DELAWARE- Learning, engaging, and growing.
That is what kids in Delaware will be able to do with a Toniebox.
"The Toniebox is a screen free speaker system for kids that uses magnetic figures to play specific songs, stories, and all different types of audio content," Marketing Director of Tonies USA Drew Vernon said.
On their own, kids can decide what they want to listen to with the multitude of characters available to choose from.
Delaware’s First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney says this was the perfect fit into her First Chance Delaware Initiative for kids.
"Innovative approaches to engaging kids without screens in early language experience has got to be a great thing," Quillen Carney said. "One of the three focuses of First Chance is helping brain development towards school readiness which this fits right into that."
Representative Bryan Shupe has had Tonieboxes in his home for three years and says he saw great benefits of the device for his oldest child.
"With my 5-year-old we really saw her vocabulary just start to explode," Shupe said. "The number of facts that she had with the National Geographic Tonies and just the way she talked was more eloquent."
State Librarian Dr. Annie Norman says there are three Tonieboxes now available in each Delaware public library to be checked out for a limited time as part of a pilot program.Â
"The libraries now are standing by for the patrons to come in and check them out," Dr. Norman said. "In some cases, the libraries might hold them there so people can play with them in the library, but many of them will allow them to be checked out for a week."
There is no timetable on how long the pilot program will last or when more Tonieboxes could be coming to the libraries, but they have already been incorporated into Delaware’s Summer Reading Program which starts on June 1.
