Toys For 15 Month Old {What They Really Want}

Are you looking for some meaningful toys that will REALLY engage your 15 month old? You’ve come to the right place.

You might have noticed that at this age they are much less or no longer interested in a lot of “baby toys”.

At 15 month old they’re really working hard on their fine motor skills, coordination, gross motor skills, cause and effect and basically everything that builds their knowledge about the world around them.

Before you skip down to see the actual toys, I want to share my personal guidelines when picking toys for my little one. This way you can have a better idea of what to expect and how it fits in your life.

So here it goes. I LOVE:

1. Toys that are multipurpose, that can be played in many different ways, open -ended.
2. Toys that grow with a child.
3. Wooden toys. There’s hardly any toys we own that are plastic, except from a few gifts (sigh) 🙂 Interestingly, plastic toys engage and interest my little one the least.
4. Non conventional toys – something that fits perfectly with his interest but that you would hardly think of getting for this age group (and I nailed it with every single “weird” toy that I got)!
5. High quality toys. No surprise here, ha? And in most cases wooden toys again, don’t fail.
6. Educational toys. Toys that can be used to teach physics, geometry, color, math, music, promote language development etc. And I’m not talking about activity centers here that look much like a casino, where it’s hard to focus and concentrate on a certain activity. In fact, I love
7. Simple toys that are not overwhelming. Preferably focusing on 1 or 2 activities at a time. 

So if that sounds cool to you, here’s a great list of awesome toys for 15 month old that you both will LOVE.

To me, all the above also ticks all the marks for a meaningful gift for a 1 year old.

Before you decide what to pick I also encourage you to observe your little one and see what might be aligned the most with their interests.

For example, if you see your little one is not really interested in climbing (just yet), you might want to hold off from buying a Pikler Triangle.

Instead if you notice they’re really into sticks and brooms and other household items that captivate them you might want to get a Clean set for kids.

And this is what we actually did.

I got him this Dust, Sweep & Mop set when he was about 13 months old. He LOVED grabbing all our cleaning equipment so when he got his own little set it was love at first sight.

So even if it’s officially recommended starting from 36 months – don’t listen. Follow your childs interest instead. Of course we’ll be using this set years to come, giving a purpose it was designed for.

Pound & Roll Tower

I probably shouldn’t be telling you that at this age they simply love to bang and hammer all the things, especially the one’s they aren’t supposed to/allowed to. This pound ball tower will help practice and do what they love, channeling that energy and fulfilling the need for this activity. 

They will first try pounding the balls with their hands and then use a hammer and switch as desired.

I love that you can use the color wooden balls for other activities as well. For example for this ball run.

Wooden Marble Run

I can’t speak high enough of this toy. We got it on sale way before the first birthday and never stopped using it.

First it served to distract from those little drama moments and captivate attention. But now, it’s constantly used in its purposeful way.

What make this marble run different from classic, most recommended car ramp is that it comes with 6 different objects, shapes: 4 balls (which you can use interchangeably with the previous Pound and Roll Tower) and 2 other shapes that are all different in shape and weight.

Because of their different size and weight these objects have different speed when moving down the track. 

What a great way to observe physics at such a younge age. And to be honest, even adults love playing with it!

Pounding Bench With Hammer

Very simple toy but really fun and can be played in many different ways.

Its a form of a double sided bench in itself is attractive. And of course it lets you hammer in all the pegs then flip the bench over and start again.

My little one also loves taking the pegs out and inserting them again. We also use just the pegs to post in other DIY posting boxes.

I also teach him colors when playing with it. Simply say: Let’s hammer in the BLUE peg! Now, let’s hammer in the yellow peg! Can you hammer the GREEN peg? Well done!

You get the idea.

Here’s another, more vivid color version Pound a Peg from Melissa & Doug.

You can also get one at IKEA. 

Threading Wooden Cheese Toy

You can’t wish for more with this under $10 wooden piece of fun.

Like posting, threading is one the hot skills young toddlers are working on. They love threading the “mouse” through the wholes. Well, to be honest, they love dragging it around the house like a pull toy as well 😀

Imbucare Coin Box

This is one of the classic Montessori toys. Sometimes you can get it in a set with object permanence boxes, as they teach very similar concepts.

Even if the object is not seen it still exists. With the coin box a child will insert coins in the box opening and pull out the drawer to discover they’re there.

The shape of a coin promotes wrist rotation which all prepares the hand for more complex tasks including writing.

Once your child grows out of it you can use it as a piggy bank.

Circle Sorter – Shape & Color Puzzle

This is a great starter puzzle for young toddlers. It helps with hand eye coordination, recognizing size and color.

If your little one has mustered circles you can get a more complex set of 5 geometric puzzles. 

Geometric Colorful Puzzle Board – 5 Shapes

Stack And Sort Board

Once my man mastered the ring stacking tower this is the one that got his attention and interest. With more shapes and colors. And it’s under $10. Definitely worth it.

Animal Figurines

At 15 month it’s just beginning of creativity, imagination and pretend play. So gifting your little a set of animal figurines couldn’t be a better choice. I really love schlein animals and you ever seen the quality of Schleich figurines you don’t need any convincing.

Lifelike animals they are produced with extreme precise and authentic details. They are heavy top quality material, all handpinted – no wonder they’re pricey. Of course, there are lots of cheaper options. But if you’re on the edge, give it a try.

Sometimes it’s best to choose quality VS quantity, especially when you’re getting toys for such a young toddler.

Remember, small toys are potential hazards for kids under 3 so do your research on the figurines and use your own judgement.

To my, the best starter sets for 15 months old are Farm Animals and Wild Life Animals.

Both sets include realistic, colorful and durable animals of perfect size for a baby.

What I also love is that they go hand in glove with my favorite Sound Books that include Farm Sound Books and so much more.

Check out 21 Best Sound Books For Babies & Toddlers.

Galt Pop Up Toy

We have had this one for quite some time already. Definitely before the first birthday.

Of course at first, mommy and daddy were the ones to demonstrate and play with it. But the giggle of a 10 month world were so worth it! It will just crack him up every time we press and pop the wooden peg out of their slots.

He started playing with it on his own just a couple of month later. And at 15 months old it’s one of the favorites.

I also love that very soon we can start matching them by color.

Another similar pop-up toy is from The Original Toy Company – Pop-Up School Bus.

Stacking Train by Fat Brain Toys

This is another example of those simple, multipurpose toys that grow with your child.

It’s a train, a stacking toy, building blocks, a pull toy, a puzzle toy and everything else  – it all depends on your child’s age and interests. But I assure you he’ll love it either way. 

Dust! Sweep! Mop! Set

Yes, that’s right. A surprisingly weird toy for young toddlers that they wil absolutely LOVE.

Think cleaning set is for girls only? Thinks again. We got not long after my son’s first birthday and he hasn’t stopped playing with it ever since.

It’s the sticks and brushes that fascinate him.

Useless walking around with a mop and a broom as it may seem in really is the work they do to develop their coordination, strengthen their muscles and even problem solve (imagine a broom stuck under the small chair).

At 15 months he actually started to use them with purpose.

One day he opened up a fresh oatmeal container and dumped everything out. I was desperate as just finished cleaning the mess he did from another actiivity. So I said, ok, you did a mess, you clean. Go get your broom. And to my huge surprise he GOT the broom from his Dust Sweep Mop Set and starting sweeping the oatmeal.

Of course don’t expect a job well done, but it was a great job done by a 15 month old.

So if your little one is interested in your brooms and mops, it’s a sure sign you need to get him/her their own set.

6 Foot Play Tunnel

You wouldn’t believe how much fun a toy for less than $20 can bring to the whole family.

Endless play opportunities to develop gross motor skills, to pretend play and just be silly and laugh out loud. There’s no greater happiness than hearing your kids laugh.

Pikler Triangle

The Pikler Triangle was developed by Hungarian paediatrician, Dr Emmi Pikler over 100 years ago. Essentially it’s a climbing frame to which you can buy add ons such as slides, rock-wall, net climber and even get a wooden arch and connect it with the triangle.

The purpose of the Pikler triangle is to give your child opportunity and freedom to fulfill his gross motor needs like climbing, testing boundaries, learning gravity and aerodynamics and do all this on a safe child-size equipment.

Now, Pikler triangle might look a lot like something you have at the park playground next door, but it’s not the same.

Park equipment are usually designed for older kids who have already developed and mastered gross motor skills to a certain degree so they’re not really a fit for young toddlers.

Pikler triangle gives your little one an opportunity to explore and perfect their balance, coordination and creativity be it rain or cold. Pikler triangle can be used indoors and outdoors, but always under adult’s supervision.

Being quite pricey you’ll appreciate how it can easily transform into a teepee, a treehouse, a castle and much more.

So if you notice your little one has a clear calling for climbing  – this is a “toy” he’ll definitely appreciate.

Dump Truck

I’m including this as a last one on the list, since it’s not a gender neutral as all the rest of the toys above. But if you have a baby boy this is THE truck to have.

At this age they’re really starting to get a hand of it.