The Yoto Player – The best screentime replacement

Talking about a touchy subject today. 😵‍💫 Screen time produces a tremendous source of guilt in my experience of motherhood. There is nothing quite like seeing your kid finally absolutely still after a long, challenging day. But there is also nothing like seeing them vegging out to TV and immediately feeling like a terrible parent. You’re not a terrible parent, and neither am I, I know. There are just so many subliminal messages that tells us we can do better right? So today I am sharing our screen time journey and the best screen time replacement we have found aside from the obvious, “get outside” and “make something” which we also of course do. The yoto player is a tool we use to balance screen time in our home and I want to share it with you!

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The Yoto Player

I found the yoto player when searching for children’s music players. Just before Emme turned two she got very into dancing and listening to music but wanted me to play DJ all day long. Then we visited Disney in Orlando when she was actually two and she was introduced to princesses. Enter a deep spiral into princess obsession and constantly wanting to watch Cinderella. I needed something to give her some autonomy that wasn’t a tablet or TV.

The Yoto player came up in my search as well as Tonie boxes. Having to store and keep track of a bunch of figurines sounded like my personal nightmare though. The yoto player is a little audio player that uses Cards with audio programmed onto them. There are two simple dials, one for volume, and one for changing tracks, plus a button that pauses or turns your player on/off. We own a yoto mini, but there are also larger ones that have a larger screen and can “dock.” We take our mini all over the place so I prefer the mini but would love a larger one to stay in the playroom or her room one day.

How it works

You can buy pre programmed cards from Yoto, or buy blank cards and curate your own playlist. We have done both and like both! I buy songs for Emme and put them on playlists for her. Subscription music does not work because you need the actual file to upload into the playlist. My husband and I have also both recorded us reading stories using the voice memo app on our phones. She has a “mommy” card and a “daddy” card which are us reading a series of books. I did it to where each story is it’s own “song.” This is as simple as recording a voice memo, uploading that voice memo to your playlist, then linking your card. You link a card to a playlist by putting the card into the player and selecting “link a card” on your app. It is also possible to customize the playlist cover photo.

Customizing cards

When I make a custom playlist, I always use Canva to make a quick sticker for the card! Use a canvas with dimensions 2×3 inches. Design whatever you want, and download the image. Then you can simply upload it as the cover photo. I then use my Canon Ivy printer and print a sticker to label the card with the same image, making it easy for my toddler to see what she is putting in the player. (Amazon affiliate link)

Favorite cards

Here is a list of some of our favorite cards that you can purchase from Yoto or Amazon, plus a link to the make your own pack which I highly recommend. Please note that any of the disney cards you buy are just read by narrators, there are no character voices in them. You can buy disney storyette book CDs and burn those if you want shorter, character voice stories! Sometimes libraries have them, too.

Try before you buy idea

You can make a Yoto account and buy digital cards and create playlists without owning an actual yoto player. You can play these anytime from your phone. My suggestion if you are on the fence would be to make an account and try making your own playlist and see what you think. Or you can start setting up playlists while you wait on your yoto player to arrive (which is what I did, lol). I hope this is helpful, comment and tell me what your favorite screen time replacements are!

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