Toddlers are addicted to iPads across the globe. However, Yoto is attempting to change that. The Yoto is a music player geared to toddlers to help with motor skills and play audio in an effort to prevent them from spending way too much time on screens.

Two dads, Ben Drury and Filip Denker, recognized that toddlers spend too much of their day staring at a screen and founded the company Yoto. The goal of this company was to create a device without a screen that could benefit children. A 2020 study published in the journal Scientific Reports by University College London found that children who listened to stories as audiobooks were more physiologically and cognitively engaged than children who watched the same stories on video. After reading this study, the two founders decided to make a device that played music and audiobooks to improve children’s capabilities.

The Yoto Player is a small, portable device that plays audio when a card is pressed into a slot on its side. It has a heavily pixelated screen with small cute designs that change. There are two knobs: one that can skip songs and go through the tracks, while the other increases and decreases volume. The Yoto device is also an alarm clock and a bluetooth speaker to connect to other devices.

Toddlers also refine motor skills when controlling the Yoto, as stuffing a card into the thin slot enhances their ability to maneuver their hand with precision. A study, Vision for Action in Toddlers: The Posting Task, proved that placing a vertical object in a thin slot improves motor skills. The Yoto device also improves concentration and imagination because listening to audio requires more focus and active participation than watching a video. It also prevents distractions because of its simple controls and lack of ads.

The Yoto received an award for one of TIME’s Best Innovations of 2020. In 2022, the Yoto Mini also won the British Design and Art Direction (D&AD) award for its design. The idea behind Yoto allowed it to win many more awards because of its design for children. The company Yoto continues to innovate to find more solutions to screen addiction for children, making specialized cards that you can design for the music player.

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