Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years you will probably have heard of a Tonie Box. They’re the latest “must have” for little ones. The Tonie Box is essentially a speaker and the audio is activated when you place a Tonie figurine on top of the box. If you’re old school like me then you’ll remember how precious a cassette tape, mini disc or cd collection was growing up so it’s easy to understand how these Tonies have become so popular when they’re shaped like little characters recognisable from popular children’s film, tv and books. There are a whole host of Tonies to choose from and so here’s a round up of reviews of some of the most popular Tonie characters currently available.
1. The Creative Tonie
We love our fairy creative tonie because it gives you the freedom to upload your own content. With 90mins of free space you can add whatever you like, whether that’s yourself or a family member reading a book, or your little one’s favourite song. You can also download the free content from the tonies app.
We agree – there are so many different options now for Creative Tonies and we have even seen some hand painted versions of them which are beautifully unique. Being able to choose your own audio and then edit and change this as you please gives these real longevity. Tonie Boxes starter sets include a creative. Uploading audio to these is really simple and you can read our guide Here – getting one as a present and uploading yourself telling a story is such a lovely gift idea.
2. Gruffalo Tonie
The running time of this Tonie is only 17 minutes which at first had me wondering if it was worth it, yet this is our most reached for of characters. The popular Julia Donaldson book has been read so many times here that I know it off by heart and Arlo likes nothing more than fetching the book and the Tonie off the shelf to read along whilst snuggled up as the soothing voice of Imelda Staunton recants the story. I often get told that I don’t do the voices quite right so this is perfect for my fussy audience/ The Tonie also features a song, which is again quite calming so makes for a lovely addition to the bedtime routine, especially if you’re trying to work on self soothing activities.
3. Going on a Bear Hunt
We love this Tonie because we’re always out exploring together and love to be brave and try new things!
Did you know that you can take a Tonie Box out and about? It’s charged at home with a charging base little ones can easily use and once charged can last up to seven hours. It is described as one tough little box. It’s built to survive bumps and tumbles, keeping kids entertained for years and years. Arlo will hold on to his during car journeys and we love the idea of taking it to our favourite den in the woods just like Adalyn.
4. Moana
Sophia won’t sleep without her tonies – it’s teeth, face, tonies for our bedtime routine
We love the Disney Tonies – a great screen free alternative to engage with much loved movie characters. Moana’s Tonie runs for a perfect 32 minutes featuring five songs from the movie including “you’re welcome” and “so shiny” as well as an abridged version of the story told by Rena Owen.
5. Miraculous Tonie
We are genuine Tonie lovers and have a huge collection – we like to match books to read. At the moment we love the Miraculous Tonie because it is my daughter’s current favourite show, it promotes role play and keeps her entertained for hours!
With a 42 minute running time this super themed Tonie is one for older listeners and pitched at 6+ – it’s great to see the increasing variety of Tonies available to children as they grow with their box.
6. Peppa Pig
We love the Peppa Tonie, it’s a great alternative to watching Peppa pig on Tv. I love that Belle can enjoy stories in the garden with the Tonies box and she isn’t limited to being indoors ?
Both Peppa and George characters are available and each of these has an awesome running time of over 60 minutes with a playlist of 9-10 stories. One of the best features of the box is being able to simply tap it on the side to skip to your favourite track or story, so simple that little ones can quickly master independent play.
7. Frozen
My girls are huge frozen fans, these tonies let them explore the stories and songs whilst enjoying some screen free time! The tonie box has become a firm favourite here and travels with us when we go away.
There are three different Tonie options from Frozen, Elsa represents the chart topping music from the first movie alongside the story narrates by Nolan North with a running time of 24 minutes and Anna represents Frozen 2 with 31 minutes of audio including “in to the unknown” alongside the story. There’s also an Olaf option which features a two part story and even more music over 30 minutes of play time.
Last Updated on 6 months by Lavania Oluban