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The Best Toys for 12-18 Month Olds: Top 25 Picks

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Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and none of these companies requested inclusion in this list of top baby toys for 12-18 months.

I have been so pleased with how helpful folks have found my round up of best baby toys for 6-12 months that I decided it’s time to offer some thoughts on what rocks for the next age bracket, those adorable (and exhausting!) 12-18 month olds who seem to be into EVERYTHING!!! Based on my personal experience, advice from a friend who had a toddler more recently than me, and based on my experience with certain brands, I present to you the best toys for 12-18 month olds. I hope having this list of top toys helps you out as you work on birthday and holiday shopping or wish list making!

best-baby-toys-12-18-months

  1. Teepee Tent

The price is VERY nice for this item, and as teepee owners, I can tell you that this is a toy that will get used for YEARS before it it retired. You will be hard-pressed to get more bang for your buck!

2. Topanifarm Cubes

Take your stacking blocks to a new level! These are bright and beautiful, which will draw your young toddler to them, and the added animals (not small enough to be choking hazards, though children this age should always be supervised during play) are a HUGE interest builder for kids. Absolutely love this and wish it had been around when my kids were little.

3. Step 2 Whisper Ride Buggy
Ride-on toys are pretty much always loved by this age range of kids. A friend of mine got this as a first birthday present and it’s still going strong a few years later!  Comes in pink or blue.
4. VTech Sit to Stand Learning Walker
This is the perfect choice for the little ones who are taking a bit longer to start walking (my oldest didn’t walk until 14 months, for example). The activities all along the front side draw the child in to engage, and those handle bars up top become irresistible, and before you know it, steps are being taken!
5. Fat Brain Toys Rolligo
I recall my kids enjoying taking things out of containers and putting them back in over and over again, and being highly entertained by that process. This Rolligo toy has balls that can come out of a funky and fun container and then get put back in. It might not sound fun to us, but I promise, it will be a huge hit with young toddlers!
A ball popper is a must for this group, and isn’t this such an awesome one?!
Toddlers are SOOO squirmy in the tub, so finding a great tub toy is critical, and this one is a big winner. What toddler isn’t going to LOVE getting to dump water through pipes over and over?
Let me keep it real: this is a toy that makes a lot of noise and flashes a lot of lights. It will NOT be the favorite of the parents. But it will be much-loved by the little ones. The perfect gift for a grandparent to give. Ha!
This one should bring back some memories. The design is very similar to the farm play house many of us had as kids. Love the classic look of it. I’d want to play with it, again!
10. Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Crawl Around Learning Center
Any young toddler will enjoy this learning center, but it is another one that I’d recommend for the child who isn’t yet confidently walking. Movement all around is encouraged to play with everything, though, which I really like.
11. Playhouse Tent with Tunnel
So perfect for shaded outdoor play! Most definitely buy some ball pit balls to go with this because it will greatly increase the amount of time the toddler wants to spend playing here.
12. B. Toys Toddler Music Band
Oh heck yes. This will be great fun for the little ones, and so nice to have around if you have a play date, because at this age kids will do parallel play, but not really play together. If everyone can have their own instrument, then fun will be had by all!
13. Fisher Price Stroll Along Walker
Absolutely love this as a way to practice walking while also practicing pretend play with a doll. The stroller is also a walker. Also, note the wallet-friendly price-point!

14. Melissa & Doug Shape Sorting Drum

This one is such a great choice for those little growing minds! Having 3-dimensional shapes to hold helps the brain tremendously to be able to truly understand them, and to create maps in their brains of the objects which will help them down the road in preschool and elementary school. This also fulfills that need little ones have to put stuff in boxes and take them out, only with a more challenging element.
So this item is actually on the recommended list for 6-12 months, too, and that should tell you something about what a huge hit it really is! My friend’s daughter is still playing with this at 2 1/2, so if you are looking for a toy that will grow with the child, this really is a great choice.
Busy little toddlers can really struggle to sit still for story time, which can be tough on parents who have heard about how important it is to read every day to your little one (and it IS really important!). A finger puppet can tremendously help a child keep her attention on the story and even get the little one involved if they want to wear the puppet (side note: I also HIGHLY recommend sing-a-long books for toddlers…dancing while reading? A perfect choice!).
My girls had something very similar to this and played and played with it! Great for curious minds!
18. Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Smart Train
This comes with over 50 tunes and phrases and with different challenge levels depending on the child’s development. Big hit!
I remember these types of toys continuing to interest me even as a 1st grader (they were in the waiting room of our dentist). What I really love about this one is that it is small enough for travel (something to do in the car!) and that it has suction cups so you can secure it on a flat surface. Brilliant!
20. Little Tikes T-Ball Set
Is the little one you are buying for already running? Give him/her something to chase after! Love this classic toy that will get played with for quite a while before it is outgrown.
These look AWESOME!!!! Watch the video on Amazon to see the different kinds of things little ones do with this imaginative product! Definitely another one I wish I had known about.
Cute variation on the shape sorting concept: the shapes will bounce inside!
Believe it or not, it’s not too early to start building with your little one. These are a perfect precursor to Legos, and they are big enough that you won’t accidentally step on them. 🙂
This is another toy that will grow with your child as the interest in imaginative play develops. At this stage, the songs played by the set will be most enjoyed.
I couldn’t wrap up this list for toys for 12-18 month olds without including this one! What a classic! And I have to say, as a parent who listened to toddler toys, I’ll take the popping sound over music any day (just my personal preference!).
Since you are shopping for a toddler you might also enjoy checking out my top 20 picks for toddler farm toys (as kids this age LOVE farm animals!).