Storypod Review 2023: Ultimate screen-free learning and entertainment for kids

In this Storypod review, we will highlight the benefits of a Storypod, the pros and cons, and our honest opinion!  

Looking for a great holiday gift for your kids?  Look no further, a Storypod is actually what we are getting our kids this year!  Maybe you feel guilty like we do when you put your kids in front of movies or other screens to entertain them while getting things done around the house.  Storypod is a wonderful alternative to movies as it is a screen-free audio-based entertainment.  Engage your child through music, stories, and learning activities in a screen-free way!

Our Experience With Storypod

We personally have not used a Storypod yet, but have loved what we have heard about them and just purchased one for our boys for Christmas! We have a family member who has one for her children, and man she has talked about it so much since it is her son’s favorite toy! 

This product has really piqued our interest as parents because of the entertainment and education it provides while being free of screen time and making the experience fun and capturing for kids. We are also always looking for activities to take in the car that will pull our kids away from screen time during travel. This is the perfect fit!

We are excited to gift a Storypod to our boys for Christmas because it will fit the interests of each age of our boys. There are fun musical song playlists that our 1 year old will love as he is always dancing every time he hears music.

Our 3-year-old will especially love the stories and songs from Daniel Tiger, who is a fan in our house.

Our 5-year-old will be excited about the interactive and imaginative stories that are shared in different crafties. He is all about going on imaginative adventures through reading and hearing stories in books, so this will fit him perfectly. Our oldest also has a passion for learning and the trivia decks are a perfect option.

What are Storypods?

Storypod is an award-winning audio system designed for children to enhance educational and entertainment purposes. Storypod engages kids in hours of songs and stories and is a great option for encouraging independent play. The speaker itself is needed before accessing and utilizing all the accessories offered. 

Storypod products include

Crafties

Crafites are yarn characters that each contain a soundtrack of either songs, stories, or both, When placed on a Storypod, the chip contained within each craftie will be activated to start playing the soundtrack. There is a large array of options that are each designed for children of varying ages. 

Many of the crafties teach emotional regulation, friendship, and other life skills. Some include trivia about various topics such as dinosaurs, aviation, space, or earth. There is also a handful of crafties that include fun songs for children to dance to. 

An additional craftie makes it possible to record your own voice telling stories or singing songs. What a special way to narrate your own story for your children to listen to as they are falling asleep, in the car, or even when you are gone and they miss hearing your voice.

Books

Each book contains a chip that when activated on the Storypod will start to read aloud the story to your child.  Screen time seems to be the best way to keep our children preoccupied while we get anything done, however, we dread doing that! How nice would it be to have books read to your child while you get something done and it also keeps them away from screen time!

There is a wide variety of books for kids of all ages. Many of the books aren’t just for entertainment but also include life lesson messages such as kindness, giving, and caring.

Trivia Decks

Trivia decks also include a chip to activate in order to use them with the Storypod. Each deck contains questions that follow curriculums taught in kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Activity Cards

Activity cards are audio stories that help teach children about the world around us. These cards come in bundles that include topics such as life and routines, weather, family, nature, and more. 

Tokens

Tokens include a selection of audio stories and soundtracks. There are a handful of tokens that teach about famous people such as Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, or Martin Luther King Jr. Some tokens also include soundtracks of melodies or noises that would be a great tool in assisting children to fall asleep. 

Recordable Story Stickers

These story stickers are awesome as they allow you to record yourself reading a story, then place that sticker somewhere on the book and your child will be able to hear your voice reading it any time they want! Talk about helpful!! What a great way to read to your child while also doing the dishes or paying bills! Multitasking has never been easier haha!

Who are Storypods for?

Storypods are designed for children ages 0-6+. There is a wide variety of age-appropriate audio content to choose from and engages kids on many different levels! From our understanding, most of the content available with Storypod is for younger kids and may not be as engaging for older children. 

Parents looking to decrease screen time!

They are a great addition to a young family’s entertainment in the home.  If you are looking for ways to decrease the amount of screen time in your home then a Storypod will be a great addition!  

Parents looking for bedtime help! 

Storypod has content to help kids with their bedtime routine!  For example, they have bedtime lullabies and stories to help kids wind down for bedtime.  

Parents of kids who love to read! 

We love reading with our kids and are constantly encouraging them to learn through books.  Storypods will foster a love for reading for your kids.  It offers another way for your kids to engage with books in a fun way! 

Parents looking for ways to educate their kids! 

Storypods allow kids to interact with educational content.  It provides trivia for fun topics like animals, the earth, astronomy, and so much more!  They also have books that teach important life skills like kindness, emotional intelligence, perseverance, and giving.  The education content is so vast which is one of the things that is so exciting for us!

Parents looking for wholesome entertainment for their kids! 

Storypods have so many fun fictional stories for kids to read and fun songs to sing and dance to. There are hours and hours of content available for your kids to be entertained with!

Parents looking for travel entertainment!

Storypod is portable and can easily be used in your car and on the go!  We love having options for entertaining our kids on long road trips! 

Parents looking to encourage independent play! 

Stoyrpods engage kids in such a way that they learn how to play independently!  Now that is a huge parenting win! Now on to that mountain of laundry. 

Storypods are designed for children ages 0-6+. From our understanding, most of the content available with Storypods is for younger kids and may not be as engaging for older children. 

What benefits do Storypods provide?

Educational Potential of Storypods

Storypods hold immense educational potential, especially in early childhood development and literacy. Here are some ways in which Storypods are transforming education:

Promoting Literacy

Storypods engage young readers by making stories come alive through narration and sound effects. This interactive approach can help children develop essential literacy skills like vocabulary, comprehension, and pronunciation.

Fostering Imagination

By offering a multisensory storytelling experience, Storypods encourages children to use their imagination and creativity. They can visualize characters, settings, and events more vividly, which aids in cognitive development.

Enhancing Language Learning

Storypods are versatile tools for language learning. They can provide stories in multiple languages, helping children develop their language skills and cultural awareness.

Inclusive Learning

Storypods are accessible to children with varying abilities. Visual and auditory elements accommodate different learning styles, making them inclusive for all students.

Encouraging Critical Thinking

Interactive features in some Storypods prompt children to think critically and make decisions that impact the story’s outcome, fostering problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities.

Content

This is what sets Storypod apart from its competitors.  They have a huge content library that is both original and unique. They have their own storybooks that have original stories!  They also have some classic fables that we all grew up with like Peter Rabbit.  

It stands out amongst other popular kids’ audio players with its interactive buttons that allow kids to answer questions and do more than just sit and listen.

Some of the content comes in the form of crafties which make for fun little collectables!

We love that so much of their content is original because it gives our boys new stories and music to interact with.  Our boys seem to be so much more entertained by new music and stories.  The more entertained they are the less they sneak around the house causing trouble.   

Many of the alternatives to Storypod use more common stories such as Disney tales.  

Storypod’s crafties have longer amounts of content (usually 90 minutes) than most other alternatives. 

Interactive

The interactive abilities of Storypod are a huge part of what makes Storypod stand out amongst the competition!

This is something we are super excited about having for our kids. Having quality content for kids to listen to is amazing but being able to interact with that content takes it to the next level!

Storypod has buttons on the top that allow kids to do quizzes, check reading (or I guess listening) comprehension, and provide more possibilities for enjoying the trivia decks and activity cards!

Portable

This is a big benefit for us. You can take it on road trips, to grandma’s house, in the playroom, in the bedroom for bedtime, or wherever else you can think of!  

It has a battery life of about 7 hours which allows for plenty of use on road trips!

Storypod also has soft covers that are put on the Storypod speaker itself to help protect it from toddlers banging it around the house.  These covers (they call them sleeves) come in different colors and patterns and are interchangeable so you can customize it for your kids!

Screen Free

While this is not a unique benefit to Storypod as a kids’ screen-free audio player, it is such a huge reason we bought one for our family!

Movies and PBS kids shows are one of the best babysitters we have in our home.  We totally understand how hard it can be to get anything done without using a screen to entertain your kids.  We are always trying to figure out how we can minimize the screen time our kids are getting because we always see an increase in poor behavior when we have a day filled with movies!  

A study done by the University of Albany found that 87% of children have more screen time than is recommended by the American Pediatric Academy.  

With that in mind, Storypods can truly be a lifesaver for providing your kids with entertainment that doesn’t include a screen. 

Bedtime

Any help we can get at bedtime is much appreciated!  We find ourselves dealing with bedtime tantrums and kids all wound up who won’t stay in bed when it’s time to sleep!  

Storypod offers content that can help calm your kids down and get ready to sleep!  There are bedtime crafies that include lullabies, bedtime stories, and soothing sounds to help your kids get ready for bed and stay in bed!  

Storypod allows you to set time limits which is perfect for bedtime!  You can let your kids fall asleep to the Storypod if you like and it will shut off on its own when the time limit is up!

Another awesome feature is that the Storypod can act like a night light!

Recordings

This is a really neat feature because it lets you personalize your child’s experience with the Storypod.  There is a recordable craftie that allows you to record up to 100 minutes of your reading, singing, or even just comforting your kids. How cool would it be to record your own stories for your children to listen to as they fall asleep, away at grandma’s house, or just to give them something to do while you make phone calls! 100 minutes is quite a bit of time and more than we have seen for any other kids’ audio player. 

There are also recordable stickers that you can place on whatever items you want to have a recording for.  

For example, you can record yourself talking about pictures from a family photo album and stick it on the album.  That way your child can hear your voice as they look through the album and learn about their ancestors or reminisce about fun family experiences! How cool is that! 

The possibilities are truly endless with the ability to record yourself! 

Storypod Pricing – How Much Does it Cost?

Storypod Alternatives

Toniebox

Toniebox is a really popular alternative to Storypod and has been entertaining kids for years!  One of the major differences with Toniebox is its content.  Toniebox focuses on cherished Disney classic stories and music!  If your kids are huge Disney fans then Toneibox may be a better choice.  

The Disney content comes on hard plastic Disney character figurines.  These are really cool because they can also be a fun addition to your kids’ toys and room decor! 

We feel that our kids get enough Disney from the music and movies we enjoy as a family so the more original content from Storypod is better suited to our needs. 

Price of Toneibox: $99.99

Price of Tonies: $17.99-$19.99

Yoto

Yoto is another great option for kids screen free audio players! It is a box-shaped speaker with a digital screen that looks super retro! The content for the Yoto is on cards that are inserted into the top of the Yoto. 

Yoto has content for a larger age range of kids. They say their content is for 3-12 years old! This stands out against Storypod which is geared more toward younger kids. 

Another key benefit of Yoto is the battery life being up to 24 hours! 

The Yoto screen is multipurpose, acting as a clock, displaying images that go along with the story, and night light.

Recently they have come out with the Yoto mini which has most of the same features as the original but is smaller and easily portable!

Price of Yoto: $119

Price of Yoto mini: $69

Price of content cards: $6.99-$9.99 for single cards or $14.99-$59.99 for card packs

Conclusion – Is Storypod Worth It?

In short, YES! We have not seen or heard anything but positive about Storypod. In our research and personal experience thus far, everything about Storypod appears beneficial for both child and parent. We feel that anything that helps further our children’s learning, growth, and development is very worth getting. This product is also a great entertainment alternative to screen time, what a bonus!

Frequently Asked Questions