tonies® Toniebox Review | A Fun Storyteller For Kids

 *This post is in collaboration with tonies®, however, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed within this post are my own.

As a parent, I love anything that allows and encourages my children's imagination to run wild, and this is why, when tonies® got in touch asking if we'd like to review their Toniebox (£79.95) which does just that, I immediately said yes!

I was so glad I did because as soon as Tyler saw the Toniebox and the tonies® that came with it he was full of intrigue and excitement about them - I don't think he had ever seen anything like them before and they were full of wonder for him. 

I also think the fact we opened up the Toniebox at bedtime really helped add to his excitement too because I had told him that his bedtime story that was night was going to be a little different than usual!

The Toniebox is essentially a speaker device with padding around the sides so it's soft for kids to handle. It initially works off your home wifi (to download and upload content) and has technology which instantly allows it to recognise which Tonie is standing on top of it and which stories to unlock and play.

The Toniebox has a LED light on the top and when this flashes blue it means that the content is being downloaded - this is normal and shouldn't take too long if you have a good internet connection.

The Tonie I chose for Tyler was The Little Prince (all of the Tonies are £14.99) as it was a story we had never heard before and he now pops the Tonie on his Toniebox every night and listens to the story as he drifts off to sleep. It's very sweet and lovely to see him enjoying an audio based story just as much as the ones I read to him too.

This happened to us with The Little Prince Tonie, so we left it for half an hour and when we came back and popped it on the Toniebox again the LED light was green, meaning the audio files had been downloaded and were ready to play. 

So if you get the red light or the 'Groundhog' error when using a Tonie for the first time - don't worry! This just means the audio files have to be downloaded. You can find more guidance on this issue here.

Once the audio content has been downloaded to the Toniebox, it can be played anywhere without a wifi connection. This means that your child can take their Toniebox wherever they go and listen to their stories wherever they want - even if there's no wifi available. 

With 7 hours of battery life too, the Toniebox is your child's perfect travel companion and is perfect for taking along in the car - which Tyler loves to do.

There are two types of Tonies - a Tonie who comes with pre-loaded stories and a Creative-Tonie, who allows you to upload your own audiobooks, adventures, songs and stories. The Creative-Tonie comes with the Toniebox (additional Creative-Tonies can be bought for £11.99) - Tyler's being the green one and he loves playing with this character.

Kids can upload their own content to their Creative-Tonie via the Toniecloud at my.tonies.com or via the Tonie-App, so some parental help is needed here to get their creativity into the Toniebox. Kids can upload 90 minutes of their own content via one Creative-Tonie and I think this is plenty of time for kids to think up and express their own stories, songs, etc.

What I truly love about tonies® is that it allows children to express their creativity and interest in stories on their own terms. They can play and listen to their Tonies whenever they like and once downloaded onto the Toniebox, the content is always there for them to explore to their hearts content.

tonies® brings music, stories and play together to allow for something completely magical that kids will love. Tyler is such a big fan of his Toniebox and it's now a firm fixture at his bedside. It's so lovely to see (and hear!) him enjoying storytelling so much. He has such a big imagination and it's great for him to have something such as his Creative-Tonie and Toniebox, which allows him to explore and express this.

From a parental point of view, what I love about tonies® is how easy the products are to use - so much so that the kids can use them themselves. Set up is quick and easy once you have your wifi connected to get everything set up. There's no faffing about, no complicated instructions, etc. (which I can't stand - which parent can?!) and it's all quick and easy to do - meaning that the kids won't be waiting long to get playing with their tonies®

The app is also super simple to use for recording content, you simple record via your phone's microphone and then upload to the Toniecloud - simple!

tonies® are such great products for children and I'm so glad that Tyler has his very own Toniebox and Tonies now. They allow children to embrace a love of listening to stories and do their very own storytelling - something which I find very endearing. tonies® allow children to express their own creativity and to also appreciate the creative works of others in the stories and songs they offer with their Tonies.

We love this product so much that Jacek and myself have already chosen two more Tonies as stocking-fillers for Tyler this Christmas,, so he can enjoy the magic of his Tonies and Toniebox even more.

If you're interested in getting a Toniebox or some Tonies for your own children you can check out the exciting range here www.tonies.com.