The TonieBox: First Impressions & Review

This is where the magic happens

Meet the Toniebox, your entry ticket to a whole new world of adventures and audio fun for children. Once downloaded, always ready to play. - Tonies.com

So today's post is a mum life piece, with a review of a recent find.... I don't talk about many kids products on here, but this is one I felt the need to share. So you may or not be aware of this kiddy gadget but this little green box of adventures is a Toniebox... The little box that is the perfect mix of modern technology intertwined with traditional story time, giving children the independence to choose what and when they listen to. Designed & developed in Germany, the Toniebox has been around in Europe since 2016 and has now taken the UK by storm.

Minimal in design yet so stylish (a lot of kids products look childish, but this is very sleek and sophisticated looking) with a sturdy padded outer, designed to withstand being dropped. Small enough to take out with you but mighty enough to have a kitchen disco. Alongside the Toniebox are the Tonies, little figures that are each loaded with stories & or songs....dependant on which character you have. My son was bought a Toniebox for his 3rd birthday so we chose to buy the Julia Donaldson classic Room on the Broom & Disney Pixar Cars as his starter figures (purchased separately to the box). You do get a creative Tonie with the box which you can load 90 minutes of your own audio onto.....perfect for adding favourite stories & songs, even better as you can get other people to record onto it too. Once you have your chosen figure all your little one has to do is pop it on top of the Toniebox and it will play....simple as that, as soon as they take off the figure it will stop....easy and so funny to watch their little face light up with excitement & a touch of confusion!

What I love about it...

First off I was very impressed with the products packaging, simple and all recyclable, no unnecessary plastic, a pleasant change from most kids products these days. Next up the fact that it took me less than 10 mins to set up the box using the MyTonie website, which was very easy to use and made the process quick & painless meaning Mark was straight into investigating the gadget. To begin with the box really confused him but within an hour he had worked out how to operate it and will happily sit and use it by himself.

We decided to get the Disney Pixar Cars Tonie first, as it is his favourite toy/movie at the moment and thought it would help him to hear something familiar whilst getting used to the box.... turns out this was a great idea as he was so excited to see Lightning McQueen come out of the box and he has loves bopping round the room to the soundtrack. Only downside is he keeps bringing all of his diecast cars over and trying them on top, obviously they don't work which leaves him perplexed! There is quite a good range of Tonies available, including Disney and Julia Donaldson books along with more generic songs & nursery rhyme compilations (small note make sure you get the UK Tonies, unless you speak German! Amazon has little flags next to the characters for clarification.). I also really like that there is such a wide range of creative Tonies to choose from....a builder, a fairy, a footballer, a conductor, a unicorn & a Grandma to name a few. A friend of ours loves music so bought the conductor for her son & loaded it with his favourite music...the personal touch.

We wanted Mark to have the Toniebox in his bedroom so he can listen to a story at bedtime (something I loved to do as a child), he likes to take it off his bedside table and have it in the bed with him - but because of the soft padded outer I am not worried about him hurting himself or breaking it. He knows how to activate the box and play his cars songs/story - "Life is a highway" is a very odd thing to wake up to on the monitor! but so proud that he can operate it by himself. It gives him some independence and allows him to choose what he wants to listen to, something he really likes to do at the moment. He can turn it on, operate the volume controls, skip tracks and change character. The Toniebox also comes with a headphone jack too, perfect if you don't want to listen to the same songs over & over again! I also love that the Toniebox will turn itself off once the Tonie has finished playing, meaning no fumbling around in the dark to turn it off once he is asleep, also saves on battery. Whilst I mention battery, the charging process is very simple and clever, the Toniebox simply sits on top of a white charging station and will flash blue when the battery is running low, so you know to pop it on.

                       

Toniebox - the technical stuff 

* The outer is made of sustainable material.  * Headphone jack.  * LED Status Display.  * WIFI.

* Robust, child friendly.  * Comes with a charging station.  * Automatic switch off.

* Battery operated, up to 7 hours - for use on the go.  * Squeeze the ears for volume control.

* Tap the sides to switch chapters/tracks.  * Tilt to fast forward or rewind.

Not a cheap item but in my opinion so worth it - the starter kit which includes the box (available in red, green, blue, purple, pink & grey), a matching creative Tonie & charging station comes in at £69.99. Additional creative Tonies are £11.99 and the story/music themed Tonies are £14.99. All are available on the Tonies website as well as Amazon.

One of the main things that drew me to the Tonibox was that it will last Mark years, as there are educational Tonies available too and the great thing about the creative Tonies is we can change up the audio saved on it as he grows. Could be a good way to help him learn words, even use for revision when he takes exams! so many possibilities..... So if you are looking for a gift for a child, I would definitely put the Toniebox on your list.

For more information about the Toniebox and all the Tonies available click here... 

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