SAVE $79.96: Save 44% on Toniebox starter kits at Amazon during Prime Day from July 8 to 11. Typically priced at $179.95, the bundle includes the box and a collection of Tonies for $99.99.
As a mom of two, the TV has become a bit of a crutch in my house. If I need to keep the kids occupied while I prep a meal or attend to another quick household task, switching on the television is just all too easy — and they're more than happy to check out in front of the "boob tube."
But my kids are preschool age and younger, and limiting their screen time is something that's important to my husband and me. They don't use tablets, so the TV is really their only form of passive entertainment. But we started to notice some issues with our older child, who was becoming obsessed. She'd wake up asking for TV the first thing in the morning, and would resist and whine when it was time to turn it off. This wasn't just typical 4-year-old resistance, though. We're talking total meltdowns.
Right around her third birthday, my husband discovered the Toniebox and brought it home as a solution to those early morning TV requests. Since then, it's become both a beloved toy and a powerful tool in our home.
Toniebox provides entertainment sans screen time. Credit: Toniebox
Toniebox is a screen-free speaker that plays songs, tells stories, and reads books. In order to make it work, you place a small figurine — a Tonie — that attaches via magnet to the top of the box. Each individual figure powers its own playlist of content. In our house, we're big fans of the Mirabel-shaped Encanto Tonie and the Coco Tonie that features the movie's main character, Miguel. So on each of those, there's music from the respective soundtrack, and then a narrator tells the story of the movie as if reading from a book.
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The thing I love the most about the Toniebox is that it requires little to no parent involvement, so our kids can choose their character, turn up the volume, skip songs, and be in charge of their own entertainment. It's a little slice of independence that kids this age so rarely get, and it's really helped our daughter to power down or take a break without getting sucked into a screen.
What makes this Prime Day deal great is that you get a bundle of Tonies included with the box itself. Normally priced at about $20 each, the cost of those Tonies can add up quickly. The bundles include the box plus four to five Tonies, all under $100.