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If you’re looking for an interactive audio system for your young child to encourage independent, screen-free play then look no further than the Toniebox! Want to know more about how the Toniebox works and if Tonies are worth it? Read ahead for my Toniebox review and to find out why they are the best music player for kids!

What is a Toniebox? 

The Toniebox is essentially a speaker for children, which works by placing audio figurines (Tonies) on top of the box to create an interactive audio system. You can get many different Tonies, including much-loved favourites such as Julia Donaldson characters, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig and Disney characters, which encourage children to use and play with the Toniebox independently.

The Toniebox itself comes in a few different colour options – you could choose a colour to fit the aesthetic of your home so your Toniebox can look great out on display, or why not let your child choose their favourite colour, such as red, blue, green or pink?

 

How Tonies Work

Tonies are incredibly simple to use – after all, they are designed to be used by children as young as 3 years old! All they need to do is place a Tonie character on top of the Toniebox, which will magnetically snap on, and it will begin to play stories or songs. That’s really all there is to it – when the Tonie character is taken off the Toniebox, the song or story will pause, when they place it back on: it’ll play again!

Each Tonie character has it’s own playlist, which can be viewed either online when purchasing the Tonie or on the back of the packaging. For example, the Gruffalo Tonie comes not only with the Gruffalo story, but with a Gruffalo Song, too! 

The Toniebox itself sits on top of a charging dock, but once it’s charged up it can be used on the go – great for snuggling in bed or using on car journeys! The battery is impressive – it can be actively used for up to around 7 hours before running out of battery. You’ll know it’s time to charge when the LED light on the top of the Toniebox lights up solid orange, turning to red when it’s completely out of battery. It takes around 3 hours to fully charge back on the docking station.

 

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Tonies: How To Skip

First of all, make sure you have the Tilt and Tap acceleration sensor enabled – log onto your Toniebox account, click on the Toniebox on your account and scroll down until you see the Tilt and tap toggle. 

You can then skip songs or chapters by tapping on the side of the box.

Tonies: How To Fast Forward

First of all, make sure you have the Tilt and Tap acceleration sensor enabled – log onto your Toniebox account, click on the Toniebox on your account and scroll down until you see the Tilt and tap toggle. 

Toniebox has a rewind and fast forward function – just tilt the box to the left and right!

Tonies: How to Record

To record your own clips to be played on the Toniebox, you’ll need one of the Creative Tonies that comes in the Toniebox Starter Set. Creative Tonies can hold up to 90 minutes of sound, and can be personalised by uploading files of sound onto the Creative Tonie via your account on the Tonie website.

If you have an iPhone, I recommend recording clips using Apple’s Voice Memos app – you could record a short message for your child, record yourself reading one of their favourite books, or even record yourself singing a lullaby. You then just log in to your account on my.tonies.com and upload the voice memo audio file onto the Creative Tonie. You then just need to sync your Toniebox by holding one of the ears until you hear a tune, and your audio files will be downloaded onto your Creative Tonie, ready for your child to listen to! 

 

Can Tonies Work Without WiFi?

WiFi is required for the initial set up of the Toniebox, everytime you place a new Tonie on the Toniebox for the first time, or if you have loaded new content onto the Toniecloud ready to sync to a Creative Tonie. As long as you’re not doing the above, the Toniebox will work without WiFi, so you’re free to take your Toniebox with you on journeys away from home.

Are Tonies Waterproof?

The Toniebox is water repellent against spills, but it’s not waterproof – so don’t try to float it around in the bath!

Where To Buy Tonies

Tonieboxes are £69.95 RRP and Tonies are £14.99 RRP. Tonies are available from most major toy retailers as well as Amazon (which is especially handy as a last minute gift to utilise next day delivery if you’re an Amazon Prime user!) or the tonies® website www.tonies.com.

There are plenty of Tonies to choose from, with lots of familiar characters that your child will love, such as The Gruffalo, Paw Patrol, Fireman Sam, Peppa Pig, and so many more. There are also Disney Tonies – why not celebrate Disney World Princess Week with some Disney Princess tonies?!

 

 

Which Tonies Play Music?

There’s lots of options for Tonies that play music – we have the Favourite Children’s Songs (Sing Along Songs), but there are lots of other Tonies that play music, such as:

• In The Night Garden (A Musical Journey)
• Favourite Children’s Songs (Playtime and Action Songs)
• Favourite Children’s Songs (Birthday Songs)
• Nap Time (Nature Sounds)
• …and lots more!

Which Tonies Tell Stories?

There’s a great variety of Tonies with stories. Our favourite books are by far the Julia Donaldson stories, so when I discovered that you could get The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on The Broom, Zog and Stick Man for the Toniebox I was so excited! Some other Tonies that tell stories are:

• Oi Frog
• Peter Rabbit
• The Snowman
• Favourite Tales
• Shrek
• Disney (Mickey and Friends)
• Thomas the Tank Engine
• …and lots more!

Benefits of Audiobooks

We all know that it’s important to read to babies and children, but there are also lots of benefits to audiobooks – for both adults and children alike. They can be relaxing and calming – great for children’s mental health – as well as educational and beneficial towards children’s language development. Audiobooks can also help improve focus and attention span!

 

What did we like about the Toniebox?

My son has absolutely loved playing with the Toniebox since we received it – in fact I can confidently say he has played with it every single day for about two weeks straight! He absolutely loves how easy it is to use – Arthur can be completely independent rather than having to ask us to ‘put songs on the speaker’ or shouting ”LEXA’ and getting annoyed when she doesn’t listen to him – the Toniebox does exactly what he wants, and he’s in complete control of what he wants to listen to!

I love that playing with the Toniebox is totally screen-free – I’ve definitely noticed that we’ve watched less television since owning the Toniebox. I also feel like because of this, the Toniebox is great for my child’s language development – he’s being introduced to so many new and unique words from the stories, and by listening to them repetitively he is able to pick up and learn new words.

An unexpected part of the Toniebox that I was not expecting is how soft and huggable it is – it’s hard to truly gauge the material of the box from photos alone, but it has slight cushioning, and can be snuggled with no worries about corners or edges. It could easily be cuddled up to in bed after a bedtime story, making the Toniebox perfect for part of your bedtime routine.

What didn’t we like about the Toniebox?

There’s only one thing we’ve found so far that we haven’t liked about the Toniebox, and that is that it doesn’t seem to be great at picking up our ‘taps’ when trying to skip to the next song. Some taps it registers, others it doesn’t – it’s a bit hit and miss. I’m sure this is more of a user error, though, and we’ll figure out the perfect way to tap to skip soon.

Are Tonies Worth It?

I guess the ultimate question is: are tonies worth it? Whilst they’re definitely an investment, my honest answer is YES. My son absolutely loves his, and I’m confident it will continue to be loved and used for years to come. If you’re considering purchasing a Toniebox, all I can say is do it!

Click here to buy a Toniebox!

Are you looking for more toy ideas? Check out all my toy reviews here – if your child is a fan of pirates, they’ll love this VTech Toot Toot Pirate Ship!