The 9 Very Best Toys for Your 3-Year-Old

Three-year-olds are so ready to have their toy game taken up a notch! Unlike their easier-to-please 2-year-old selves, your growing 3-year-old is way more likely to have opinions on toys and super-specific interests that they are excited to explore. Need help selecting the just-right present for your little one? Here are some helpful gift-giving guardrails to keep you on track to pick the perfect toy!

Upgraded Puzzles

While jumbo knob puzzles are ideal for a 2-year-old’s wee hands, often, 3-year-olds are ready to step-up their puzzle game with chunky, big-piece puzzles that are easy to hold and peg puzzles with their thin knobs that require a more mature and precise grasp. Play experts often recommend having a small stash of different types of puzzles for little ones to play with, so feel free to open your gift-buying search to 'big kid' floor puzzles with their larger pieces, jigsaw puzzles that come in a board that defines the puzzle space, and 'tangram' puzzles that are comprised of geometric pieces that can be arranged in different shapes.

Toys to Get Wiggles Out

Three-year-olds need at least 30 minutes of adult-led physical activity and a minimum of 60 minutes of unstructured, active free play each and every day. Good thing most 3-year-olds are expert runners, jumpers, kickers, and skippers! Take advantage and find your naturally active little one toys that buoy their budding look-what-I-can-do confidence, hone their motor development, and bring them tons of fun! Some ideas include a T-ball set, pint-size basketball hoop, hopscotch rug, backyard bouncer, single-user trampoline, various sports balls, foam pogo jumper, balance steppingstones, three-wheeled scooter, backyard climbing structure, or balance board.

Realistic-Looking Toys

We all love a gorgeous, wooden car, but honestly, oftentimes, 3-year-olds really, really crave playing with realistic-looking toys! Research shows that children this age adore playing with what is dubbed 'replica play toys', such as small people, animals, or vehicles that, well, look like the real deal—or at least, close-enough! When playing with these types of toys, children are more prone to create 'elaborate, make-believe scenarios'—and these toys bolster their conversation and cooperative-play skills. Pair these with building toys and, boy oh boy, the play possibilities are endless!