Are tonie boxes worth it?

[healthanxietynightmare]

Looking for peoples opinions on if the tonie boxes are worth it or not. Have a 2 yo ds. Thanks

I would say yes - all three of my kids have loved it. It gives some independence in allowing them to choose what to play and do (in a world where they in reality have very little independence!) so I would say totally worth it. I use the song tonies more then the stories though x

Look at yoto too.

I think you can look at the included content on yoto by setting up an account before you even buy a player.

I think they’re more versatile, and a lower ongoing cost of content. If you want day / night clocks in the future the full size yoto does that too.

Honestly.... i dont like the yoto and think its a bit crap.
Their made up songs are all quite lame and weird and my book and story obsessed kids have zero interest in audiobooks

Our granddaughter loves hers, and we are buying a second one for her twin siblings for Christmas, so they can have one in their bedroom too, when they are old enough.

It is great to be able to buy new characters/stories for the Tonie box - they seem like good value for money too.

My older DS is 7 and isn’t keen anymore but younger DS is 5 and still loves it although he will only listen to his Elmer tonie so the other figures are surplus to requirement… I like the fact you can record your own stories, we have tonies filled with stories read by all of us which is a nice memory.

The only downside is it caters very much to younger kids but when they get older, not so much. They are getting better but still not great.

My 2 youngest both have them and love them

My kids love their tonieboxes- even my 10 year old still uses it before bed- there's a range of book tonies (David walliams etc) and she still likes the road Dahl ones. We don't have screens in bedrooms and she is dyslexic so prefers to listen (she doesnt like the Alexa for stories as she can never think of what to ask for!). My 5 year old uses it as part of his bedtime routine but gets fixated on only listening to one (so we've spent 6 months+ listening to Stitch!)- he doesn't use it otherwise but also doesn't really play much in his bedroom where it is. We've had ours 5 years and they were gifts- I probably wouldn't have chosen them (or at least considered yoto) but we have definitely had lots of value from them!

Everyone who has one loves it, but I just felt that it was too expensive for what it does. DD is easily bored and it's too expensive to buy new characters every week. And she'd definitely consider them toys, take the places and lose them.

I gave her my old phone, deleted all the social media apps, removed the SIM card and downloaded Audible and Borrow Box from the local library. She has a range of free stories from the Audible Catalogue, a few favourites that I've bought for her and borrows more from Borrow Box.

The only thing is she needs some help to navigate to the apps on the phone.

It doesn't have the "cute" factor of a Tonie Box but it does the same job.

I think so. Our DS got one when he was 2 or 3, and all the Julia Donaldson ones were great. He is 8 now and still uses it if he can't sleep which is a win for me too. I've heard good things about the Yoto but I think that would have a limit in usefulness as well, DD who is 11 now just uses Audible on her Alexa.

I would recommend a kids echo dot. I connect it to my phone through Bluetooth and play audible books, podcast etc. much cheaper than a Tonie and they can do other things with it too. You don't need a kids Amazon subscription with it - mine dont and still get lots of use.