The best toys for 3 year-old boys and girls
What are the best toys for 3-year-old boys and girls?
These children are entering the time of peak pretend play, and like to use replica objects as the actors in themes they sequence. A doll, for example, might be prepared to attend a birthday party with her doll friends, and they will drive in a car, eat food, and play chase or dance at the party.
Realistic props, like a realistic toy telephone, enhance pretend play at this age, but these children also start to use objects that are unlike the real item, so they might use a shoe to represent a pillow.
They show greater interest in structured games. Television characters, especially gentle, cartoonish characters are important at this age because children use these characters as safe playmates. Gender preferences also become more evident.
Girls typically choose dolls, household props, dress-up activities, and art materials, while boys tend to play more with blocks and small vehicle toys, and will engage in more aggressive or rough-and-tumble play.
These children progress considerably in their gross-motor skills. They can tiptoe and balance on one foot, hop, climb and slide on play structures with ease, kick or catch a large ball thrown from a short distance, and throw and aim at short distances. For example, they can now put a ball in a basket or target from 4 to 5 feet away.
They now have the fine-motor skills to take on the challenge of more complex construction play, piecing together smaller puzzle pieces, cutting, pasting, and other art activities. Children at this age are still interested in different ways of manipulating a given art medium and learning about its properties, rather than creating a finished product. They start using lines to represent boundaries; this fosters the ability to draw people.
I will get my nephew one of those bean toss games for Christmas and an action figure I think. Thanks for the info on what they actually think about when they play 🙂
Hi Tammy,
I’m Happy you find it useful. Their world is really amazing and finding what they think will help us to better connect with them.
Great information! Craft! I love the idea of craft boxes for littlies to get their imaginations going… so simple but they absolutely love it! And the bits and pieces can grow and evolve just as the owner does. 🙂
Hi Kim,
Thanks for your positive feedback. I totally agree with you, it is important for young children to learn early in life to bring imagination to reality with their minds and hands. It is absolutely an amazing gift.
I’ve heard that “Play Dough” (or however you spell it) is great for this age group as well. Is this true? And if so, what are the safest brands or types of play dough to get for you kids these days?
All The Best,
Jeremy David Wilson
Hi Jeremy,
I’m really happy you mentioned this because it is one of the best construction play kids can do at this age. the only thing is you have to make sure it’s soft enough so it’s easy for them to manipulate and form it in a way they want. it’s also very good for their wrist and finger muscles.
Two other things things that come up when you want to buy a play dough : 1- is it Edible Play doughs ? (they will eat part of it no matter what you do or say) 2-If it’s a little bit sticky, would it be a problem for you (could you set up a place where it’s not going to be a problem)?
for 2 3 years old I would suggest to buy organic and Edible Play doughs because at this age children still use their mouth to explore things. I hope I answered your question.
I will provide one page for dough when I’m making the list of toys for this age. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jeremy.
Cheers