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Little Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter Set

Curated from 51 real Reddit conversations

Refreshed on: April 3, 2025

Little Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter Set

Brand: Little Tikes
Price: $49
Snoop Score:
7.6
Sentiment
6.4
Popularity
8.5
Technical
7.8

Snoop's Take

The Little Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter Set is a delightful tool designed to make storytime interactive and engaging for toddlers and young children. It combines storytelling with visual and auditory elements, projecting images on the wall while narrating beloved stories such as The Poky Little Puppy. Consumer feedback highlights its strengths, such as encouraging independent play and visual learning; one user noted, "I wanted to get something that didn’t involve my phone." However, there are concerns about the short length of the stories and difficulties in switching between them, with a frustrated user stating, "Keep me posted :) I hate how short the stories are." Overall, this product is recommended for parents looking for an engaging storytime experience for their children, especially if they value educational play, despite some technical issues reported by users.

Not for you? Check out our other rated Storytelling Toys

the books are SO short and she has trouble taking them out and putting the new one in.

Positive Feedback

Keep me posted :) I hate how short the stories are

Negative Feedback
Product
7.6
Little Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter Set
Bedtime Routine
7 / 10
Screen-Free Entertainment
3 / 10
Language Development
3 / 10
Imaginative Play Enjoyment
7 / 10
See how this compares to all Storytelling Toys

What it does well!

Key strengths users can’t stop talking about.
Encourages independent play
the books are SO short and she has trouble taking them out and putting the new one in.
I saw this stupid Dream Machine and I'm so freaking jealous.
just get it! even if you only play with it/use it a couple times before it goes in a closet for future grandkids/donation pile! a little whimsy and frivolous behavior never hurt anybody.
One of my very first thoughts is that I want to make custom books for this thing! Maybe I'm ridiculous.
Encourages visual and auditory learning
Personally I think it’s incredible for a two-year-old! If she loves books she can follow along with the book and the print and actually see it.
Enjoyable lullaby
my daughter loves it and I’d love to be able to play it for her outside of just on the toy.
the sound track to "Man From Snowy River" by Bruce Rowland- Jessica's Theme at 1:27. It is not identical really, but it has similar changes in it that make it very musical and really sounds good.
Child enjoys the toy despite technical issues
It takes a full minute of "rewinding" noises to find the first slide, but when it finally starts playing, the audio is from the first page of the book and the picture/page being shown is from the middle.
Hi I was wondering how long each story approximately is? My sister can’t find anywhere on how long each story is to be read by the toy.
Engaging for kids of multiple ages
she’s not into it anyway.
they like the books which are cool you tap them on pod and let you read along.
Encourages storytelling and auditory learning
We LOVE our Storypod. Had a Tonie box but kept having connectivity issues so switched to Storypod and we’re super happy for a few different reasons

Where it needs some work!

Areas to watch—feedback on possible improvements.
Books are too short
Keep me posted :) I hate how short the stories are
Difficult to switch books
he sometimes can get one back in.
We returned ours to Amazon today and will buy a Tonibox instead.
Frustrating for kids
It’s kind of a piece of crap so not missing much.
Too stimulating for bedtime use
I think it would be too stimulating for my daughter to fall asleep to it.
Looking at their site it looks like it is 3+ I’m assuming for battery reasons which makes me nervous as we already have a hard time with “don’t eat your crayons”.
Defective out of box experience
Same exact issue for us on Christmas morning. So frustrating. Hoping they do the right thing.
Same issue. Same christmas.
Yes, it did wind up being an out-of-the-box defective machine unit. After going back and forth with LT customer svc via email sending pictures, videos, and serial numbers, they finally said they'd send me a new one.
Smaller library compared to competitors
I’m having a small amount of buyers regret though because they have a much smaller library, I’m really hoping that soon they will have a larger library.

Compare On All Talked About Dimensions

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Little Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter SetLittle Tikes Story Dream Machine Starter Set$49
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COcnny Farm Animal Finger Puppets SetCOcnny Farm Animal Finger Puppets Set$8
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Little Tikes Story Dream MachineLittle Tikes Story Dream Machine$11
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KOKODI Kids Story Projector for ToddlersKOKODI Kids Story Projector for Toddlers$49
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Core Power Plays

The specs and strengths that make it shine.
Appeals to both young children and older siblings
We have played it almost everyday in the last 3 months! His 9yo cousin loves to play it too whenever he visits.

Hidden Hero Hacks

Unexpected tricks and side‑door uses you’ll love.
Desire for custom books and modifications
My first thought was the same thing! Seems to be a gear which turns the projector frames and 8-pin connector which contains some small amount of flash memory for audio files and other control instructions.
Looking to do this too, the story input looks like it's just a primitive usb, I need to open up a story cassette and see what's in it.
I'm. Curious about doing some reverse engineering on this toy as well.
Would love to hear what you come up with!

Buyer’s Cheat Sheet

What to check before you click ‘Add to Cart.’
Debate on whether it counts as screen time
do people consider this screen time?
Questions about age suitability
Would you say this toy would be okay for a 2 year old?
Potential for daily use
You’ll love it. Kiddo (4.5yo) and I played again tonight, and he’s had it for about 6 months.

Cautionary Callouts

Know the pitfalls before they catch you off guard.
Song may be a random tune
Unfortunately it seems like it might just be a random tune because they call it the "story dream machine lullaby."
Debate on audio player preferences
Tonies vs Storypod? I know my son is a little young (almost 20 months) but I’ve been thinking about getting him an audio player for Christmas.
I went with Storypod because they have Daniel Tiger and O the Owl crafties and my son LOVES Daniel.
Concerns about scam websites mimicking Little Tikes
It seems like an obvious scam but does anyone have any better insight into it?
If it seems too good to be true it generally is.
Google just promotes these scam sites?! Let's them advertise and makes money on it

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