Best Gifts and Toys for 3 Year Olds (That They'll Love)

Discover gifts and toys for 3 year olds that will provide hours of imaginative pretend play time, develop fine and gross motor skills, practice preschool skills, and more.

Don’t you love buying toys as gifts that will give them hours of imaginative play? Or building play?

Give these rewarding toys, games, and books to your kids, grandkids, friends, and neighbors.

Best Gifts and Toys for 3 Year Olds

Melissa & Doug Soft Bowling
Develop gross motor skills, balance, and hand-eye coordination with 6 soft animal bowling pins and 4-inch indented bowling ball.

Little People Forest Friends
How cute is this? With 8 forest animal figures and a tree-shaped carrying case, kids will have lots of imaginative play opportunities.

Hello, I’m an Axolotl written and illustrated by Haley and John Rocco
This series is exceptional– a must own, must read, must share with young readers!

Educational Insights Pom Pom Kit
Develop fine motor skills and creativity with this activity kit where kids decorate the animal dress-up design cards with pom-poms!

Design & Drill Robot Workshop
Mix and match 70 pieces to build your own robot. Assemble it with your own drill!

Tonka Dump Truck and Tonka Excavator
Tonka Dump Truck and Tonka Excavator perfect for the sand box!

Squishmallows Bingo HugMees
How cute is this 10″ huggable plush?

Paw Patrol Remote Car
Fans of the show will love Chase’s RC Action Cruiser, featuring lights, & easy-steer controls.

Play-Doh Pizza Delivery Scooter Playset
Ride on the scooter with storage and pretend play kitchen and pizza delivery person! Use the included Play-Doh cans to make your pizzas. Comes with 16 tools and 10 colors of Play-Doh.

Imaginext Jurassic World
Inspired by the Jurassic World, this set features 2 characters, a toy helicopter, and 3 dinosaurs!

Melissa & Doug Ice Creamery
Order, create, and serve frozen treats with scoops, cones, cones, cups, and much more for hours of play!!

Hape Cityscape Transport
Create your own city with an 80-piece set of tracks, roads, shops, and a battery-powered locomotive engine.

Magformers
Budding engineers will love using these 26 magnetic geometric shapes. 18 squares, and 8 triangles!

Medical Kit Doctor Bag
Pretend play to make going to the doctor less scary. Use the stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, otoscope, syringe, bandage & fabric ‘doctor’ bag to be the doctor and give checkups!

Sorting Snacks Mini Fridge
Count, sort, and make patterns with the snacks and activity cards.

Where Do You Poop? by Agnese Baruzzi
Pooping — everybody does it — and this is probably my NEW FAVORITE GIFT BOOK to give to babies. In this rhyming and pull-the-tab book, you’ll read all about where and when kitties, birds, hippos, wolves, and mice poop, just to name a few. I LOVE how fun and playful it is, too. The mouse says, “When inside my tummy starts to feel not so good it’s time for a poop on these chips made of wood!” Pull the tab and see the poop pellets in the wood chips. The last page shows a human on the toilet happily pooping, too.

Pizza Play Set
My kids loved these pretend play sets from Melissa & Doug. And who doesn’t love pizza!? Kids get to cut slices, serve, and add toppings. Yum!

Green Toys Ferry Boat
Made in the USA from recycled plastic, this is a popular, high-quality toy that stands the test of time– and that kids love!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (book and plush)
Introduce your kids to the funniest pigeon who REALLY WANTS to drive the bus and will use all his reasoning powers to convince you, the reader, to let him.

I Am Dog! written by Peter Bently, illustrated by Chris Chatterton
Playful rhyming, simple text shares a day in the life from a dog’s perspective. “I am a dog. Dog is me. I like walkies. I like tree.” Dog likes to chase, splash, dig, and bark.. among other things like searching for the smell he sniffs which makes a big mess! The illustrations are essential to this story of the dog’s day — and what is really happening. This is the perfect read aloud for 2 – 5 year olds!

Intro to Tools & Building
Learn how to use a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench, and the basic engineering principles behind how these tools work. This 3 year old toy set develops fine motor skills, visual-spatial skills, and reasoning.

Design & Drill Flower Power Studio
How fun is this kid-friendly drill, plates, and bolts? Match the included designs or create your pictures, patterns, and shapes. My neighbor says this is one of the best toys for 3 year olds that her twins have ever been given.

How to Count to 1 by Casper Salmon, illustrated by Matt Hunt
Can you count to 1? And no higher? Silly illustrations and humorous writing will surprise and engage growing mathematicians as they follow the directions and count to ONE. One worm in disguise, one giraffe (among other African animals,) one duck rollerblading, and well, you get the idea– ONE! What’s even better is that the illustrations often mislead you to think you might be counting higher. Except– you are not. Brilliant!

My First Math Dice
This first math game helps three year olds pair the amount of counter chips to the appropriate number as well as teaches about more and less than and simple addition.

Dimpl Digits
Push, squish, pop, and learn! Silicone bubbles make a fun popping noise. Read and learn the numerals 1 to 10 and matching words. Great for preschoolers.

My First Crayons
Build hand strength (which is important for handwriting) with these colorful crayons, perfect for little hands.

Storypod
On this interactive audio system, tap any Craftie, Audiobook, or Trivia Card on top of the device and activate educational and entertaining audio content (Music/Songs, Fables, Fairy Tales, Stories, Biographies, and so much more.) My friend’s 3 year old kids LOVE their Storypods. This is a gift for a 3 year old that encourage literacy!

Atticus Caticus by Sarah Maizes, illustrated by Kara Kramer
A boy and his adorable cat friend have a fun day together in this rhythmic, darling story with hilarious made-up words and a sweet relationship. “Atticus Caticus jumps…/SPLAT-a-tat-taticus!” From waking up to breakfast all the way to bedtime where the cat sleeps on his head, these two best friends always have fun.

John Deere Monster Tractor
How cool is this? Motion-activated lights pop as you roll the tractor in any direction.

Design & Drill Bolt Buddies Barn
Use a kid-safe toy drill to build a farm with crops, fences, and animal friends.

Construction Site Folding Sandbox Playset
Open up the Construction Site to reveal a contained play space! When you’re finished playing, the sandbox easily folds up and fits everything inside for storage or portable play! Wheel the dump truck around the site and use the truck’s 3-brick mold in the back to build brick walls.

Little Tikes First Slide
We had this exact slide in the living room for EVER so that my kids could get movement and have fun at home in the winter months. It’s totally the perfect beginner’s slide, sized especially for younger kids. And it folds down without tools for compact storage and moving. (Move it outside to end in a little inflatable pool– that is also a blast.)

Fridge Phonics
My kids LOVED this so much and so did I because it gave them fun ways to learn their letters and letter sounds with the letter’s name, sound, and many songs. Highly recommended.

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
When knights go missing from the castle, Owl applies to become a knight, excelling as a Knight Night Watch. When a hungry dragon arrives with a whoosh, Owl convinces him to eat pizza instead of eating him. They stay up all night chatting and become close friends. Also, no more knights go missing! Gorgeous illustrations with dark blues and yellows give this a nighttime ambiance with a dose of adorableness in Owl.

Play-Doh Sweet Shoppe Cookie Creations
Make cookies out of Play-Doh using the cookie cutters and rolling pin!

100 Dogs: Playful Pups to Count by Michael Whaite
“Small dog, tall dog, playing with a ball dog, big dog dig dog, burying a bone.” Kids will love all the different kinds of dogs in this colorful, inviting book that is sure to be a favorite read-aloud!

Learning Resources New Sprouts Camp Out!
Pretend to camp anytime you want with this fun set that includes 2 logs with flame, a glow-in-the-dark lantern, fork, hot dog, marshmallow, chocolate bar, 2 graham crackers, and duffle bag.

Super Sorting Pie
Even though it’s meant for young learners, my kids played with this toy until they were late elementary school! It’s great for math concepts like patterns, sorting, and numbers, and makes for lots of fun if you open up a pretend restaurant, too.

Rainbow Case with 5 Stuffed Animals
5 plush toy animals in a colorful rainbow bag!

Animal Cube Puzzle
6 puzzles in 1 wooden cube puzzle. Sturdy and will grow with your child.

Koala Crate
An engaging, monthly subscription for ages 2 to 4 with 2 – 3 projects to spark learning through play. Illustrated parent guide, stories, puzzles, recipes, and more.

Princess Tent
A beautiful princess house for playing, reading, and pretending!

It’s Okay to Make Mistakes by Todd Parr
I love the message of this picture book — that it’s okay to make mistakes. In fact, not only will this book remind 3-year-old kids that making mistakes is totally normal and okay, maybe it will help remind us as parents, too.

Farm Railway Set
Build, imagine, and problem-solve with the farm railway set that comes with 20 pieces including a train engine with cargo car, farm tractor with trailer, double-height barn with magnetic crane, track crossing, cow, hay and fencing.

Green Dump Truck
I gave this as a gift to my chiropractor’s 3-year-old son, and he’s played with it every day for months and months. Fill up the back, dump it out, repeat! Drive around on it! (He even sits on it.) This is an excellent, eco-friendly, open-ended toy.

Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!
Preschoolers love to play this award-winning game. Parents and teachers love it because it builds color recognition and counting practice as well as fine motor practice. Use the squirrel Squeezers to put the colored acorns into their logs. The first person to fill up their log wins. (Full review here.) A best game for kids under five.

Take-Along Tabletop Farm
Isn’t this a darling wooden playset? It includes a truck, tractor, 2 trailers with magnetic couplers, bridge, barn with silo, grain house, trees, animals, and hay bales. This open-ended toy encourages independent play and motor skill development.

Hot Wheels
Boys and girls absolutely love Hot Wheels — and they make great stocking stuffers, too.

I Am Invited to a Party (Elephant and Piggie) by Mo Willems
We think all the Elephant and Piggie books are hilarious, but this book is our favorite. Piggie has never been to a party before so she relies on Elephant’s help. Which is the silliest help you can imagine.

Step2 Rain Showers Splash Water Table
A water table is one of the best investments you can make for your home. It literally will last you years and give your kids hours and hours of open-ended play and exploration. It’s SUCH a good investment — you will thank me later, I promise.

Step2 Play Kitchen + Accessories
Seriously, a play kitchen is one of the best presents that will get kids to play and imagine for hours! Make a restaurant, cook dinner… a kitchen was one of my own kids’ favorite toys for years. Highly recommended.

HAPA Number Maze Magnetic STEM Toy
Don’t you love the aesthetics of this mathematical learning toy? 3 year olds use the magnetic pen to move the balls around the maze, matching the colored balls to the animals and the number of slots for each animal. Plus, it’s great fine motor skills practice, too.

One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
When a snake eats him, the brave boy makes a plan from inside the snake’s tummy to get out. He encourages the snake to eat more–from grapes to a beehive and the snake keeps eating until a small fly makes the snake burp everything all out. Including the boy! Hooray!

Guess How Much I Love You Toy and Book Set
Read this favorite sweet story to your children and let them play with this cute hare plushie. A playful reading gift for young readers.

My First Scribble
This is a classic gift for young children who like to draw and write. My daughter carried this exact notebook around with her for a year until she filled it up. Of course, I saved it because it’s so precious! The spiral binding makes it so easy to use. LOVE!! Pair with jumbo crayons or jumbo colored pencils.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
Bob just doesn’t fit in with the other rhyming dust bunnies, which makes this book a total crack-up! Because he’s trying to warn them that there is a vacuum coming. Too bad his fellow Dust Bunnies ignoring his warning. Will they get all vacuumed up?!

Crayola Pip-Squeaks Washable Markers
This carrying case makes it easy to carry your markers anywhere. And washable markers are a must-buy arts and crafts gift for creative kids!

Kindi Kids
This is a darling doll who is having a tea party.

Fresh Mart Grocery Store
Imagine the years of pretend play with this sturdy wooden grocery store that includes a hand-cranked conveyor belt, a bagging area, card swipe machine, a realistic beeping scanner, and cash drawer.