21 best toys for 18-month-olds to boost their development

This is an interactive toy that encourages your tot to follow it around. It has sensory details and encourages the development of fine motor skills and imagination. One of our testers described it as a "showstopper".

Pros: Moves on its own and lights up
Cons: The buttons are pretty stiff for little ones to use

Read our full review of the Vtech Electronic Toot-Toot Friends Magical Unicorn here.

Fun and educational, this till is aimed at helping little ones with their counting skills. Our testers found it helped their children learn colours, counting, and general number work, and that it kept them occupied for a decent amount of time.

Pros: Introduces little ones to the concept of money
Cons: It's quite easy for the coins to get stuck down the back of the till

Review: "Bought this till for my granddaughter & she loves it. I thought it was a quality product at a fantastic price."

Read our full review of the Leapfrog Count Along Till here.

A sweet wooden toy playset, based on Mr McGregor's garden. It includes all the pieces to create the perfect garden as well as Beatrix Potter favourites, Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddledock and more. Our testers agreed it felt built-to-last and was easy to wipe clean.

Pros: Made from FSC® certified wood, 100 per cent recyclable packaging
Cons: Some parents thought the storage facility could be better, some parts are a bit small for younger toddlers

Review: "Lovely Peter Rabbit garden set - we created mr Mcgregor’s garden with the miniature carrots & cabbages, wheel barrow & watering can. Peters friends are adorable & lovely and chunky for little hands. Some parts but small for my 19m but I’ll just remove those until she’s a bit bigger. We’ve been reading the book & watching the film so this is perfect for play ideas & Easter. We love orange tree toys."

Read our full review of the Orange Tree Toys Peter Rabbit Play Set here.

Fisher-Price's push toy vacuum has it all - music, lights, and phrases to encourage your baby to push and play. Flip the switch “on” for vacuum sounds and “off” for learning songs and phrases. Your child can role play as they "help" you tidy up, and be learning while they play. The songs and phrases introduce counting, colours, shapes, opposites, and more. As your baby pushes the vacuum here, there and everywhere, they are developing important gross motor skills like balance and coordination.

Pros: Perfect for kids that like to copy what their parents are doing
Cons: If your tot is on the taller side, this may be too short for them to comfortably push around (it's about 45cm/17 inches when upright)

Review: "This is a wonderful little toy, bought it for me baby daughter, she loves it, solid, sturdy, looks well built, lights up beautifully, comes with the battery so another headache removed, lots of nice little kiddy songs, overall really great product, highly recommend."

Dr Pooch helps your tot learn how to dress themselves, whilst giving them a cuddly companion to look after. Our mums loved the friendly pup who helps with the development of motor skills.

Pros: Teaches skills like buttoning clothes and how to tie shoes
Cons: His large size means he's not really a transportable pooch

Review: "Good quality, beautiful colours, my 3yr old daughter loves holding it while sleeping. she’s got the hang of tying a lace in a few mins and is really happy with it. But I think I should have bought it for her much earlier. Maybe when she was two. Now it’s a big beautiful soft toy for her as she’s got the hang of most of the skills of dressing up."

Read our full review of the Edushape Dr. Pooch here.

Although it's for ages two and up, this is a fun, snap-based game that can help your toddler use problem-solving skills to match cards with adult supervision. Help your tot find the matching pair of wellies, from zig zag tiger print to spots and hearts. Our mums thought it was a good game to encourage tots to take turns and share, and their tots loved playing the game.

Pros: Develops matching and memory skills
Cons: Might be best for slightly older toddlers

Review: "I bought this game with my 2 year old in mind. The concept of the game is very easy to pick up, basically matching pairs of wellies on monsters! I like how it can also be adapted for different ages. For example whilst my daughter is quite young, she enjoyed putting the monster boards together as they are nice simple 3 piece jigsaws, then she gave 2 of the boards to her teddy's so we could use all the pieces and then we just had to match the wellies to the right place as we turned them over! As she has got older, she is getting better at putting the pieces back when they don't match hers! Each welly is also backed with either green or red which is good to help starting to learn about left and right shoes too! All in all we think its a great colourful silly game."

Read our full review of Orchard Toys Smelly Wellies here.

This cute dragon is made from super soft plush which will be a perfect playmate in a world of adventures and imagination. It has sound and light effects and it will guide children into the discovery of lots of educational content. There are many nursery rhymes and funny phrases to keep your child entertained.

Pros: Helps to stimulate the development of manual dexterity, auditory skills and emotional maturation
Cons: Might be best for slightly younger toddlers

Review: "Dragons are a favourite in our household so we bought this little fella. It’s very educational not that he understands yet but it talks about the 4 elements, says a song about mum, mumma and dad,daddy aswell as nan …
The songs aren’t bad either not whiny and you end up singing along with it. Has 2 volume settings at the back.
He lights up too when he sings…. Definitely a good buy and a happy little boy too."

The puppies talk, sing rhymes and songs, and teach little ones about numbers, letters, colours and even feelings. They can be personalised for your bubba too. You can teach either Scout or Violet your child's name and they will say it and spell it with your child.

Pros: Aids with developing little one's listening skills
Cons: Needs to be connected to a smart phone, tablet or computer to set it up

Review: "My grandson loves this toy. He has had one at his house for just over a year and he goes everywhere with him. So I bought this one as a spare as he won't sleep without his pal. Theo is now 16 months old."

Read our full review of LeapFrog My Pal Scout and Violet here.

While aimed at ages two and up, we think this is a lovely role-playing toy for both boys and girls for encouraging pretend play. The set includes 20 playing pieces for hours of open-ended play. Your child can use the magic ice cream scooper to learn about colours and numbers as they fill it with ice cream scoops and toppings. Six hungry character activity cards are included for more learning fun and mean it can be played independently as well as with friends and family.

Pros: Good investment toy that little ones will enjoy for years to come
Cons: One-year-olds may not fully appreciate all that it does

Review: "Brought for a second birthday present, child loved it and everything else was left discarded whilst he made ice creams for 6 hours straight 😂Only buy if you’re prepared to eat fake ice creams for weeks on end."

Kids will love the tactile wooden block pieces in this sweet colour sorting toy. The house design is adorable, and your tot will be able to learn to match colours, and develop their problem-solving and fine motor skills as they hit each piece in place with the hammer! The block set is made from chunky natural wood, so it's sturdy enough to take on a toddler.

Pros: Aids with hand-eye coordination development
Cons: Parents may grow weary of the sound of the hammer

Review: "Good packaging, nice box. The box has the photo of the toy on it. It is easy to assemble, and is quite straight forward to do so. There are many activities on this toy, such as hammering, xylophone, shapes and numbers inserting and much more. It's well made, and would make a perfect gift to give to a small child.."

This Baby Clementoni Interactive Ride On Unicorn offers a whole range of play possibilities. This ride-on toy can be used for rocking, riding or as an activity centre. The electronic mane makes it an incredible educational activity centre to light up the imagination! It teaches children their ABCs, numbers, colours, animal names, noises and so much more, all with cheerful rhymes and songs. The unicorn also senses movement, activating realistic sounds and melodies for happy times rocking and riding.

Pros: Your child can learn animal names, colours and many new words in Spanish and English
Cons: Some reviews mention it being loud

Review: "This unicorn is so much fun ! My little one loves sitting on it and I love playing with her on it. It’s very sturdy and when it’s locked into the rocking rails it’s berry secure. I feel very happy that my little one is safe playing on this. There is 2 languages English and Spanish, and the voice is very soft but happy and exited which is a perfect for a child. The seat and handles are a good size and the wheels turn easily when moves along the floor. Definitely a good purchase and I recommend to others as you’ll have lots of fun with this and your little one."

An activity table with three tools – a hammer, a screwdriver and a wrench. With six accessories including bolts, nuts and screws, your toddler can learn to fit the pieces together on the workbench and puzzle solve. It also becomes a practical toolbox that little ones can carry, so great for on-the-go!

Pros: Promotes hand-eye coordination and manual skills.
Cons: Not suitable for children under 10 months

Review: "My almost 18 month toddler loves screwing and unscrewing the screws, they are perfect size for little hands. Although not expensive, but great toy!"

The interactive design of this toy encourages the use of language, motor, and cognitive skills; thus providing children with the right tools to enhance their learning. There's a different function button on all six sides; alphabets, numbers, colours, music, animal sounds and musical instruments.

Pros: Has lots of different functions
Cons: Could have a more colourful and characterful look to it

Review: "Very entertaining toy for my baby boy. He enjoys tapping the cube and listening to the sounds/songs."

There are lots of fun features to discover in the Peppa Pig Weebles Wind and Wobble Playhouse. Teaching cause and effect, your toddler will quickly learn to wind the handle to move the included Peppa Pig Weebles figure up, and then down the slide to land with a splash in the muddy puddle. Push Peppa on the swing and around the roundabout and although she will wobble as she goes, she'll never fall down.

Pros: Ideal toy for any Peppa Pig fans
Cons: Could include more characters as others have to be purchased separately

For those vital first years of schooling, keep little minds active and inspired by their favourite animals with Janod’s Animal MagnetiBook. Self-contained in a tin the size of a book, the aim is to use the fun and easy-to-hold magnets to build an animal matching the one on the card, helping to support little ones with learning about their creatures great and small!

Pros: Has a box to keep everything together
Cons: Product specifications states best for three years

Review: "Very nice toy. Pieces are big enough and with every animal the same size so my 22-month-old gets the hang of it and you can mix up the animals. Recommended ++"

Trigger your child’s creativity with SmartMax My First Totem stacking toy. Build your own crazy totem, or complete one of the 24 challenges by making the funniest constructions. The extra-large SmartMax parts help young children safely discover the magic of magnetism. SmartMax My First Totem contains eight parts and 24 challenge cards and is suitable for children from 18 months. The My First Totem set consists of different magnetic blocks, funny shapes with sounds, characters with different emotions and different textures.

Pros: Can be used for free play when they're younger and can follow the challenges when they're older
Cons: Some children may get bored of building totems after a while

Review: "Really liked the idea of something a bit different for my one-year-old, this has been really well received...he plays with it daily along with another smartmax set. Really nice size for small hands, each piece has a different sound or textured part. My 4-year-old also really enjoys making different towers with them so will be buying the older sets too!"

Read our full review of My First Totem here.

Does your little one love music? Perhaps they would benefit from a musical toy, particularly this piano mat. It promises hours of fun as they can stomp on the mat to make their own sound. It's got a two-sided design with different built-in sounds for your little one to get creative with.

Pros: Made from a soft fabric with an anti-slip surface
Cons: Some parent reviews thought the sounds it makes were a little on the loud side

Review: "I purchased this as a first birthday gift for my nephew. It is a well made product and kept him busy making sounds when pushing the various keys. He quickly realised that the keys made different sounds and was happy to use his play mat for an extended amount of time. I also noticed that he happily returns to the toy and looks for it in his toy box. Happy with my purchase."

Learning numbers has never been more fun than with Tender Leaf Toys' endearing Counting Carrots. You can teach your toddler or child to count to 10 with the numbered carrot rings, but they'll also spend ages amusing themselves sorting by colour, stacking for fun or feeding the super-cute white bunny. It's an open-ended delight that's a real treat to display on the shelf too.

Pros: Helps toddlers develop manual dexterity, numbers and shape recognition
Cons: Some parents wished the quality was better

Review: "Lovely traditional wooden toy. My 1 year old nephew loved it!"