Yoto Player Review: Is it worth it and what’s the difference between the Yoto Player and Yoto Mini?
I recently read the book The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie and loved it so much! It was so encouraging to me as a mom to learn how much reading out loud to my kids benefits them and can strengthen our relationships as a family.
Audiobooks count too, which is where the Yoto Player comes in! Some of my best childhood memories actually come from listening to audio books together with my little brother at bedtime. We’ve had two Yoto Players for the past several months and I’ve gotten so many questions + I love them so much I wanted to create a post all about them!
MENTIONED IN THIS POST:
What is a Yoto Player?
The Yoto Player is a screen free audio player! You insert little audiobook cards into the top of the player and the two knobs control the volume + the chapters. That’s it. It’s so simple and easy for kids to use.
There are two versions of Yoto players, the full size Yoto Player and the Yoto Mini. We own both. I’ve gone back and forth between which one I like the best, although they’re very similar and both are great options. The Minis are cheaper and essentially do the exact same thing, so if you’re unsure, I’d go with the Mini. See below for a more thorough comparison.
Yoto has given me a 10% discount to share when you use THIS link (no code needed)!
Why do we love the Yoto Player?
We’re very minimal in our home when it comes to toys and I am ruthless with what I let take up our space (because what takes up our space, takes up our time). The Yoto is something I am 100% happy to have in our home. I love how minimal it is, how the cards can be stored easily (we use this $10 case from amazon), and how it fosters connection between the kids as they listen to beloved stories together as well as grow their love of books, stories, and imagination.
As a pediatric sleep consultant I love the Yoto Player for older toddlers and preschoolers who have moved from naps to rest time.
More on this below, but it’s also really great that the Yoto Player is something they can take ownership of. I’m all about boundaries with my kids and try to be very mindful of not allowing them more freedom or responsibility than they are ready for, but the Yoto Player is something I am really happy to give them more independence with. I love that they can choose to put on a story whenever they want and that they can easily turn it on and control it themselves.
With the Yoto Player, my kids can listen to books & music without the risk of hearing or seeing inappropriate things from ads like they might from Pandora or Alexa, which is huge for us.
We have two tablets that we use very sparingly. We were allowing the kids to watch movies when we made the 2 hour drive to visit family each week, however the Yoto Players have completely replaced their desire to use the tablets during long drives. They haven’t asked for the tablets since we got the Yoto players and we are both so happy we didn’t continue that habit. (We aren’t against screen time, we enjoy watching family movies and we use it in moderation, but neither of us liked the idea of using screen time in the car each week. It was a hassle to set them up and help them if they messed up the screen etc).
Does the Yoto Player require Wifi or Bluetooth?
You need Wifi for the initial setup process. When you insert a Yoto Card into Yoto Player it downloads the content from Yoto’s server. Once it has downloaded the content, then it can be used without being connected on future occasions and can be disconnected. We have used our Yoto in the middle of the forest in our RV with no internet connection.
Get 10% off your Yoto Player or Yoto Mini when you use THIS link (no code needed).
How do we use our Yoto players?
I’ve been incorporating the Yoto player into our daily rhythms and homeschool and it’s such a cool tool we’ve been able to add to our home.
My 5.5 year old listens to his player as he falls asleep at night (he’s not dependent on it for sleep, so I’m ok with this) and when he wakes up in the morning (he typically wakes up an hour before he’s allowed to come out of his room in the morning, so he listens to it and plays quietly in his room while he waits). You can put volume limits on the Yoto and I have it set to only play during daytime hours so he doesn’t stay up too late or wake up extra early to listen to it ;)
My kids carry them around with them all day long and listen to books while they play. They also love to bring them in the car on long car rides.
Both my 5.5 and almost 4 year old listen to a Yoto during their separate rest times and my 2.5 year old listens to it during her independent playtime.
What age is the Yoto best for?
Our 2.5, 4, and 5.5 year olds all love the Yoto player. I think they’ll enjoy it even more as they grow and can listen to and understand even more audiobooks. I know we’ll use them for years to come. I don’t anticipate an age where they will grow out of them (especially since smartphones aren’t in their futures ;).
Does each child need their own?
I think this is personal preference and how you plan to use them in your home. We own two right now and I plan to purchase a third at some point. If each child has their own room or they do separate quiet times, it’s nice for each of them to have their own. Kids are fully capable of sharing just one though ;)
What are our favorite cards and/or audio books?
Our favorite card from Yoto is Winnie the Pooh. They also really love Robin Hood. As family members have asked which cards the kids might like for Christmas, I’ve told them I think the kids would love the Beatrix Potter collection, Frog and Toad, Stuart Little, Heidi, Charlotte’s Web, any of the BBC radio productions and any other classics. I’ll update the list of cards we own as we grow our collection. Yoto has a lot of cards I wouldn’t personally purchase for my kids to listen to, but I appreciate the classics they do have and their “Make Your Own” cards are awesome.
I’ve made several “Make your Own” cards, which are blank cards that you can put any of your own audiobooks or playlists on. I’ve recorded myself reading several of Evie’s (2) favorite books + Bible verses + educational songs etc and put them all on one card. She’s learned the alphabet, how to count to 20, and a ton of other things because she listens to the card I made her. I’ve also asked family members to record themselves reading or telling stories. I’ve put audiobooks like The Jesus Storybook Bible on Make Your Own cards.
Updated list of the cards we own & Recommend:
Charlotte’s Web
Winnie the Pooh
Frog and Toad
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Peter Pan
Robin Hood
Finding Nemo
Beatrix Potter Series
The Tale of Despereaux
The Secret Garden
Stuart Little
Disney Classics - I like that these are like the Disney movies without the adult humor: Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, 101 Dalmations, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, The Lion King, Monster’s Ink, UP
How to make a Make Your Own card:
Here’s a link to a video walk through I did on how to create Make Your Own Cards. It’s so easy!!
Our Favorite make your Own Cards: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Little Pilgrims Big Journey book 1 and 2, The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Wild Robot, The Wild Robot Escapes, The Green Ember series, Little House on the Prairie. I find all of our audiobooks on either Amazon or Libro.fm. Libro.fm has an option to sign up for a subscription, but you can also find individual audiobooks! If you search on amazon, just make sure to click “see all formats and editions” and then select the audio cd. You’ll receive a physical cd (I upload them to my computer and put the mp3’s on MYO cards.
Is it expensive to keep purchasing new cards?
Upfront we invested in a few that we knew would be favorites (like Winnie the Pooh) and they rotate through them and have been really content. We’ve also utilized the “Make your Own” cards and put audiobooks that we previously owned on blank cards.
Yoto cards and audiobooks are the number one thing on their Christmas list this year and I love what a perfect gift they are for them as more of a minimalist family. Yoto also has a membership called Yoto Club where you receive 2 cards each month, get 10% off any purchases, and get free shipping. We aren’t currently subscribed but we have talked about doing this for Christmas and I’ve heard great reviews from other moms about this option.
Why did we choose Yoto over some of the other screen free audiobook players?
I looked into some of the other screen free audio players that are on the market, but I personally like the features of the Yoto Player the best. I like how the cards are minimal and can be easily stored in a simple card holder (I really didn’t like the idea of having a bunch of little toys or figures to have to keep track of and store). If you lose a card, the audiobook lives in your Yoto app and you can assign it to a Make Your Own card. The audiobook cards seem to be cheaper in general than the other companies as well.
How is the Yoto Player different from a regular CD player?
I think the big difference is that the kids are able to take ownership of it and have the freedom to go get it, choose their card, carry it around with them etc. The controls on it are very simple (just two knobs) so it’s easy for them to use on their own and they don’t need my help. Unlike a CD player, the Yoto Player doesn’t have to be plugged in to play and it’s not as fragile, so I’m ok with them picking it up and moving it from room to room etc. I have been so pleasantly surprised to see how often the kids go get it to listen to audiobooks throughout the day. It’s way more often than I would have ever thought to play audiobooks for them.
Can you use the Yoto Player with free library apps like Hoopla?
Yes you can! If you enable the bluetooth feature it works just like a bluetooth speaker. You can pair it with your phone and play Hoopla books from your phone.
Yoto Player Pros and Cons:
The speaker is louder and sounds clear even when it’s turned up really loud, so it’s great for a group.
It has an Ok to Wake function (and a nightlight, but we don’t use nightlights here - read more about nightlights in THIS post), but as of right now it can only be programmed for 2 settings (a nighttime light and a “wake up” light). After using our Hatch Rest there is just no comparison - with multiple kids I need to be able to set it to do multiple things and display different lights at different times etc. So this function hasn’t served us as well as I had hoped. It’s also a little bigger and heavier, which isn’t a problem exactly, but we did have an accident where it rolled off of a bed and landed upside down on top of the inserted card. It snapped the card which made the card unusable (however I was able to assign the audiobook to a “Make Your Own” card in the Yoto App - so we didn’t lose the audiobook - just the original card). The Yoto Player has 10 hours of battery life vs the mini which has 20 hours of battery life. The other con is the power cord - it’s a pretty bad design and ends up breaking. I personally do not love the full size Yoto and recommend the Yoto Mini to all of my friends.
Yoto Mini Pros and Cons:
The best part about the Yoto Mini (in my opinion) is that it does the exact same thing as the full size Yoto Player, but is less expensive and has a longer battery life (20 hours vs 10). It doesn’t have some of the extra features like the Ok to Wake function or nightlight function, but as far as how it plays audio books it is exactly the same. It’s lighter and smaller which is nice for storing and transporting. The speaker does not get quite as loud as the full size Yoto Player, however it can still get surprisingly loud for such a small device. The mini is great for around the house and is also a great option for kids to listen to in the car with headphones on long car rides.
We are extremely happy with both of our Yoto Minis and I recommend them to all of my friends and family. I think they’re such a great addition to our home and they’ve served our family so well. It seriously makes my heart so happy to see my kids devour audiobooks and then use their imagination while they pretend play their favorite stories.