Eliza and Isaac love to read and will devour books within a week or two.
Sebby loves books and will sit for ours with you when you read to him and gets really engaged in the story, however, he is struggling with the reading side and often gets frustrated when the word doesn’t come to him.
This week we have been introduced to tonies® and their Toniebox, a screen-free storytime device.
A first glance, the Toniebox looks like a small storage box with a pair of ears, but what it is actually is a clever speaker which comes with cute characters that you can place on top, which bring the box to life.
The box itself is soft and tactile but robust enough that it will withstand anything that the kids throw at it and is even water resistant.
Do you remember Skylanders, Lego Dimensions or Disney Infinity Toys for games consoles? Well the Tonies work a bit like that – simply place them on the lit square at the top of the cube and let the stories begin.
In the box
- 1 x Toniebox
- 1 x Creative Tonie
- 1 x Charger Base Unit
- Instruction Manual
Setting up your Toniebox
The first thing you need to do is pop your Toniebox on charge, download the app, available on App Store and Google Play and register your details.
It is then time to set up the Toniebox, which can be done through the app and takes around 5 minutes. Make sure you have a good wifi connection before you start.
Once you have paired your Toniebox it is ready to use.
As soon as you pop a Tonie on for the first time, its story will download directly onto the Toniebox. The Tonies have a magnetic feet, so will stay put of the box is accidentely knocked and taking them back off with stop the story.
How does it all work?
Every Tonie is hand-painted, yet tough enough to be part of the fun not just on, but also off the box.
The Toniebox instantly recognises who’s standing on top, as they have the magic key. The key unlocks the right audio files so the box can download them from the Toniecloud. The story will begin immediately. Once the LED turns solid green, the audio content has been completely downloaded, and you can play it anywhere without a Wi-Fi connection.
You can set a maximum volume via the app and then adjust the volume by pressing the ears – the big ear to increase the volume or the little one to decrease the volume. The Toniebox also has a headphone jack for using on-the-go, with approximately 7 hours of run time.
Tapping the side of the Toniebox will changes the tracks and once your bedtime story has finished, the Toniebox will automatically turn itself off and go to sleep as well. If your little one falls asleep before the story has finished, simply remove the Tonie and it will cleverly pick up where it left off next time you add your character again.
We were sent the Christmas Songs and Carols Penguin Tonie which features 20 children’s Christmas favourites that the kids have been busy singing along to and the Baloo Bear Jungle Book stories.
The Toniebox Starter Set is available in four colours directly from tonies®, John Lewis and Amazon and has an RRP of £69.95
Thanks to the team at tonies®, I have one Toniebox and one tonie accessory to giveaway to one lucky reader, but hurry – you only have 24 hours to enter!!
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Disclaimer: Post has been written in collaboration with tonies® and Tots100. All thoughts and opinions are my own
I love the wonderful selection of characters and stories and the fact it is screenless!
What a great system for children!
it’s great that it will automatically turn off after the story and good battery life!
What a lovely way to get away from screen play. X
I like that it also has audiobooks, listening to stories sparks the concentration and the imagination better than just watching a story on a screen.
I love the fact you just remove the little collectable figure and its turned off, ideal for when your little one is sleeping.
I like the fact it has good battery life, ideal for for my nephew 🙂
I like that the characters have magnetic feet so stay put on the toniebox and that it has a good battery.
I like the fact it has good battery life
I like that it will automatically turn off after the story.
I like that it will play without WiFi once its been downloaded
Hello, the Toniebox is a good idea, my favourite feature is that it is water resistant as that makes it really practical for family use.
I like the good battery!
These look fab for little one’s. I love the sound of the great battery life.
It switches off automatically when the story finishes.
I do love that this will restart the story where they left off, especially if they knock off the Tonie
I love that is is Soft enough to cuddle, tough enough for really hands-on children! So I know it will be okay with my kids
These sound like such a sweet idea! I love that putting a different tonie on means it plays different things.
I like that it automatically turns off after the story.
What a lovely concept. I love how it brings together the power of play and story telling. My daughter would love this!
These do sound great! 7 hours if battery would be my favourite.
It’s such a clever concept and the little characters look really cute and colourful. Love these!
This looks like a really great option for children. Thanks for sharing!
This looks like such a great way to engage a reluctant reader. My eldest isn’t always that keen, so something like this would be brilliant to draw him in
Tough and fun – learning the boys will never get fed up of as theres so many different functions
For me it has to be the it works without wi fi access at times too
i like the good battery life and that it automatically turn off after the story.
How nice! I think this would be a nice gift for a child. I will ask my husband’s opinion if he thinks this would work for our grandson. Those two spend so much time together they know each other so very well.
I like that you don’t NEED wifi signal for it to work. This would be great for car journeys and nights in hotels so they can still listen to their stories and songs!
Love the look at these. Joshua loves music and audio stories.
I love all the characters, and that its so simple, my 4 year old could do it herself.
I Iove that you can resume te story just where you left off!
I love the fact that there’re is a range of stories songs and fact tonies, that will entertain all the boys
We would love this . I’ve seen it all over social media and think it would be a great gift for little Nila
We used to live in Germany and the Tony Box is really popular there. It looks so nice that I was really tempted to get one, but the Tonies cost three times as much as the same audio books on CD, so in the end we just bought a CD player instead. And the CDs are easier to store too. (I secretly still want one though because I love the design!)
Wow that is so cool! This would be a perfect gift for my cousins! I love that it has different characters! 🙂