Ever heard of Yoto, the children’s educational toy?

Me either, until one of our readers named Tom pointed out that they exist, AND they have a couple of items that will be of keen interest to the absolute Beatle completists among us.

Yoto is a digital player that accepts specially pre-recorded cards (slightly larger than a credit card) which kids slot into the player to hear stories, podcasts, games and……..music:

The big news is that Yoto has just added two very special music cards.

One is for the The Beatles 1962-1966 Red Album (Yoto Edition), and one for the The Beatles 1967-1970 Blue Album (Yoto Edition):

Yoto describes the contents of their unique 12-track Red Album like this:

An introduction to The Beatles for kids. Enjoy timeless hits from their early years, 1962-1966.

Twelve special chosen tracks from the early years of The Beatles, 1962-1966. The perfect introduction for music-loving kids to the fab-four.

Discover the songs that broke them onto the world stage. Sing, dance and play along to these timeless classics, some of the most popular and indelible rock songs of all time.

Tracklist:

• Love Me Do (2023 mix)
• Please Please Me (2023 mix)
• From Me To You (2023 mix)
• She Loves You (2023 mix)
• Can’t Buy Me Love (2023 mix)
• Ticket To Ride (2023 mix)
• I Want To Hold Your Hand (2023 mix)
• If I Needed Someone (2023 mix)
• Drive My Car (2023 mix)
• Got To Get You Into My Life (2022 mix)
• I’m Only Sleeping (2022 mix)
• Yellow Submarine (2022 mix)

And their 12-track Blue Album like this:

An introduction to The Beatles for kids. Enjoy timeless hits from their later years, 1967-1970.

The second curated collection of tracks from the most iconic band of all time. Charting the later part of their career where they experimented with new sounds and created some songs that are loved across generations and around the world.

The perfect way to share music as a family and the ultimate inspiration for all the music-loving, dancing and singing little ones out there.

Tracklist:

• Penny Lane (2017 Mix)
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2017 Mix)
• With A Little Help From My Friends (2017 Mix)
• All You Need Is Love (2015 Mix)
• Hello, Goodbye (2015 Mix)
• Magical Mystery Tour (2023 Mix)
• Hey Jude (2015 Mix)
• Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (2018 Mix)
• Blackbird (2018 Mix)
• Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix)
• Octopus’s Garden (2019 Mix)
• Let It Be (2021 Mix)

But that’s not all the original Beatle content Yoto has. Also recently added is a unique Paul McCartney card, Say Hello To Paul McCartney:

Yoto says: Dance, sing and play along to a selection of songs, especially chosen for Yoto.

Say Hello To Paul McCartney is a unique collection of timeless songs from one of the greatest ever songwriters and performers. Paul McCartney has curated this collection of tracks from his legendary catalogue and it’s sure to get all of your family singing and dancing along.

Sway and jump to ‘Dance Tonight’, take a trip to the Scottish Coast with ‘Mull of Kintyre’ or sing along in chorus to ‘We All Stand Together’ – these and many more songs await you on this ultimate Yoto music card! This card also includes two tracks never before released on a music product – the ‘Hey Grandude’ and ‘Hey Nandude’ themes, from Paul’s highly acclaimed children’s books.

Tracklist:

• Grandude Theme
• Dance Tonight
• Little Willow
• Heart of the Country
• Mary had a Little Lamb
• We All Stand Together
• Great Day
• Mama’s Little Girl
• Calico Skies
• Let ‘Em In
• Mull of Kintyre
• Winter Bird, When Winter Comes
• Who Cares
• Nandude Theme

So, this is one way for you to get clean versions of two rare original McCartney tracks – the instrumental ‘Grandude Theme’ and ‘Nandude Theme’, taken from the audiobook recordings of his two children’s books Hey Grandude (2019), and Grandude’s Green Submarine (2021).

Sincere apologies if this news is going to cost you more money!

The official press announcement is up on the Paul McCartney site now as well.

Techmoan has done a great video explaining just how these little players and the cards work (you don’t have to have a player):

Our readers Tom and Guy have both confirmed that you don’t need a stand alone Yoto player. The Yoto app can be downloaded for free to your phone, and a simple tap of the card gives you access to the contents. The cards are the size of a credit card: