If you’re a parent of a child under the age of 8 and you don’t have a Toniebox yet, this might persuade you to reconsider.
In case you haven’t come across a Toniebox yet, it’s a brightly coloured 5in tall box with barely any controls, just a little ear for volume up, a bigger one for volume down – and that’s it. The boxes are sold with themed characters that contain songs, stories or fun learning, that stick to the top with a magnet. When the character is on the top, the sound plays. When it’s removed, it stops.
So simple, even a toddler can do it – seriously. And they do. My daughter, now 4, has taken her Toniebox across the world. It has got us through bedtimes, camping trips, car journeys and a summer of flight delays, not to mention hours of fun when her friends come over.
There are already over 1,100 Tonie characters available in various languages across 100 countries – from Disney songs and stories (Frozen, Cindarella, Beauty and the Beast, Tangles, Aladdin) to popular shows (Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Gaby’s Dollshouse) and story books (Gruffalo, Snail And The Whale).
And now, the Natural History Museum and tonies® have announced another exciting new collaboration, the first in a range of Clever Pocket Tonies, created to inspire a love of learning through audio.
The Natural History Museum Discovery Crew Clever Pocket Tonie series will feature four immersive adventures to inspire the inner natural explorer.
The brand worked with some of the museum’s 370 scientists to curate four fun and factual stories to sit on the famous Toniebox that will inspire young learners.
Each story features three intrepid young explorers – Ruari, Jo and Hamid – as they embark on fascinating journeys through time.
From thrilling encounters with prehistoric creatures and diving with deep sea creatures, to getting a closer look at gigantic garden critters, listeners will be immersed into tales of our world, past and present – even meeting some of the museum’s most influential characters from history, including Charles Darwin and Mary Anning.
Metro was at the launch for the Tonies, at the Natural History Museum in London’s South Kensington where we were taken on a tour by the museum’s Leonie Biggenden, who whisked us back 500million years and brought the prehistoric exhibits to life – just as the Toniebox characters are intended to do.
She said afterwards: ‘It was a real joy to create this tour that followed in the footsteps of the Discovery Crew in the new Natural History Museum Clever Pocket Tonies series, giving the children the opportunity to step into their shoes.’
Maxine Lister, head of licensing at the Natural History Museum, said: ‘Creating advocates for the planet is fundamental to our museum mission. Tonies do such wonderful work in crafting stories that are educational and engaging for young learners and, with the wealth of historical knowledge within our museum walls, this collaboration felt only natural.’
The National History Museum: Discovery Crew 4-piece set will retail for £19.99 and launches as part of the new Clever Pocket Tonie range, which has been created to inspire a love of learning through the magic of audio.
Prices start at £8.99 for single Tonies and £19.99 for 4-piece Tonie sets.
The NHM Discovery Crew series is available to buy at tonies.com and from 20th August on Amazon and with selected retailers. For more information, visit http://www.tonies.com.
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