Every 90s kid had a boombox in their bedroom, right? My metallic blue boombox lived on the lower shelf of my nightstand. It was huge, ugly, and had awful audio quality. But it got the job done–playing my CDs and cassettes of music and stories–and there weren’t really alternatives at the time.
Of course, in 2023 we have tons of tech-y options for keeping our kids entertained, from interactive toys to smart watches and tablets. The question now is how much exposure to tech our kids should get, especially screens.
Whilst I’m not necessarily a screen-free parent, we do like to limit movies and shows to special occasions for e&a. At the same time, sometimes Mama needs a minute (or a few) to get things done around the home. So when I learned about modern audiobook/story players for kids, I knew exactly what I was getting them for Christmas!
StoryPod Review
There are a few options on the market for children’s audiobook players: the Toniebox, Yoto Player and StoryPod are among the most popular. They’re all interactive speakers: you put a figurine on top or put a card in a slot to select which story to listen to.
We ultimately picked the StoryPod as we liked that the “crafties”–the figurines that sit on top and “hold” the content–had a younger/slightly larger age range. We also liked that most of the stories aren’t about TV show characters (since our kids don’t watch any regular shows). They’re classic fairytales, stories or songs that focus on emotional learning/development.
Little e’s StoryPod review, if I asked him, would probably be “I love it!” He usually listens to about one figurine’s worth of audio a day, ~45 minutes. And he’d listen to more if given the choice! The fairytales that we have are also good conversation starters for talking about life lessons and morals.
The speaker itself is sturdy and has sustained several falls already. I like that it has very few control buttons so toddlers can manipulate it without help. It was a more expensive purchase but extremely useful. Both for the toddlers (when they need a low-energy activity during the day) and for me because let’s face it, sometimes you just want to do the dishes without being asked to read Cars and Trucks and Things That Go twenty times 😛
Benefits of Audiobooks for Kids
Listening to audiobooks (versus watching screens) stimulates the imagination in the same way that read-aloud does. Kids have to come up with what characters and settings look like, instead of being fed those images.
Like read-aloud, audiobooks also teach new words and understanding how to use them. StoryPod stories are quite a bit more complex than most of our board and picture books–yet they hold my kids’ attention for a long time because there are different voices for the characters, sound effects etc.
Finally, fairytales/fables (I purchased the “fairytale bundle” for the tots for Christmas) are great for starting conversations about morals. Obviously the StoryPod versions are… sanitized? Because real fairytales can be quite dark! But they talk about topics like honesty, gratitude, and giving your best effort, which you’re never too young to learn 🙂
Overall: Our StoryPod review is 5/5! It’s engaging, brain-building and the speaker and crafties themselves have held up to wear and tear by my energetic toddlers.
What’s your favorite screen-free entertainment at the moment–for your kids or for yourself?
xx Claire
