Songs, Stories and Activities for Ages 0-5

 

As a mum of a five year old and a one year old, I’m constantly amazed by just how much discovery and learning is packed into a child’s first five years - and how much change and progression they go through every few months of life. I’ve been lucky enough to watch my eldest grow up with Yoto and am now seeing the journey start again with my youngest - and although certain preferences and tastes are definitely evident, there are patterns of interest that seem to resonate with preschoolers at specific moments of their young lives.

In rough order of age interest, I’ve selected a few of our family’s favourites. I hope you find something in this list to spark the imagination of your preschooler too!

Animal Sounds (6 months +)

Mimicking animal sounds is one of the earliest games you can play with your baby, and helps with important developmental milestones like categorisation and speech and language. Being able to spot the illustrations of the various animals on the Player’s pixel display helps hold attention for the youngest of listeners too.

Monkey Music: Copy Me (6 months to 2 years)

Who doesn’t love a singsong with their baby? This brilliant card of catchy tunes has been created by the clever folk at Monkey Music, whose award-winning baby music classes are some of the most popular in the UK. Dig out your percussion instruments and enjoy this sensory singalong!

Nursery Rhymes (birth to 5 years)

Another music card, this time featuring the most popular - and catchy - nursery rhymes, sung acapella or with a simple guitar accompaniment. The perfect post-nap soundtrack.

My First 100 Words (18 months to 5 years)

Before my eldest had the attention span to listen to a story, he loved the Yoto Player’s pixel display (as well as practicing his fine motor skills by taking the card in and out countless times too, of course!). For ages 1+, let your child listen along in their native language and enjoy the constantly changing pictures and sounds. Then you can stretch your budding linguist with the same catalogue of words in four other languages!

A Squash and a Squeeze (2-5 years)

There’s so much to love about one of Julia Donaldson’s lesser-known picture books, and in audiobook form this charming rhyming story really comes to life. Turn storytime into a simple memory game and see if you can remember the order of the animals that pile into the old lady’s house - and make the animal sounds too!

LEGO DUPLO 1, 2, 3 Play with me (2-4 years)

The construction toy beloved by children the world over, Duplo has cornered the market for preschool learning through building and play. Yoto’s original Duplo series has been conceived to further extend the learning fun through five interactive audio packs, and one of our favourites makes use of one of Duplo’s most popular sets - the number train. If you don’t have the bricks to hand, you can use any numbered blocks to play along with this numerical game.

Phonics: Letters & Sounds (Phase 1) (3-5 years)

One of our bestselling card packs, this Yoto Original series is the perfect first step into Phonics for all preschoolers (and their parents!). Did you know that phonetic learning starts with the ability to identify everyday sounds? Phase 1 in our Phonics range has a selection of simple games to play with your child, to get them comfortable with sound recognition - starting with household sounds and musical instruments - before introducing them to letter sounds and the phonetic alphabet.

Ladybird First Favourite Tales (3-5 years)

All of your traditional fairy tale favourites on one card! Brought to life in audio by the beloved preschool publisher Ladybird, this complete collection is one of the most comprehensive in our library - with stories including ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’,‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and ‘Chicken Licken’. There’s a high chance your child will hear these stories in many forms over the years, so develop a love of fairy tales early and encourage discussion about which story is their favourite.

Finally, it’s true that Yoto Player offers a whole load of early years entertainment straight out of the box. From Yoto Radio for impromptu post-nap boogying, to Sleep Radio and Sleep Sounds for moments of calm and peace, we often default to the Player’s built-in options to provide a soundtrack everyday activities (nappy changes are definitely calmer with a musical accompaniment!). 

However you choose to introduce audio into your child’s early years, the benefits and rewards will last a lifetime. 

 

Please note: under 3s should only use Yoto Player or Yoto Mini under parental supervision.