Tonies Toniebox review ~ screen-free goodness

Tonies Toniebox review

Welcome back, my friend! Today’s share is one I know you’re going to love – it’s my Tonies Toniebox review!

Advert: this post contains references to PR gifted products. My views are honest and my own. May contain affiliate links.

What is a Toniebox? If you haven’t seen these smart little boxes before, then you and your kids are in for a treat!

The Toniebox is a durable music and story box that’s loved by kids and adults alike. It’s totally screen-free and ever so easy for kids to use on their own. My 18 month old and 4 year old daughters absolutely adore it – at bedtime, mealtimes, and at play time.

Cara and Lydia are delighted with their Toniebox and Ariel Tonie!

We’ve yet to use it during travel but I think it would make a great car companion, especially as it comes with a handy headphone jack.

The Toniebox promises to be loved for years, and so far it’s going strong in our house – especially with my younger children.

The Toniebox is played with, on average, 148 times more than usual gifted toys.

So without further ado, let’s start this Toniebox review – take a closer look at the Toniebox and those cute little Tonies!

Toniebox review

How the Toniebox works

The Toniebox comes with adorable Tonies. These are your kids favourite figures or characters that sit on top of the Toniebox to activate the stories and songs related to the character.

Lydia playing with the lullaby sheep Tonie

You need an internet connection to use the Toniebox, which is done over WiFi. If you want to use the Toniebox away from your WiFi signal, you’ll need to create a hotspot on your phone for it to access your phone’s data.

Setting up the Toniebox

There are hundreds of Tonies – choose from a raft of characters, suitable for a range of ages.

My eldest son, 6, chose the Peppa Pig Tonie. My 4 year old daughter chose Ariel The Little Mermaid, and we chose a sleepy lullaby sheep for my youngest daughter, 18 months. But we found it so hard to turn down Mog, Stick Man, and Princess Elsa!

Setting up the Toniebox

Each Toniebox comes as a starter kit containing the box (in a range of colours), charging station, and its own Creative Tonie. This starter figure allows you to access Tonies’ library of audio, with free content added monthly. You can also record your own audio (although we haven’t tried this yet) and features different skin tones and hair colours to suit your little one.

Our Creative Tonie

Setting up the Toniebox involves downloading an app to your phone and listening to the instructions on the box. We found it quite fuss free although we did make a couple of mistakes along the way. Easily done when the kids are jumping up and down and desperate for us to get it working!

What we love about Toniebox

It’s screen-free entertainment

My kids really enjoy using it. The stories are so lovely, and as a 40-something parent it takes me back to times of listening to traditionally narrated stories on a cassette deck. Fond times!

Jonah enjoys the Peppa Pig Tonie

The kids have complete control over when and where they use it, and we don’t have to limit it in any way, like with screen based devices.

It helps with transitions and routines

It’s truly helped me and my 18 month old through weaning from breastfeeding and building a new bedtime routine that doesn’t involve feeding to sleep.

Lydia sleeping with the lullaby sheep

The whole family has benefited from listening to the lullaby sheep at bedtime. It’s so soothing and calming and the kids recognise the sound of bedtime when mum really wants them to settle in their beds now.

It’s so darn cute and loveable!

Just look at how the ears control the volume! My 4 year old figured it out right away.

Cara easily controls the volume of the Toniebox using its ears

The Tonies are super collectible and utterly delightful.

The 7 hours of battery life and kid-friendly charging dock are a great plus, too.

It’s durable

My 4 year old has flung it about a fair bit with no ill effects.

What we don’t love about Toniebox

It can be quite expensive to keep adding to your Tonies collection, especially when you think about how easy it is to just access YouTube. But the screen-free element is such a huge benefit, plus you can be sure your kids aren’t browsing off to other places online or spending too much time on devices.

Lydia playing with Peppa

Some of the stories are not original content. For instance the Peppa Pig Tonie has a story that’s freely available on YouTube. As a demanding adult, I unapologetically expect original content for the price of the Tonie! That said, my kids know and love these stories and don’t seem to mind that they heard them already!

A Tonies Toniebox Starter Kit costs £79.95 and is available exclusively at tonies.com.

Tonies Toniebox Starter Kit

Buy Now – £79.95 at Tonies


My final thoughts on Toniebox

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Toniebox review! We’re having so much fun with our Toniebox, and I hope if you’re looking for a fun way to entertain your kids without screens then you’ll give it a go.

To learn more about the Toniebox and choose your own, visit the Tonies store or go and check out their lovely Instagram @tonies_uk.

Entertain your child without screens with the Tonies Toniebox - a delightful music and story box based on your child's favourite fun characters.

Do you like the look of the Toniebox? Let me know in the comments!

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Happy listening!

Helen

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