10 Yoto Mini Travel Hacks

The best things about the Yoto Mini:

• Plays audiobooks and music

• Screen-free and easy for kids to use

• Great for all ages (even younger kids can listen on their own)

• No Wi-Fi required

• Create your own cards to add stories or music

If you want to give the Yoto Mini a try, I have a discount code you can use to save on your entire order.

Use the code below to get 10% off 👇

(discount applies to any order above the price of a Yoto Mini $69.99USD or $99.99CAD)

One of the best parts about the Yoto Mini is that it works OFFLINE without Wi-Fi, but only if your cards are downloaded in advance. If you don’t, they won’t play in airplane mode or anywhere without an internet connection.

How to download your Yoto Cards for offline use: 

1. Connect your Yoto Mini to Wi-Fi using the app.
2. Insert each card you plan to use while connected.
3. Let it play for a few seconds so it fully downloads.
4. Go to Players > Your Mini > Content in the app to double-check that each one is downloaded.

Before you leave, make sure your Yoto Mini is fully charged, then leave it plugged in overnight with nothing playing. This helps the device finish any pending downloads in the background.

Test one card without Wi-Fi before your trip to make sure it's ready. This is a really common mistake and it can be a real bummer if you try to use a new card for the first time on a flight (speaking from personal experience!) 

You can skip packing a separate white noise machine. The Yoto Mini has an entire free Sleep Sounds section in the app with white noise, pink noise, ocean waves, gentle rain, and more.

You can download these sounds and link them to a Make Your Own (MYO) card for offline use on planes or in hotel rooms.

There’s also Sleep Radio, which streams relaxing nature soundscapes. Just a heads-up though: Sleep Radio requires Wi-Fi, so it won’t work mid-flight.

In addition, we love the dedicated Sleep Cards that you can purchase in the Yoto store. They're our go-to wind-down option at home and on the road.

Make Your Own cards can hold up to 100 hours of audio. Instead of packing a dozen individual cards, you can create a playlist with a variety of stories, songs, and even personal recordings like bedtime stories from Grandma or a calming routine in your own voice, and then assign it to a single card. 

How to build a MYO playlist:

1. Go to Library > Make Your Own in the app.
2. Create a new playlist and add content from your Yoto Library or upload your own MP3 or AAC/M4A files.
3. Insert a blank MYO card and link the playlist.

Important to note: You can only add audio that you own. That means MP3 files you’ve purchased or created yourself. Streaming music from services like Spotify or Apple Music cannot be downloaded and used on MYO cards.

If you forget a card or just want to bring fewer, you can still access everything in your Yoto Library through the app, even without the device.

How to stream from the Yoto Library on the App to Yoto Mini device:

1. Open the Yoto app
2. Tap on a title you want to listen to from your Yoto Library
3. Hit Play on [the name of your Yoto Mini device] to stream it directly to your Yoto Mini

You can also connect your phone to your car’s audio system using Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, or an AUX cable, and play Yoto content directly through the car speakers. It's a great option for road trips if you don’t want to hand off the device itself or want everyone to listen together!

The Yoto Mini can also act as a Bluetooth speaker. This means you can stream music, audiobooks, or podcasts from your phone using any app, including Spotify or Apple Music.

How to do this:

1. Hold both orange buttons on the Mini until the light flashes blue
2. Open your phone’s Bluetooth settings and select "Yoto Mini"

Just remember that this is different from making a MYO card. You can’t turn Spotify music into a Yoto card, because you don’t own the audio files. But Bluetooth streaming works great for hotel rooms, dance breaks, or beach days.

This is one of my favourite ways to prep kids for a trip. You can use a Make Your Own card to walk your child through each day’s plans. You can either create one full playlist that outlines your entire itinerary or update the card each evening with the next day’s activities.

Record something simple like, “Today we’re going to the aquarium. Look out for the giant octopus.” Or “We’ll take the train to our new hotel, and grab lunch at that place you saw in the book.” You can also turn this into a daily routine card by adding a get-ready song or Yoto's free Toothbrush Timer (available in the Discover section in the Yoto app) to help keep structure on the go.

Bluetooth headphones are a great travel essential, especially for flights or quiet hotel rooms. We genuinely LOVE the Yoto wireless headphones, which also come with a daisy chain to connect two pairs of headphones to a single Yoto Mini player for joint listening.

Make sure you charge both the Yoto Mini and the headphones in advance of your trip, and try pair them before your trip so you’re not troubleshooting mid-flight.

How to pair wireless headphones with your Yoto Mini

1. Turn on your Bluetooth headphones and initiate pairing mode, so they go looking for your Yoto Mini player
2. On your Yoto Mini, press and hold the left-hand orange button for around 3 seconds until the Bluetooth speaker mode icon appears on the display
3. Rotate the right hand button clockwise to display the headphone icon and press the right-hand button to start pairing mode, so it goes looking for your headphones. The Bluetooth icon will start flashing blue.
4. When successfully paired, the display icons will become full color, and a blue pixel will appear in the top left corner of the clock face display (this indicates that Bluetooth is active). Your player should now play audio through your headphones instead of the speaker.

If you have a younger child who loves pushing every button, you can lock down certain functions in the app to avoid accidental track skips or menu confusion.

To do this:

1. Go to Players > Your Mini > Settings
2. Adjust the controls to limit what the buttons do

This setting is especially helpful for toddlers!

Once the Yoto Mini is in airplane mode, you won’t be able to change the maximum volume limit setting. Typically we keep the limit a little bit lower so that even if your child turns the volume dial all the way up, it won’t exceed your limit. But for airplanes, you’ll want a max volume because it’s loud on the plane and it’s a good idea to set a maximum volume limit before you leave.

How to adjust the Yoto Mini volume limit:

1. Open the Yoto app
2. Go to Players > Your Mini > Settings > Maximum Volume
3. Drag the slider to the level you want

The Yoto Mini is already very travel-friendly because of its compact size, but take it one step further and get a Travel Case with a crossbody strap and space for cards. The Yoto Travel Case can fit a Yoto Mini, charging cable, wireless headphones, and up to 30 Yoto Cards. It also has an adjustable shoulder strap suitable for over-the-shoulder or cross-body wearing. The case also has a cable hole so kids can listen on the go and makes using the Yoto Mini a hands-free experience.

If you want to give the Yoto Mini a try, I have a discount code you can use to save on your entire order.

Use the code below to get 10% off 👇

(discount applies to any order above the price of a Yoto Mini $69.99USD or $99.99CAD)

This post was sponsored by Yoto, but all opinions (and kid-tested recommendations after years of using the Yoto Mini!) are 100% my own.