The lego duplo number train is the perfect size for little hands to pull along and play with. It's recommended for toddlers from 18 months.

Toddlers will love to put one of the included figures in the train driver's carriage to drive the train.

There are 10 number blocks (0 through to 9) which helps toddlers with counting. The colorful blocks are also great for teaching about colours

Wooden train sets are great for older toddlers.  At 2 1/2 years old my son loved his wooden train set and played with daily. He built different tracks and pushed the trains along.

The train set featured has 39 pieces and is a great starter set. It's a nice size for toddlers to begin with. However, a larger train set means you can build better and more intricate tracks so you can also check out other wooden train sets featured below.

The magnetic trains  hold my son's attention and he will spend ages putting them all together in a line and pushing them around the track. It's also good to have bridges, tunnels and other accessories.

There are lots more exciting train sets aimed at toddlers that are worth checking out.
If your toddler loves Thomas and Friends they will probably love the Thomas trackmaster sets. These sets also have motorized trains which fascinate my own son but they have lots of other features too.

4.) Step 2 Deluxe Canyon Road Train and Table Set

My son played with the Step 2 train and table set at a toddler group. He loved playing with it and so did the other kids.

It has tracks which are fixed. The advantage of this is that parents don't have to keep fixing tracks which are broken. And kids don't get frustrated when the track breaks. Its great for kids to use to play independently. There are also less pieces to clean up and the track can't get lost.

The step 2 set has a multi level track with seven non-removable bridges. It comes with 3 piece train set. My son also plays with cars on the tracks as well as trains.

When you have finished playing with it, just throw all the trains into the table and put the lid on. This makes a quick and easy clean up.

When the table cover is on, the table is great for doing things like drawing too.

Standing 2.5 ft tall this is a great Thomas and friend playset.

It features characters and places from the TV show. It comes with a motorized Thomas engine, die-cast Percy engine and Harold the helicopter.

Highlights include a spinning turntable, Cranky the crane picking up and dropping cargo, and mutiple switches to send the trains whizzing down the tracks.

7.) Kidkraft Waterfall Mountain Train and Table Set

 

What's great about the the Kidkraft train table is the 3 durable red plastic bins for easy clean up and storage. When play is finished it won't take two seconds to put all the track in the bins which is a major plus for parents.

The table comes with 120 piece set. The set includes trains, track, trees, people and buildings. The set is lose (not attached to the table) which is good as kids can have the fun of building the track themselves and making tracks of different configurations. This keeps the play very interesting.

The table also feature special T-moulded ​edges to prevent chipping and keep the table looking good.

8.) Melissa and Doug Stacking Train

The Melissa and Doug stacking train is the perfect size for toddlers to play with. They can easily pull it along. The train cars can be linked together or played with separately.

The stacking blocks provide extra fun and learning. Toddlers can use them for building and stacking. They are also great for teaching colors and shapes.

Fitting the stacking blocks on the pegs helps hand and eye co-ordination. ​Building the stacking blocks on the train is like putting a puzzle together.

A great toy with many play opportunities.

9.) Melissa and Doug Wooden Train Cars

 

Magnetic trains keep toddlers occupied for hours.

They enjoy putting the trains together and then pushing them along the floor.

The Melissa and Doug set has eight wooden trains with magnetic couplings on the ends. The trains are brightly painted and include a steam engine, caboose, coal car and passenger car.

10.) Thomas & Friends Talking Thomas & Percy Train Set

The Thomas & Friends motorized train and track set is great for young kids.

The motorized Thomas and Percy engines stop to talk with each other when they meet on the track, and both have cargo cars for loading and unloading

There are interactive play opportunities. Track switches and a control panel allow little engineers to stop engines for side-by-side interactions and control which way they go.

Fun Ways to Play Train Tracks with Your Toddler

Playing trains with my son is probably one of my favourite activities to do with him. I think the reason why is I get to be really creative and build all kinds of elaborate and different track. Here are some ways I play with my toddler and his train track.
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Make big tracks - The best train tracks are the biggest ones and we see how far we can stretch the train track across the floor.

​Incorporate other toys - We use lots of other toys when building our train tracks. We have a racetrack which the train track goes underneath. We use animals and build a farm next to the track. We use lego duplo to build towers and a train station. The imagination is the limit.
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Build big bridges - We try to build ramps and big bridges out of some of the pieces which is always fun for trains to go under and over. You can use wooden blocks or other toys as supports for your ramps and bridges. Although expect them to fall over now and again!

Brio Train Sets

Brio is the name for quality and durability when buying wooden train sets. There are lots of lovely Brio train sets on the market. They'r train sets are designed to last. They're made from solid Beech wood.. The track pieces are cut with precision and fit with other pieces easily. All the wood Brio uses is FSC®-labeled. This ensures that it comes from renewable forests and that no unique biospheres are destroyed.

Brio Classic Deluxe Set

This set is a great Brio starter set or an expansion set to other Brio sets owned.
It features 25 pieces with trains, wooden tracks, trees, station and a hill.
Designed for kids aged 2 plus
Brio sets a

Save Money and Buy Wooden Train Tracks in Bulk

This set featured is a great basic buy to 68 pieces of train track.

Here are some more things to look out for when buying a train set for a toddler.

How interactive is the train set - some train sets have some really interactive parts for toddlers to play with including gates to lift, cranes to work and pieces such as helicopters and airplanes to promote imaginative play. Look at the number of pieces in the train set and see what kinds of pieces there are to encourage imaginative and interactive play.

Number of track pieces - make sure that there are a good number of track pieces in the set you are buying. Many train sets will have a lot of pieces but if half of them are trees and not many of them are tracks this will limit the track configurations you can make.

Check the suggested age range of the track - some tracks are better suited to older toddlers and pre-schoolers as they may require more skill to play with the set. Having said this, sometimes the age ranges are misleading so its worth reading reviews as well to see what age children are getting the most of of the set you are buying.

Believe it or not, playing with trains is not only a source of fun for toddlers and big kids, there are many educational benefits too. Here are a few:
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Improves fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordination. Using little hands to put track pieces together and pushing trains around the track increases the strength and control toddlers have in their hands. This is great for writing later on in their school life.

Develops social skills - working with another person or a team to build a train track helps build social and communication skills. It could be their first experience of working within a team.

Encourages imagination and creativity - putting together different configurations of sets, building towns around the tracks, getting the tracks to fit together in different loops can all help with creativity. Of course train sets also facilitate lots of imaginative play.

Increases vocabulary - as you build and play together with your toddler, talk to them about what you are building or what different parts of the train are called. Play while talking through scenarios. It's a great way to introduce new words and vocabulary.

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Play tents are lots of fun for small children.  Many play tents can be used indoors and outdoors and can facilitate all kinds of imaginative play.

The play tent featured can fit up to 3 kids for social play. It is also great for reading, playing solo and relaxing.

It comes with fairy lights, so looks fantastic in a bedroom.

It's easy to set up and take down.

This is a brilliant basketball set for 2 year olds that can be used indoors and outdoors.It's height adjustable so will grow with your child, adjusting from 2.5 to 4 feet. It also comes with 3 balls to use.

It's the perfect way to burn off some energy by encouraging active play.

It's also great for honing gross motor and coordination skills and having fun.

With the 3 balls kids can play independently or take turns with another child.

Lego Duplo Train

This is an awesome first lego duplo train set with many opportunities for interactive play.

A 2 year old may need help putting the track together but as they get older they will be able to do it themselves. The chunky duplo pieces make it easier for little hands to build.

2 year olds will love to push the train. One push sets the train off around the track.

Mini Mouse Remote Control Car

The mini mouse remote control car is the perfect car for little hands.

It's super fun, as well as moving forward, it spins!

The car works best on hard surfaces rather than carpet.

A great first R/C car.

Children’s Waltzer Car Battery Operated

Get ready to spin! This is the all new 12-volt ride-on toy offers the fun of the fair at home.

Kids can spin 360 degrees. There is a parent control which is ideal for 2 year olds. As they get older they will be able to control the car with the joysticks.

It can be used outdoors or indoors if you have the space.

Step 2 Rollercoaster

 

The Step 2 rollercoaster is super fun.

It could be assembled outdoors in the summer but also used indoors in the winter if you have the space inside. The toy easily comes apart for convenient and compact storage.

Kids step up to the 2 non slip steps to access the coaster car, The car has a high back and foot rests.

Have fun zooming down!

There are over 200 fun phrases which introduce colors, numbers, flavors and more while you explore the six activity cards.
As they start to engage in imaginative play, they will love to take your order and make up your ice cream. It's great fun to open and "ice cream shop".

Vtech Drill and Learn Toolbox

 

2 year olds will love the Vtech drill and learn toolbox.

The best feature for kids will be the working toy drill. It spins the gears and drills screws into the electronic tray's holes.

Pretend to fix things hammer, wrench, nails and screws.

Press light-up buttons for fun songs and to learn about a variety of tools, how they're used and the sounds they make.

Tea Set

 

 

Tea sets are great for imaginative play. Pour tea and eat cakes with your family, plush toys or dolls.

With the Fisher Price tea set, kids can host a tea party and the "magical” teapot spout lights up as toddlers pour out the fun.

Press the music tea bag button on the teapot for more fun lights, songs and sounds.

Climbers and Slides

 

The climber and slide makes the perfect toy for a climbing 2 year old girl. She can shoot some hoops and play a round of soccer. The crawl space underneath the basketball doubles as a crawl hole or a soccer goal!

Great for wearing them out and burning off energy.

iPlay, iLearn Bouncy Pals Unicorn Bouncy

This hopping unicorn is beautifully made with eye-catching features. It's great for the energy filled 2 year old in your life.

It's easy to play with just hop on, grab the long ears, and off you go!

LeapFrog Scout and Violet 100 Words Book

Meet Scout and violet who will introduce more than 100 age-appropriate words chosen by learning experts
Word categories include: pets, animals, food, mealtime, colors, activities, opposites, outside and more
Touching the words on the pages plays the words, sound effects and fun facts; hear the learning friends theme song and My Favorite Word by pressing the light-up star button

The fridge isn't the only magnetic place in your home where toddlers can play with magnets.  Try playing with them on the washing machine, dishwasher, on a baking tray or on the metal surrounding fireplace too.

If you have a lot of magnetic surfaces in your house there are different games you can play. First you can go around and find out how many surfaces are magnetic. Then why not create a magnet hunt. Place the magnets on surfaces around the house and your child has to find as many as possible. They could collect them in a container, then at the end have fun counting how many they have found together.
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Another idea is to purchase a magnetic board. And you can move it around the house so your toddler can play next to you while you get on with other things.

This set contains 93 foam magnets in total which include lower case letters, upper case letters and numbers.

The set is recommended for age 3 plus.

It's a great set for setting out sums, spelling out first words and names etc.

Playing with magnets is very educational. There are many ways they benefit small children. Here are a few more benefits:

​Helps develop fine motor skills and muscle strength in their fingers - Picking up the magnets from the fridge, handling them and putting them back again helps kids develop their small hand and finger muscles. Having strong muscles in their hands is essential for kids learning to write.

Cause and effect - playing with magnets helps teach cause and effect, an essential skill for problem solving.

Creative play - magnets inspire creative play. Can you make patterns with the magnets? Can you use picture magnets to create a story? What are funny words I can make with the magnets. The play is open ended and there are lots of ways to play. How will your child be creative?
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Finding out about the world - it's fun to use magnets to explain a little bit of the world around you. Find out which surfaces are magnetic around the home and outside in the world too. Which objects and materials do magnets attract? Which will stick to the magnets? Are coins from around the world magnetic? As kids get older you can explain why some things are magnetic and others aren't.

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The set has interactive bricks which teach cause and effect. Place a red brick on the track to make the train stop, a green brick will make it reverse and a yellow brick will make a sound. There are five interactive bricks in total.

The set also has an optional app which allows a device to be used as a remote control for the train. Little ones can have a go at being in control.

My 2 year old boys and pretty much every 2 year old I know is ball obsessed and we have a large collection of balls. If we go to the park we have to take a ball with us. It's great for them to burn off energy chasing, kicking and throwing the ball. You can't go wrong with a ball for a two year old.

​Soft balls (like the ones featured) are great because you can play with them inside without the fear of anybody getting hurt.

There are also some great toys involving balls which are perfect for 2 year olds. Check out the toddler basketball and bowling set below.

This is suitable for all mini basketball fans from 2 years old.  The basketball stand can be adjusted according to the height of the child so it lasts a long time.

The adjustable rim adjusts in six inch (15.2 cm) increments from 30" (76.2 cm) to 48" (121.9 cm). There are four adjustable sizes in total.

It features a large blackboard and sturdy rim with a real woven net. There are also two drink holders at the bottom of the stand for thirsty children.

It can be used indoors and outdoors. Great for wearing out energetic toddlers. It's also fantastic for improving gross motor skills, hand and eye co-ordination and if playing with other children teamwork and taking turns.

At 2 years old loves both my boys loved playing bowling games with a ball. You can play bowling with all kinds of objects from around the house. If you save enough plastic bottles and have a ball you can make your own bowling game.

My youngest son and I used to play bowling with Megabloks towers. We would build 3 towers and roll a ball to knock them down.

The plush bowling game below is another option.

This set includes 6 plush pins and a soft ball so no chance of little ones getting hurt when using the set.

The bowling pins are brightly colored monsters and I can see all kinds of uses for these as well as bowling pins. They make nice plush toys for imaginative play as toddlers get older.

The bowling game could be set up indoors or outdoors as long as its not wet.

These magnetic letters from Leapfrog are perfect for the little hands. They are too big for little ones to swallow, so you don't have to worry about toddlers putting them in their mouths.

Place the letter in the bus and you can hear the letter name and its phonic sound.

Press the button twice and you can hear the a word that begins with the letter and the word in a sentence. It also plays the alphabet and the wheels on the bus song.

It's a great toy for learning letters, words and sounds. They're also fantastic for keeping toddlers entertained in the kitchen while you're cooking.

There are quite a few toys that will encourage 2 year old boys to create and draw.

Some examples include an art easel. I use ours outside in the summer with paint and we use it for drawing in the kitchen when I am busy so my son is occupied while I can keep an eye on him.

We use Crayola washable markers to draw but the best drawing toys are ones that don't make any mess.

They are the perfect size for little hands to draw.
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I also love the Aquadoodle and the magna doodle below.

My kids can scribble and draw to their hearts content and

​I don't have to worry about any pens being used to draw on the walls or furniture.

My son absolutely loves Aquadoodle.

It's  easy to use. Just fill the pen up with water and then your toddler can scribble over the mat to their hearts content.

I show my son how to draw shapes and circles as well as funny faces. However, he really just loves to scribble.

What I love about this is that it's no mess drawing. You don't have to worry about them taking a pen or crayon and drawing on the walls.

When the mat dries, the drawing goes away and then they can draw something else.

Another great drawing toy is a magnetic drawing board.

We have one of these and I love having a go as much as my boys.

Scribble away to your hearts content and when you've finished use the easy slider eraser to give you a clean slate. The pen is attached to the drawing board so won't get lost.

It comes with 4 stampers too. You can take these away if you’re worried they’ll put them in their mouth.

Great for Mickey Mouse fans!

The car has an easy to use remote control.

Press one button to go forward. Press the other button to make the car spin in a circle so you can make it face the direction you want to go.

These are simple, easy to use remote control cars suitable for 2 years olds.

The remote control features big buttons so little hands will find it easier to use.

​Press the buttons to hear honking sounds, music and see flashing headlights. The car can go in both forward and reverse. It also has removable race car driver action figures that are great to play with too.

There are lots of cool outdoor toys for 2 year old boys.

Ideas include a water table - this is a great summer toy. Aged 2, my son would play for ages with his water table which included a water wheel and lots of fun toys.

Sandboxes, ride on toys, swings and playhouses are also great outdoor toys for this age group.

They were never out of use.

My son's grandma had the cozy coupe car at her house and he liked it so much she bought him his own car to have at home. He absolutely loves it. He uses it indoors and outdoors. He sits in it, drives forward, reverses and spends lots of time just getting in and out of the vehicle.

He has just started to use a cable from a charger and pretends to fill up the car with gas as well! This is one of the toys he plays with most!

Get ready to spin! This is the all new 12-volt ride-on toy offers the fun of the fair at home.

Kids can spin 360 degrees. It's not too fast so 2 year olds can have a go at controlling car using the joystick controls but there is also a parent control as well.

It can be used outdoors or indoors if you have the space.

My 2 year old really enjoys climbing (on everything) and playing on slides.

If the slide / climber isn't too tall he is capable of doing it independently.

Climbers and slides make great toys for this age group.

​They can be used outdoors in the summer or indoors in the winter (if you have the space). They are a great toy to wear little ones out and use up all their excess energy.

The t-ball set is a great toy to develop hand and eye co-ordination and batting skills while have lots of fun.

It can be played with indoors (if you have the space) and outdoors.

The t-ball set has an adjustable height "T"

It's a great way to introduce toddlers to sports. ​

My son was given toy cars before he was two and he wasn't that interested in them. However, now he is toy car mad. We like to go for walks together and he will take a toy car and "drive" it over the walls and on the ground. He also has a little tractor which we took to the park the other day and he spent ages just moving it over posts and the grass. I haven't encouraged him to do this, he just does it on his own. It must be an in built instinct in boys. A great toy to encourage imaginative and creative play.

Toy cars on their own make a great gift. My son will play with all types of cars from hot wheels to chunky toddler cars.

Another idea is car playset like a toy garage or the Fisher Price amusement park featured below.

My 2 year old plays with the car playsets at a group we go to. He really enjoys watching the cars whizz down the ramps and seeing how far they go at the end. He also just moves his toy car up and down the ramps with his hands.

Lots of fun and imaginative play to be had.

The playset featured has multiple tracks, an orange loop, a crash zone, cool lights and sounds and 2 wheelie vehicles,

My 2 year old is absolutely mad about Disney cars, Lightening McQueen, Mack and Mater. We have some diecast Disney Pixar cars (Including Lightening McQueen and Mater) which he loves to play with.

There are all kinds of themed Disney Pixar toys, racetracks and playsets. My son keeps asking for Mack so we are getting him one for Christmas.

It's difficult to go wrong with some mini racers from the Pixar cars collection.

They are small cars which is nice the little hands of a 2 year old.

Pair the mini racers with a Mack transporter.

Little kids will love putting the mini racers into Mack and pushing him around.

The side door opens for easy roll in, roll out and storage.

Great for imaginative play, kids will love to recreate the movie scenes.

My two boys weren't very musical as toddlers. However, my nephew who's also 2 is very musical and the perfect toy for him would be something on which he can make music. Some ideas of music toys for 2 year olds include toy guitars, pianos and toy drums.

2 year olds love drums and the VTech drum set featured makes a wonderful musical toy.

There's 4 modes of play including free play, letters, numbers, and follow-along; each drum features a unique LED light

Play tents are great fun. They seem to bring out imaginative play in kids of all ages including 2 year olds.

We put our play tent up indoors in the Winter. It makes a nice play space for kids. In the Summer we use it outdoors and it makes a nice shade from the sun. It's also great to have picnics in, read books, play games and draw outside.

You can get all kinds of tents. My boys seem to like ones with tunnels attached which they can crawl through.

The rocket tent is a fun idea for 2 year old boys and older.

It comes with a space torch projector to light up your astronaut with 24 NASA inspired images.

The play tent is great for pretend play. Have fun launching into space.

Since first writing this articles I have purchased a couple more toys for my 2 year old boy which he loves. He is now 2 1/2 and a couple of months ago we purchased a wooden train set and he loves it. We started building tracks together and now he will build his own with a little help from me. He loves the magnetic trains that stick together. At first he spent ages putting the trains together and then pulling them apart. He plays with his train set everyday. There are all kinds of train sets aimed at 2 year olds. I have suggested a Thomas train set below.

Another option is a train table with a train set is a good choice as it keeps all the mess and play of the floor. They are also good for storage.

I can't believe how much my son currently love cars.

He will lie down and just push the cars to and fro. He will do this just before he goes to sleep and it seems to calm him down.

He likes to play with a range of different cars from chunky cars designed for toddlers (these are great for little hands) to his older brother's hot wheels cars.

This is such a cool car ramp toy. It's over 34" tall and toddlers love watching cars whizz down the ramps.
Two wheelies cars are included which are the perfect size for little hands.​
There is lots of interactive play to be had. The double car launcher lets toddlers send two cars down the ramps at the same time.
Cars race down the track and can either crash, drop through the trap door, or continue down the spiral track or jump ramp

Another great car toy that is perfect for 15 month old boys or girls is the mega blocks dump truck featured.

15 month olds love pushing the truck around with their hands.

Toddlers love to push things around and put things in the container at the back. The "bin" at the back tips backwards.

As they get older they enjoy playing with the blocks!

Great for imaginative play, for learning and for developing fine motor skills too.

​The Leapfrog Number Lovin Oven is great for facilitating imaginative play. Great for pretending to prepare food and be a little chef.

Toddlers love opening and closing the oven door and putting food inside.

There are lots of fun and educational songs.

The toy also teaches numbers, counting and sharing.

It's also fantastic for developing fine motor skills. Slide the slider, open and close the door, fit the food items together to make a pizza.

This is such a cool toy that has lots of play value and will grow with your child.

Boys and girls will love pushing the toy vacuum with music, lights, and phrases to encourage your baby to push and play
Flip the switch “on” for vacuum sounds & “off” for learning songs & phrases
Press the light-up canister button for more fun songs & phrases
Adjustable design—tilt it up or down for the perfect fit!

There are lots of educational toy perfect for this age group. They're at an age where they can start to do big chunky jigsaw puzzles. My 15 month old loves taking all the shapes out of wooden puzzles but he hasn't quite got the manual dexterity to put them back in again. But obviously this will come in the next few months.

Another great educational toy are stacking and sorting toys. It's the perfect age to introduce shape sorters and they are just getting the dexterity to be able to put the right shapes into the holes. It's great to start introducing shapes as well.

So what makes the best toys for a 15 month old?

1.) Toys that hold their attention with lots of play value.
At 15 months, a toddler's concentration span is improving. They will play with toys for longer. They can be interested in both big and small objects and toys. They may be interested in handling many different kinds of objects from items that you carry with you such as a pen and keys to smaller toys like cars and play food.

2.) Toys that teach skills
Babies at this age are learning so much everyday. They can understand a lot. You can ask them questions like point to your nose and they will relish showing you what they know.
So, toys that help teach language and vocabulary, help develop fine motor skills and encourage early imaginative and creative play are perfect for this age group.

3.) Toys that burn off energy. It's good to tire them out!
If you want them to sleep well at night, toys that encourage them to be energetic are important. A toy that will encourage them to play outdoors, move around, climb and slide are good options.

4.) Toys and books that we can share together. It's good to build a bond!
At 15 months, toddlers will enjoy snuggling up and sharing a toy or a book with adults. Reading books in particular can help build language skills while spending quality time together.

5.) Toys that keep them occupied on his own.
What does he or she love doing on their own? My son loves to push cars around and does it for ages. Every child is different, but finding toys they enjoy on their own is good to encourage independence and give parents and carers a few minutes to themselves.