Toy Ideas For A 15 Month Old

[HannahsMomma]

I would like to make some toys for my dd. I am planning on making a felt board to start with. She has wooden and plastic blocks and quite a few stuffed animals. A lot of our family gives her toys that all you do is press a button and they do whatever it is that they do ! I am just waiting until the batteries run out and then I put them away ! So far that has been working. I just hope she doesn't start to notice and miss them I want to make toys that she can be creative with and use her own imagination. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated !

Becky

[mightymoo]

"playsilks" are great for any age. They don't need to be silk, but any sort of lightweight varying shape different colored cloths are a big hit with this age. I bought some premade silks cheap from thai silks and dyed them myself.

For Xmas this year I think I'm going to make my DD & DS a join gift of alphabet bean bags. My plan currently is to make square bean bags and use iron on tranfer paper to put the letters on them.

You can sew or knit play fruit or other foods.

[E.V. Lowi]

Big doll fan. here! I think a bunting type baby doll in the Waldorf tradition would be perfect for this age.

[kimberlychapman]

I get huge mileage out of reused/recycled items with my one-year-old. I buy Cheerios from Costco and then when I'm done with the big box (which is nice and bright yellow), I tape it shut and give it to her as a giant block. Same with other similar-sized boxes. Sometimes I don't tape them shut, I just let her practise opening and closing them, putting things in and taking things out and yeah, destroying them. But it's no big deal if she does.

With a little more effort you can make great toys out of old water bottles. Just fill the bottle with anything that's interesting...plain water, some food dye, glitter, things that would otherwise be choking hazards like beads, stones, shells, etc. Then put a bit of white glue around the threads on the lid and close it, let it sit until dry, and voila, instant toy. Of course you want to use bottles that are fairly sturdy and won't crack under pressure...I find the Fruit2O bottles exceptionally good for this.

Babies are always after water bottles anyway...I figured may as well let her have some. Now my kid can safely check out little rocks and glass blobs, plus rattle them as much as her heart desires.

After her birthday party, I let her tear down and systematically destroy the crepe paper streamers. Sure, it made a mess...but we sat together throwing the bits in the air with joy and then I cleaned it up, no biggie.

There are plenty of readily available things like this that let your toddler explore and learn without having to actually take a trip to the toy store. Just be sensible and safe, and when in doubt, sit and watch to make sure something's safe.

[Mel L]

I am getting ready to put together a costume box for my 2 year old. I sew (a lot) so it shouldn't be that hard to add a few little pieces. He is really getting interested in costumes and jobs (loves police and firefighters). My sis and I had a costume box at my grandmother's house while we were growing up. We had so much fun dressing up!

[LaughingHyena]

DD was 15 months last christmas, I got a bit carried away though and a lot of theings I made she's only recently started playing with.

The blanket and tiny knot doll for her baby doll was a hit but it was quite a while before she was interested in the clothes.

I made shakers from empty film containers covered with felt which are popular, I plan to make some more this year for a wider range of sounds. I'd also like to make wrist bells, someone around here suggested sewing bells onto hair scrunchies.

Felt fruits and vegetables, She played with them from the start just putting them in a taking them out, now at 2 she goes shopping and cooks them. She loves her cloth shopping bag too, I'd like to make her a backpack this year.

I didn't make them but she fell in love with a set of teddy ears on a headband similar to these http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa092100e.htm

[jillybeans]

i second the playsilks. My dd loves to play peekaboo with them. I just dyed some w/ koolaid, and they turned out great! I just made her a cloth barn w/ little felt animals that has velcro/snaps/hook&eye/buttons/zippers on it. ummmm she loves when i make a "fort" for her out of blankets.

[JenniferC]

When my first DD turned one I made her a very simple knot doll out of a large playsilk, I gathered up some wool for the head, and tied it in the middle of the playsillk, then knotted the ends into hands, and left the bottom loose. I made a 'neck' as well, sewing a little pouch out of a woven fabric that was stuffed firmly with wool beneath the head. She really enjoyed it, very simple for young children, fully of imagination, and even her cousins (ages 8 and 3 at the time) played with the 'baby' they wondered why she was like that (always having had very formed toys), but got right into it .

[Attached Mama]

My DD is 15 months. She loves books - even with no pics she will sit and jabber away "reading" them. She loves her baby dolls and stuffed animals. Likes to push them around in a little wood doll stroller, pretend to feed them anything or sit them in her chair or swing.

For her birthday I made her some refrigerator magnets - just simple wood shapes that you can buy in any craft store that I painted in different plain colors and added sticky magnetic strips to the back of htem. She loves to take them off and on the fridge and they are also great for teaching colours/shapes.

Also I got some brightly coloured fleece and made her dress up clothing since she kept taking a pair of underwear and puttting them over her head. So just simple cape with a big hole for the head, a little hat or purse type thing - you can get creative with fringing/knotting edges etc. Plus made big fleece bracelets etc. She has a blast with those and 2 little play silks.

She also likes her wood farm animals so for Christmas I'm going to make her a wood barn (could be humorous as I've never made anythign like that b4) and felt board playmat w fields, stream, roads, pond etc and am getting her a little wood tractor.

She loves play food too so will make her some felt food and already have put away some little metal/wood cooking stuff. Also found a great little $29 solid wood stove/sink set - sort of a tabletop version. I don't want a big one due to price, and space. Plus she likes to stand on something and help in the real kitchen. That's actually one of her fave play things - touch all the veggies and taste them, smell them, put them in the pot etc

[HannahsMomma]

Thank you to all who replied ! These are all great ideas. I'd better get started soon !