Disclaimer: We were sent this TIMIO educational audio and music player review free of charge, but words and pictures are mine.
With lots of time on our hands at the moment, anything to entertain the kids is welcome – and particularly so if it claims to be educational! The TIMIO educational audio and music player for kids aged 3-8 years looked like a great way to keep the children learning and – let’s be honest – out of my hair for a few minutes here and there, so we were happy to review one!
What’s in the TIMIO box?
Inside the box you get the music/audio player, twenty plastic ‘disks’ which all fit inside a small canvas bag, and instructions. You will need three AA batteries for your TIMIO; these go into a compartment on the bottom of the machine.
The audio player has a green handle which can be twisted all the way around it and also be used as a stand; the disks are magnetic so will stay on however the machine is positioned.
The controls (language and volume) are in the centre of the TIMIO; the part covered by the disk. Around this is a speaker. There is also a headphone jack on the top
How does the TIMIO kids’ audio player work?
There is an on/off switch on the back; turn this on and you will hear some musical notes.
You can change the volume setting by pressing the quieter/louder buttons; You can also set the language by pressing the globe button at the top for a few seconds; it will then start to scroll through the languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese and Dutch). When you hear the one you want, take your finger off the button.
Choose which of the 20 disks you want to listen to.
There are some with words – for example numbers, vegetables, colours, animals, body parts, time, shapes… These would be perfect for building vocabulary with toddlers/preschoolers, and great for helping older kids (and adults, if you’re so inclined) to learn words in other languages.
There are also story disks and song disks including lullabies (and sounds including white noise), classic nursery rhymes and Christmas songs, which annoyingly seems to be my kids’ favourite one…
You can see all of the content which comes with the TIMIO audio and music player on their website.
At the current time you cannot purchase additional disks for your TIMIO machine. This means you are a little limited to the stories and songs that come with it, although with 20 disks and over 2500 files included, your children shouldn’t run out of new content too soon! We certainly haven’t gone through them all yet and the kids have decided to listen to the same ones many times in a row, as kids tend to do.
The disks are really easy to slot on to the machine and children as young as three will easily be able to do this independently. When they go on, LEDs around the edge will light up and all you need to do is select your chosen word/song/story by pressing on the colourful icon. An LED will briefly light up to show which icon has been selected.
If you want to stop listening, just remove the disk and it will stop automatically.
The machine will switch off if not in use for 5 minutes, although switching off at the back is recommended to conserve battery life.
TIMIO review: What we liked about the TIMIO audio player
The TIMIO music and audio player is a completely screen free way of entertaining children and the variety of content means that it will cover a good age range. Even very young children will be able to operate it without any parental assistance.
The advantage of the TIMIO over other audio players that we have reviewed is that it is entirely portable. It doesn’t need charging, running off batteries, and does not require the internet at all in setting up or playing music. This means it is perfect for use on the go, staying in unfamiliar places etc; the headphone slot would make it good for travelling.
It is well built and, being designed for children, will survive the odd knock and bump.
The sound quality is surprisingly good and not tinny at all. I find the lullabies quite soothing as background noise myself!
Anything we didn’t like?
Not really!
Apart from the fact that you can’t expand your collection of disks, which isn’t a problem yet, the only thing I didn’t really like was that the stories included are all in an American accent – so be ready for that! They are in fact the same stories featured on our Smart Globe. The kids don’t seem to mind at all, it’s just me that finds it a little annoying!
There is no way to pause a story, or fast forward/rewind; the stories are short so it’s not that much of an issue, but just something that my children noticed as they do not like to miss anything, even when they need a wee!
How much and where to buy
The TIMIO educational audio and mucic player is designed for children from 3-8 years old. The player plus 20 disks retails at €119.
It can be purchased online, and comes from The Netherlands with free shipping to the UK. Follow TIMIO on Facebook or Instagram for updates.
See my list of best kids’ audio players for 2023 here!
WIN!
You can WIN a TIMIO player right here! Good luck!
What a super give away for some lucky winner here’s hoping great for my daughter with 5 young boys to care for as they are in isolation with medical issues with her 5 year old .many thanks .x
Wow, this is totally awesome! I’m currently teaching my child Spanish, so this would come in really useful. Fingers crossed x