Why We LOVE Our Yoto

An honest Yoto Player review…

Since the day my son was born, bedtime has been a struggle. He always preferred to be right next to mom or dad. He never wanted to stray in his bed. It’s amazing how small a king size bed can feel the more children you have. One thing, however, stayed constant… He loves a bedtime story. 

As our family grew, we encouraged him to sleep in his own bed. My husband recommended that we turn on an audiobook for him at night, because he remembers that helping him when he was younger.

We started with Adventures in Odyssey, but these were a bit too scary for him. Then, I purchased a kid’s kindle device with the audible feature. I liked the idea of him being able to choose stories from a library we placed on the device.

This worked great for a while, but it required charged wireless headphones AND a charged kindle. One or both of these were ALWAYS out of battery at bedtime. This wasn’t working.

Yoto Player

Then, in came to Yoto.

It really did not take much to convince me that it was going to be a great fit for my son and it truly has been nothing but beneficial for our family.

Here are the features that I love:

  1. It is screen free. It’s hard to find an electronic device these days that is screen free AND your child will enjoy.
  2. The cards are easy to store. I’ve seen another similar audio player, but it has a small figure you place in the top. I have no idea how you wouldn’t lose those pieces. The cards are easy to store in a business card holder or they have their own case.
  3. It has a nightlight feature. The light can change colors and there is multiple options on colors. At bedtime, I have it set to red (which means stay in bed) and green for the morning (you may get out of bed). This helped a lot with getting our children to stay in bed.
  4. The selection of audiobooks are really wonderful. They have a large selection of classic stories including: Winnie-the-Pooh, Frog and Toad, Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit, and Stuart Little
  5. I can control everything from my phone. I can change settings, turn down the volume, play a different card, and even stop the audio.
  6. You can make your own cards. This is a lot of fun! I recorded myself reading some of their favorite picture books. I have also read some of our favorite fairytales. When they go to grandmas over night, they love these cards.
  7. Yoto daily is probably my favorite feature. Every day there is a new topic and they are always educational and fun. It is only about 10-15 mins long. This is a perfect time to set out water colors or a sensory item.

Yoto cards

Here are some things to consider:

  1. The Yoto does not replace you as the parent reading aloud to them. I still read to my boys every night before bed. I also try my best to read the book before they get the card.
  2. Listen to the sample before you buy. I am not a fan of the Disney cards and we don’t own any. Personally, I like to stick to the classics.

These truly are a wonderful device for a wide age range. We own both the Yoto Player and the Yoto mini.

The boys have brought their Yoto’s to the Grandparents, in the car, and even camping!

Grab your player here!

If you want to see how we use our Yoto, then check out my instagram page @thesewildknights

Yoto Player nightlight

*these are my affiliate links!

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I'm Julia Mederich - My husband Jordan and I have 3 boys (7, 4, and 2) and a girl on the way. We are a Charlotte Mason inspired homeschooling family and enjoy going on nature adventures, reading aloud, and learning through play.

We live in Northwest Wisconsin.

I'm excited you're here! And hope this content inspires you on your homeschooling journey.

 

”Home is the nicest word there is.” -Laura Ingalls Wilder

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