Tonies has been named as the fastest growing preschool toy brand in the UK with very good reason. The clever audio box is helping parents in the battle against too much screen time, allowing children to listen to songs and stories from their favourite Tonies characters.

Absolutely Mama caught up with Lucia Kreuzer, GM UK & IE for Tonies UK to find out more..

Where did the idea for the Toniebox come from?

The brilliant idea of the Toniebox came from two of the most wonderful and creative dads, Marcus and Patric, who wanted to create a magical audio player for their children as an alternative to CDs, phones and iPads. They wanted to create a musical storybox that their kids could use independently, that was easy-to-use, screen-free, playful, fun and safe. The Toniebox was born in 2016 and immediately became a huge success.

Tonies has been named as the fastest growing preschool toy brand in the UK. What makes it such a good toy for little ones?

I believe the Toniebox is so successful because it makes both kids and parents happy. For me, the most magical moment is watching a child play with their Toniebox for the first time. Watching their little face light up as they pop their favourite character on the box to tell them a story or sing them a song. It’s made for little hands and so intuitive to use. Kids just pop, tap, tilt and squeeze it to navigate through songs and stories. It’s soft and squishable. My 4 year old often falls asleep hugging her Toniebox while listening to her favourite story while my little boy loves putting different Tonies on the box, dancing to the songs.

Parents love it because it’s a gift that lasts for years and grows with the child. It keeps children entertained for hours without screens, ads, cameras or mics in sight. In a recent survey, 96% of our customers said that the Toniebox helps to reduce their child’s screen time. It’s an extra pair of hands to help with establishing routine at home: From saving early morning wake ups (when all you want as a parent is 10 more minutes of sleep) to helping tell ‘just one more story’ at bedtime, from making long car journeys a breeze to helping improve literary skills and vocabulary at an early age. I personally couldn’t imagine life anymore without our Tonieboxes in our family.

How are you innovating in the children’s toy space?

The global toy market is very competitive but the feedback we receive from customers paired with the growth we’ve seen over the last few years is testament that we have a unique product that the whole family loves. There is something so powerful about a toy that kids can use from breakfast until bedtime and across a wide age range – without ever getting bored of it and at the same time being so beneficial to a child’s development. An innovative feature I really love is our Creative-Tonie that lets you record your own stories and music. Even the grandparents that live far away can read a good night story simply by downloading the app. Within a blink of an eye, the good night story is on the box, fostering bonds between family members that don’t live near.

What are the most popular Tonies characters?

We already have almost 200 Tonies characters to choose from and add new content each month. The Tonies range is full of the most popular classic and modern stories, music and educational content. The Gruffalo, Frozen, Paddington Bear and CoComelon are very popular with our young listeners, while older children enjoy Roald Dahl’s Matilda or the National Geographic series, to name just a few.

What makes the Toniebox different to its competitors?

The Toniebox is robust, yet soft and snuggable. Each Tonie figurine is hand painted so they have a great charm to them, making the characters collectable, playful and full of age appropriate content for children. We also offer lots of regularly updated free content that is very easy to download from our app. Our wonderful collaborations are another factor which makes us stand out. We recently partnered with Moshi to introduce children to the calming world of mindfulness by day and let them drift off peacefully to sleep by night.

Tell us something we might not know about the brand…

Supporting as many children as possible to enjoy the magic of tonies® is close to our heart. We work closely with children’s charities, including Spread a Smile, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Autisic Society and hope to be able to expand these partnerships further next year.

How are your products made and how important is sustainability to the business?

The toy industry as a whole is plagued by waste, and so we are very conscious of limiting our impact on the environment.

We have made the Toniebox (almost) indestructible. It’s soft enough for snuggle-time but strong enough for bumps and tumbles. When designing it we made sure it’s absolutely toddler- and life-proof. Not only will it last for years, the Toniebox is also played with, on average, 148 times more than the average gifted toy. Children love their Toniebox for years and once they have grown out of it, it’s being passed on to younger siblings or friends.

In Germany, our home turf, we have just launched our ‘Preloved Toniebox’ scheme. Tonieboxes that were previously stored in the warehouse as returned goods are now beautifully restored and refurbished and offered to new homes at a lower price with a two-year warranty and full battery life. By the end of this year, we are aiming to reintroduce 10,000 preloved Tonieboxes to families. We would love to roll out this wonderful initiative in the UK & Ireland soon.

Is there anything exciting coming up for Tonies that we should know about?

2023 will bring so many more exciting opportunities: more partnerships, a whole host of fantastic content and events to further spread the tonies® love. The Toniebox is already adored by over 4 million children across the globe. We hope to welcome many more families next year on our mission to reduce screen-time and fuel children’s imaginations.

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