My son uses his all the time, does little podcasts every morning and we bought the blank cards so you can download books and once they have finished you can wipe the card and add a new book you've downloaded.
Also means if other people are struggling for what to buy you can suggest they buy story cards etc
I think they are better than Tonies in the sense that as they get older you can download any books you like and are not limited to those character toys etc

Oh and he uses meditation cards for bedtime which really helped as he was struggling to get to sleep but that's not been a problem for ages now.

I prefer the large one. In the car I use the app to play the cards from my phone on the car stereo because they couldn’t hear well through the headphones.

We absolutely love the mini and got two on a bundle deal last year for about £80 each (including headphones and protective jacket/cover). That was from the Yoto store. They have had so much use and you can access loads of free podcasts from the app too. We would definitely recommend them to others.

There's no advantage to the big one apart from the night light and it being slightly easier for tiny hands, so if he's older I'd definitely get the mini as it's much easier to take on journeys/holidays etc.

Much better than tonies as wider choice, less clutter etc.

Don't know about second hand but I can send you a discount for the new one.

Mini lover here
Best thing we've ever bought her
2 years old and going strong

@BadBarry how do you download books onto the cards? I have some blanks but never used them! Thanks

sorry to derail a bit. How do you download the stories onto the blank ones? We have these but I’ve never figured it out.

we have a Tonies box in the kitchen and 2 mini yoto players for each child. I’d definitely recommend the yoto players! So handy for the car etc too!

I think the club is good value to get access to the range of Yoto original cards and see what you like. You could always do it for a couple of months and then cancel.

My five year olds love: all the five minute stories, Alfie, Worlds worst children, Topsy and Tim, Happy Families.

I'm so pleased I asked, I was really on the fence thinking will he even use it but I'm feeling the yoto love!
Is the podcast one a separate card? How do you store all the cards or am I going to be finding them all over the house?!

We have a Tonie and 2 yotos! So feel I am well placed to post 😄

They’re different beasts that serve different purposes really. Tonies just do what they say on the tin - audiobooks (you can record your own but not as obvious) - but Yoto is much more interactive: send in jokes, loads of games eg Simon says, radio, timers, podcasts, quizzes.

For your child’s age I’d go for a Yoto - Yoto daily is great, DS age 6 nearly 7 listens every night. DS age 9 has kind of grown out of his and only uses it for podcasts, half the time using his dad’s iPad instead as it’s cooler. So I’d say at 5 you’ll get a good few years out of it. I like that you can control it from your phone so don’t have to go up and turn it off once they’ve fallen asleep!

DD age 2 has the Tonie box now. I’d say Tonies is like toddler-age 6 and Yoto maybe age 5-10.

We have a travel box for it which stores the cards. A friend had a credit card holder from amazon which they all slot into. We tend to keep them all together.

Yoto Daily is just on the box, as is the radio. You just press the button and it toggles between the 2 I believe (we have Yoto minis).

The app has everything on it so you don’t even need the cards but they’re fun. You can get card holders.

Oh wow so as long as we've put the card in before it doesn't matter if we lose it? Excellent! Thanks for all the feedback. Going to wait for black Friday as PP says and purchase.

Yes please!

Do you know if you can get stories in other languages too?

Yes you can. Have a look on their website, there's loads.

Or if they don't stock your language, you can get a blank one and record yourself reading.

My 9 year old has a yoto and she listens to it every night. Definitely recommend!