Nintendo Switch / Yotos / Tonies - help on a good option 🙏🏼

[JessJ16]

Hi all,

I'm new here, so hi 👋🏼

I am considering a Nintendo switch for our two boys (4 & 7) for Christmas and I wanted to ask a few things…

I’m a bit old fashioned, in the sense that I am completely tech-averse when it comes to kids and therefore haven’t allowed our kids to have tablets / devices yet. Each to their own etc etc. However, I feel the increasing pressure that perhaps they could have something and am wondering what the least of all evils might be 🙈.

I'm toying with the idea of a Switch for Christmas - I know they would absolutely love one - and wondered if they’re any good? Or perhaps, whether there something better available? Or if there is something equally as captivating that isn’t a games console - I’ve heard a lot of good press about Tonies / Yotos. Again, I have not got either yet as I’ve wanted to keep alive the story reading at bedtime etc, so not to be palmed off for yet another device which can do it for you.

I hope you can see where I am coming from - I don’t like the idea of any of it, if I’m totally honest, but accept this is the world we live in.

Any tips / product recommendations etc all exceedingly gratefully received.

Thank you 🙏🏼

Jess 😊

They’re completely different things IMO. The Switch is noisy, social, good fun, likely to be played when mates come over, you can do it as a family. IMO a great gift for the 7YO but the 4YO is probably too young to play it properly and could end up being be a shit gift for him as you risk it being mostly him watching his brother play and occasionally coming last at Mario Kart.

The story boxes are more of a stay quietly in your room device- really good if you have kids that struggle to go to sleep or want something to entertain them when they wake up before everyone else, or even for listening to audio books in the car. I’d barely call them tech- it’s just a modern version of a book on tape and it has nothing in common with the Switch. Would be a nice gift for your youngest but honestly I don’t know any 7YOs still using them as they’re moving on to free reading and can just pick up a book themselves.