Toniebox vs. Yoto Mini

Background information- If you’re just looking for the review, you can skip this section 🙂

I think I first heard about the Toniebox about two years ago while researching Christmas gifts for the boys. I had seen the buzz about them in mom groups on social media, but couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. I all but forgot about it for a while, until November of 2021 when we were at our library and saw that there were a few available to check out. I let the boys each pick one out, and they immediately took to them.

After a couple days the novelty seemed to wear off for my oldest, but my youngest boy still loved the Toniebox, so I waited for a deal on a starter set for Christmas. Of course once my oldest discovered the tonies I had bought for his brother he decided he wanted to start saving up for his own box. That’s when I started researching the Yoto Player.

Toniebox vs. Yoto: Differences

The Toniebox works by placing a small magnetic figurine (tonie) on the box. Content Tonies contain preloaded content, while Creative tonies can be loaded with sound recordings and various audio files.

The Yoto and Yoto Mini work by inserting an NFC card into the player. Cards with preloaded content can be purchased, while Make Your Own cards can be loaded with audiobooks, music files, sound recordings, and links to podcast streams. Yoto content can also be played from the app on a smartphone or from a smartphone through a Yoto device (when on WiFi).

Size comparison- Tonie Box in back, Yoto Mini in front

Toniebox: Likes and Dislikes

Likes:

No screen. We try to be intentional about the amount of screen time our children are exposed to, and I like that kids can use the Toniebox as much as they want to without having to interact with a screen.

Control. The child is in control of what they listen to and when they listen to it. They don’t need to ask me to play a song from my phone or from an Echo. I, the parent, control what my children can listen to by only purchasing the tonie characters I decide are appropriate for them. The toniebox does not allow the child to access the web or unapproved content.

Soft sides. The Toniebox is soft, so I’m comfortable giving it to my younger children, and I am not too concerned about drops and bumps.

Tonie characters. The characters are cute and easy for small hands to hold.

Customer service. When we had an issue with our box, customer service responded promptly.

Dislikes:

Skip forward/backward controls. To skip to a different track the child has to hit the side of the box. I’m not a fan of this design at all. I don’t think it is all that intuitive for small children.

Volume. I like that I can limit the volume from the Toniebox app, but honestly, I haven’t found this feature to be all that necessary, because the maximum volume on the Toniebox really isn’t all that loud. If there is a conversation happening in the next room, it can be hard to hear what is playing, even when sitting right next to the box.

Price vs. Content. In our experience, tonie characters don’t hold very much content. They average around 30 minutes or so, and each one costs $14.99 USD. This can make building a tonie library cost prohibitive for many families.

Tonie characters go missing frequently. Even with having a carrying case for the box and tonie characters, the characters go missing frequently. The characters are small (and magnetic), and once they disappear it takes a while to find them. Our Lightning McQueen and the Playtime Puppy have been missing for at least a month, and we’ve all looked for them many times. If a tonie is lost, you lose access to that content until you find it (or buy a replacement.)

Toniebox with 3 Content tonie figures

Yoto Mini: Likes and Dislikes

Likes:

Speaker volume and quality. Don’t be fooled by the Yoto Mini’s small size. The speaker is mighty! I keep the volume limited to 10 during the day and 5 at night.

Portability. Due to it’s small size, it’s easy to bring the Mini along with us when we leave the house. We like the Yoto Mini travel case for this purpose as it keeps the player safe and can also fit our boys’ headphones and quite a few cards.

Cards. Yoto cards are about the size of a credit card, so they’re easy to store without feeling overwhelmed. We currently keep all of our cards in the Yoto card binder, and each child is allowed to take one card out at a time. I also feel the cards are reasonably priced.

When cards are misplaced, it isn’t the end of the world. All of the Yoto content we own is available in the Yoto app, and when a card goes missing I can easily link the content to a Make Your Own card until the original turns up.

Available content. Yoto offers an extensive catalogue of content available for purchase. There are cards for music-lovers, readers, active preschoolers, and more. The app also has free children’s podcasts and sleep sound loops that can be linked to MYO cards. My kids look forward to Yoto Daily each day!

Controls. The Yoto Mini is simple for children of various ages to control. There are only three buttons: Power, Left (volume), and Right (track control, Yoto Daily/Radio), so the controls aren’t overwhelming for kids.

Screen. I mentioned above that we try to be intentional about our children’s access to screens. The Yoto Mini uses a small, pixelated screen that contains an icon correlating to whatever is being played, and the time when the player is on but not playing any content. There are no games or distractions, but my oldest is able to check the time and keep track of what track he is listening to.

Make Your Own capabilities. One of my favorite features of the Yoto is the ability to make my own cards. We have cards containing Audible audiobooks, iTunes tracks, and free podcasts. There is a bit of a learning curve for this feature, but once I figured it out so many doors were opened! Make Your Own cards can hold quite a bit of content: I think our longest card right now contains a 4.5 hour long audiobook and 4 iTunes tracks.

Customer service. It seems like Yoto is constantly working behind the scenes to improve app support and software. In my experience Yoto usually ships orders the same day or the day after they are placed, and orders placed on Yoto’s website earn Yoto Tokens that can be redeemed on future purchases.

Yoto Club. The Yoto Club is definitely worth it if you plan to make multiple purchases directly from Yoto. $9.99/month gives customers free shipping on any size order (even if you only order one card!), a 10% discount on everything (which does stack with some other promotions), and two cards from the Club picks each month. It’s a great deal for families (or schools) looking to expand their Yoto library.

App. Max volume and screen brightness can be controlled for both day time and night time in the app. I also love that when purchased directly from Yoto content is almost instantly available in the app. Purchased content can be linked to a Make Your Own card or played directly from the app- no need to wait for the physical cards!

Yoto Mini

Ladybird Audio Adventures are a huge hit in our house. We have yet to find one we didn’t enjoy!

Bear really enjoys the Ultimate Football Heroes cards.

Content for younger children: some classics!

Final Thoughts:

I think the Toniebox is a great option for families with smaller children. A lot of the content seems to be geared toward children in the 0-5 age range, and it’s easy for small hands to use.

The Yoto Mini has more potential for older children that enjoy listening to podcasts and longer audiobooks, and it is so easy to transport and add content to it. We love Yoto Daily! I recommend joining the Yoto Club for the free shipping and 10% discount. The months where I haven’t been satisfied with the card selections I have been able to pretty quickly resell the cards. I’ve also heard that Yoto customer service will allow skipping a month if you email them, but I haven’t personally tried that.

It’s worth mentioning that I like to have several Make Your Own cards on hand. I never know when Audible will have a fantastic sale or one of my kids will ask for a specific playlist. Additionally, we keep all of our cards in a shared binder and each child has a “library” card (MYO card with their name on it) that can be linked to any card or playlist they’d like. No fighting!

On This International Holocaust Remembrance Day…

Ever since I can remember, I’ve felt a fervor for studying the Holocaust. Even before I knew I was Jewish – my dad had been saved and converted to Christianity in adulthood and I don’t remember him ever talking about his Jewish upbringing. I do remember the small menorah he kept tucked away in a cabinet, and his bar mitzvah picture that hung on a wall in our house. It wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something he talked about. I remember one school assignment in which we had to build a family tree and I had to ask my parents, “where is your family from?” My dad insisted they were from America, and that was the end of it. For the record, my dad’s mother was born in Canada and his father was born in America, both to Russian Jewish immigrants. My dad was born to a Jewish family in Chicago in 1940, and sometimes I wonder at what age he learned about what was happening/had happened in Europe. My maternal grandmother was Jewish, but she died when my mother and her siblings were children, so I’ve never had much information about that side of the family.

I remember one occasion in high school when I was picked on for my “big, Jewish, nose”, but I didn’t grow up with the harassment and persecution Jews still face today. I have never been to a synagogue, and I didn’t have a bat mitzvah. I can’t read the Torah (although I would love to actually learn Hebrew), so how can I call myself Jewish?

As I grew older, I became even more interested in learning about my family’s Jewish ancestry. Taking an Ancestry DNA test and working on my family tree has been so enlightening. I’ve uncovered names, birthplaces, and even some pictures. The more I learn, the more traditions I adopt into my own family, the more connected I feel to my Jewish ancestors.

The more connected I become, the more difficult being confronted by the horror of the Holocaust becomes.

The pictures

The physical remnants

Thinking about the innumerable familial lines forever altered

Learning their names, seeing their faces, and reading their stories

Even walking through the U-Boat exhibit at MSI stirs a physical response within me that I never felt before.

I feel anger and sadness. If I sit with these feelings, at some point they are sometimes replaced by empowerment.

After all the horror, the atrocities, the pure evil and inhumanity Hitler and the world have committed against my people (and so many others), how can anyone feel any bit of empowerment?!

As the blood of my Jewish ancestors flows through my veins, I know the enemy did not win.

My siblings, my cousins, and my children are all proof that evil did not win.

On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember. Some day soon there will be no survivors left to tell their firsthand accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust. I’m grateful for the efforts organizations like the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center have put forth to preserve these accounts through innovations such as VR concentration camp tours and hologram interviews with living survivors.

We remember.

End of the Year Curriculum Recap: What Worked, and What Didn’t- 2021-2022

Kindergarten Language Arts:

We switched from TGTB Language Arts pretty early in the school year. As a family we grew pretty disappointed in TGTB as a company and its cult-like following (perhaps a post for another day ;)) and I knew I wanted to slowly transition to other curricula. I also found that Bear and I were both pretty bored with TGTB’s Level 1 Language Arts and needed something new.

This is when I discovered Common Sense Press’ Learning Language Arts Through Literature series. I was drawn to its use of readers and book passages to teach and enforce grammar concepts. Bear completed the Red Book this year, and overall we were pleased. He doesn’t yet have the stamina for writing that the book expects, so I sometimes allowed him to dictate his answers to me. I think the Red Book’s weakest link is spelling. We found the weekly spelling words to be pretty simple, so each week I added a couple more challenging words to Bear’s spelling test. If you have a child that struggles with spelling, I would definitely recommend supplementing with another spelling curriculum.

Kindergarten Math

We started the school year with TGTB Level K Math. Bear flew through it so we moved on to Level 1. He flew through that book too, and since I wanted to move on from TGTB anyway we took a short break from math while I looked into our options.

Part of the reason I was drawn to TGTB’s new math curriculum is the games. Bear loves games! I was disappointed when we actually got to the games in Levels K and 1. A lot of them didn’t seem well thought out, and many had confusing directions. We ended up just skipping some of them.

Once Bear finished Level 1 I printed out some Math Mammoth lessons for him to work on while I decided on our next math curriculum. I finally caved and decided to try Saxon Math. I ordered Saxon Math 2 from a bst site and upon flipping through the student worksheets found Bear could have easily completed at least the first book. I ended up reselling level 2 and ordering Saxon Math 3 for the next school year. Well, Bear saw the new curriculum and asked to start it right away, so we have been chugging away through it since February. We are both still pretty happy with it now that we’re 40+ lessons into it, so I’m researching the next level for the second half of the 2022-2023 school year.

Science

We ended up not completing either of our original science curricula this year. We found Master Books’ Life for Beginners to be too simple and dry (Bear enjoyed it but would end up completing an entire week’s worth of lessons in one sitting), and TGTB’s Space Science unit study to be dull. I was fairly disappointed about the latter being a bust after I had spent hours printing and laminating all of the materials for it!

Spanish

Both boys enjoyed the Homeschool Languages Spanish curriculum, but we took a break from it when life got a bit busier. Bear has shown a great interest in learning German, so I think we’re going to pursue that during the next school year.

Bible

We scrapped our Master Books Bible curriculum after a few weeks. We’ve tried 3 or 4 different Master Books courses now, and I haven’t been impressed with any of them. I know some families love MB, but we find the courses we’ve tried to be either dry or just not challenging enough.

Final Thoughts

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility. We didn’t end up finishing the school year with most of the curricula we began, and that’s okay! It wasn’t working for us, for various reasons, so we moved on. It’s easy for me to be in the middle of a book and say, “we need to see this to the end.” but sometimes if it isn’t working, it isn’t worth it. I want to foster a love for learning in my children and I want all of us to enjoy our homeschool days. So, this upcoming school year will look a little different than last, and I am looking forward to it!