My mom bought Sprout this:
https://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Fridge-Farm-Magnetic-Animal/dp/B0001X0DR6
It's plastic & makes noise, but my god he has played with this for hours & hours. Plus, it's great b/c I can be cooking & he can be in the kitchen & not underfoot. Plus, I think we could take it on long car trips.
Re: good gift for a 12ish+mo.
"You put a cow in front you put a pig behind put them together and what do you find, a cow-pig, that's silly."
Constantly played with at our house.
you made a match, look what you found, you made a match...now shove a fork in your eye!!
Warner used to be obsessed with this thing so I may be a little weary of the songs it plays. But you're right, little ones love it. A friend of ours gave it to us because both of her kids loved it and every kid who comes over to our house loves it.
Another
It has come in handy since DS was 10mo. We have it on the front of our dishwasher and it keeps him busy while I am getting dinner around. He still plays with it at 21mo, doesn't keep his attention quite as well as it once did but it is still money well spent.