Deluxe Magnetic Standing Art Easel With Chalkboard by Melissa Doug
Nether $20
Cooperative counting games
Cooperative board games, during which players work toward a common goal instead of competing against each other, are ideal for 3-year-olds who are learning to follow directions, take turns, and piece of work equally a group. Count Your Chickens is a hitting with preschoolers and parents at Toybrary Austin, our local toy-lending library in Texas. Players team up to bring a mother hen'southward chicks back to the coop. Information technology's elementary and, just as chiefly, fast—perfect for a 3-yr-old'due south attention span. (One time you've mastered the fine art of chicken reunions, check out The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, another groovy cooperative board game for beginners, or Go Away Monster, a goofy tactile game nosotros recommend in our guide to the best board games for kids.)
Dotty art supplies
It'south hard to become wrong with a gift of novel art supplies. My son got a prepare of these dot-making markers when he was 3 (and merely embarking on a now-years-long obsession with rainbows). The sticks are easy for little hands to grip, and the colors are vibrant enough to wait bright on cardboard boxes as well as regular newspaper. I like that they have the special feel of paints but with less mess and endeavor. You may want to pair them with a ream of paper or some add-on art supplies, similar scissors and a glue stick.
A sturdy puzzle
During the long, early days of sheltering in place, i of the toys that kept my preschooler reasonably occupied was Melissa and Doug's 100-slice Safari Floor Puzzle. Fifty-fifty after the earth began to open back upwardly, it remained in heavy rotation. The large, durable pieces were easy for him to manipulate on his own (plus hard to lose). And because there were 100 pieces, this puzzle challenged him and held his attention for longer than five minutes. My son loves wild animals, so this particular theme, with giraffes, an elephant, and a rhinoceros in the savannah, appealed to him. Melissa and Doug likewise offers a 100-piece under the sea floor puzzle with a similarly large array of underwater creatures. If 100 pieces feels too intimidating, start with one of Melissa and Doug's 48-piece floor puzzles instead (dinosaurs and the solar system are two options).
Clever cupcakes
Toys that pull double duty are my favorite for my two kids, and these eight colorful cupcakes evangelize learning and fun in equal measure out. Each confection pulls autonomously to reveal a dissimilar shape, with the tops matching the bottoms and the bottoms matching corresponding divots in the pan. My younger son enjoys the challenge of sorting shapes and identifying colors together; my preschooler works these pastries into pretend baking games, picnic scenarios, imaginative shopping trips, and more. The prepare is nearly indestructible, and I find myself retrieving it during room cleanup every nighttime—a surefire sign that it's in the rotation for adept.
$20 to $50
Blueprint play
Bugzzle is essentially a tangram—a puzzle comprised of geometric pieces that can exist arranged in unlike shapes—for toddlers. An early Stalk toy that provides a soft, visual introduction to fractions, Bugzzle includes 1 sturdy bug frame, 18 semicircular plastic puzzle pieces, and 40 cards with increasingly hard patterns to recreate inside the issues. My 2½-year-erstwhile is a little young to match the cards; she mostly just enjoys inventing her own designs or coordinating the pieces into ane solid color. A friend'due south iii-twelvemonth-old, however, is adept at remaking the patterns using the trouble-solving skills and spatial reasoning Bugzzle is designed to foster. For a more traditional format, Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards encourages the same disquisitional-thinking skills equally Bugzzle using colorful wooden shapes.
A tower of buggy blocks
My three-year-old loves every office of this Jenga-style stacking game for kids: the die-rolling and calling out of the color rolled, the cautious removal of each block, and the dramatic collapse that signals triumph or defeat. She even loves to exhaustively rebuild the belfry setup, which is objectively the worst part of bodily Jenga. Absolutely, information technology tin be difficult to play co-ordinate to the exact instructions—you're supposed to dislodge each bug-faced block one-handed, no easy feat. But afterward y'all develop some loose and forgiving house rules, the game is fun, fast-paced, and engaging for all ages.
A musical book
I tin do without children's books that blare sounds, but I make an exception for Welcome to Jazz by Carolyn Sloan. My ii-year-erstwhile (who I initially thought might be a tad young for a jazz primer) took to this book immediately—from the vivid illustrations featuring a trio of cats learning the genesis of jazz to the 12 buttons that, when pressed, play the different musical parts of "When the Saints Go Marching In." (A three-twelvemonth-old might be in an even improve position to enjoy it.) My son loves hearing the deep double bass, the jangly rhythm section, the free-spirited scatting—and he'due south learning the names of jazz legends like Billie Holiday and King Oliver. It's a musical introduction we can all get behind.
Magnetic letters
At age 3, some kids begin showing involvement in gripping a pencil and trying to class letters or numbers. This magnetic writing lath is an early on-handwriting tool that'southward fun, tactile, and even semi-addictive. Kids use the thick magnetic stylus to trace letters, pulling the tiny metallic beads into place. The beads are encased, then they tin't autumn out or get lost. Directional arrows help budding writers visualize where to start and cease each letter. Kid O also makes a Magnatab for practicing numbers; for costless-form magnetic cartoon and writing, it offers this simple slate. (Kid O sells replacement styluses, too, in example yours goes missing.) We also similar the Boogie Board Scribble n' Play, which has an LCD surface that fosters colorful, mess-free doodling you lot can erase with the push of a push.
Creative crafts
Kids will beloved opening up this box, which is jam-packed with an enormous variety of crafting supplies and instructions to make 16 projects. They tin turn the included tissue newspaper, crayons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, dough, stickers, and more into critters, puppets, collages, and pictures, or use the materials and ideas equally a starting indicate for their own creations. I like that the creature shapes are sturdy enough to use as templates for tracing and cutting out paper versions—to make the fun last even longer.
A little large height
IKEA's colorful polyester play tents offering long-lasting fun for a depression cost. The littlest kids may bask playing hibernate-and-seek inside, or peekaboo from behind the defunction. Three-year-olds might like loading them up with mounds of stuffed animals, using them as a private place to play or residual, or turning them into rocket ships. I can adjure to their durability: We had one that lasted for at least five years, and in that location were many catastrophic rocket crashes during that time. IKEA's Busa Play Tunnel, which we recommend in our guide to the all-time gifts for 2-year-olds, pairs nicely with the circus tent and was some other hit with my kids.
Costume kits
My child's peer group absolutely loves dramatic play and dress-up. One minute they're doctors, the next firefighters, and at some point they all splinter off into different versions of Spider-Human on a group mission to destroy the business firm. Although these costume sets from Melissa & Doug don't offering any caped-superhero options, they do permit kids take on lots of heroic, real-earth career roles, like veterinarian or pediatric nurse. Each costume comes with accessories—hard lid, hammer, and saw for the construction worker; fedora, pair of sunglasses, and decoder lens for the spy—that help gear up the scene for freewheeling imaginative play. If your kid is, in fact, peculiarly obsessed with playing superhero, they might also beloved a fix of silky capes with Velcro closures and matching felt masks; if they're more inclined toward royalty, try these sumptuous velour ones.
A creativity station
This sturdy wooden Melissa & Doug tabletop easel gives toddlers dozens of creative options for when they're seated at the table or on the flooring. On one side there'south a chalkboard; flip the whole thing over and you'll detect a magnetic dry-erase board. The ready includes a l-human foot roll of paper for painting and drawing, five sticks of colored chalk, a dry out-erase marker and felt eraser, and 36 letter and number magnets that can be stored in the wooden base tray. It all packs downward easily, so you tin can stow it anywhere or accept it on a trip. (My toddler loves to sit outside on the footing with it and paint.) If you're looking for a full-sized easel, nosotros like the KidKraft Storage Easel or the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Standing Art Easel, both of which we recommend in our guide to the best gifts for 4-year-olds.
Costly puppets
Puppets can be a bang-up outlet for preschoolers to explore storytelling. My kids have a dedicated puppet basket, every bit well every bit this puppet theater, though I detect that the individual puppets get mode more utilize than the theater itself—they're more interested in private, imaginative play than performing for an audience. Folkmanis makes a range of plush animal puppets: Nosotros've been gifted the tiny praying mantis and a scaly three-headed dragon, merely I think this snowy owl is the almost special puppet in our bin. It'south extra-soft and structured, with a head you tin can rotate using a plastic knob inside. After my older son got dive-bombed by a nesting owl last winter—for existent, and he was fine—we were able to embark on some extra-dramatic play with this thing.
Instructive instruments
Liza Wilson, possessor of the Toybrary Austin lending library in Texas, said that playing musical instruments—or fifty-fifty merely playing with them—helps preschoolers explore sensory input in a way that'south artistic and self-directed. The resulting sounds may exist cluttered, but three-year-olds tin can larn much more from real instruments than from simply pushing buttons or tapping screens to play prerecorded songs. For 3-year-olds, small pianos and drums might exist skillful choices. Simply Wilson said Toybrary'southward little accordion gets the most play. Kids honey pulling on the bellows and pushing the vocal keys and buttons for harmony and bass. Information technology'due south a toy that tin grow with a kid as they progress from making creative sounds to learning actual songs—and heck, even adults can have some fun piffling with it.
We scream for ice cream
According to the International Dairy Foods Clan, the boilerplate American devours 23 pounds of ice foam a yr. The beloved of the stuff starts early, as illustrated by this water ice-foam cone playset. Kids tin spoon and serve with two magnetized scoopers, which take a satisfyingly realistic feel when doling out one of the four scoops of water ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip) to height off the two wooden cones. The flavors may be well edited, but the playful possibilities are well-nigh endless.
Bathtime builders
Move over, Safe Ducky. These sturdy foam Blueprint & Build H2o Blocks cling together and float in water, so kids can build imaginative cityscapes in the tub, pool, or water table. The thirty-slice prepare comes with a 7½-inch square floating platform that provides a stable base of operations for play. (Also included: a drawstring bag for storage between uses.) My 3½-year-former loves to create a town out of the blocks, position her favorite plastic figurines atop the cream towers, and so introduce a tempest surge to the bathtub to run across who and what can survive her relentless tsunami. She'll stay in at that place amalgam and reconstructing this scenario until the water grows cold—not too shabby for a kid who claims to hate bathing.
Creepy-crawly competition
This cooperative lath game is my three½-year-old's current favorite, thanks to its pairing of her 2 most beloved elements of play—matching and talking well-nigh stinky things. The object of the game is ever the same: Help an assortment of brilliant, friendly faced bugs get tucked safely beneath the rug (the game board) before they're encroached upon by iii invading stink bugs. Snug every bit a Bug in a Rug! has three levels of play to choose from, with escalating degrees of difficulty (we usually play the middle version), and then it tin can abound with the player. The whole game takes only about 15 minutes to complete, unless (like we practice) yous feel compelled to lovingly tuck each issues in with gentle words of reassurance nearly how prophylactic and protected they'll now be under the carpet. Nosotros also like to feign outsize horror in response to the stink bugs' hideousness and olfactory property ... which takes some of the sting out of the fact that we lose to them so often.
A doll for all
For preschoolers, dolls can be an important tool for early on social and emotional learning. The correct doll can also help children build self-esteem and empathy by mirroring identity differences back to them in a positive light. Miniland, an award-winning toy and doll maker based in Spain, and a favorite among preschool educators, has made inclusivity a priority. Its collection includes infant and toddler dolls with a range of peel colors and features, including dolls with glasses, with a hearing aid, and an award-winning doll with facial features mutual in children with Down's syndrome. My preschooler loves this Miniland doll, which has natural (not exaggerated) Asian features; with a bob and blunt bangs, the doll fifty-fifty resembles her.
The anatomically right dolls come dressed in simple i- or two-piece white cotton undies. To add to their wardrobe, you can choose from onesies, overalls, dresses, PJs, and a raincoat prepare, among other ensembles. Different some doll habiliment, which tends to be scratchy and glittery, Miniland'southward outfits are sweetly understated, with chunky knits and soft fabrics in earthy neutrals and precious stone tones. In a market dominated by pinkish, I love that Miniland dolls come in neutral cardboard packaging. And the dolls aroma unusually pleasant, like vanilla cake batter (the company told us information technology has used the aforementioned proprietary odour for 60 years.)
A robo-bug brigade
These thumb-sized, multi-legged robots are equal parts endearing and corybantic. Propelled by the sheer forcefulness of their (amusing) vibrations, they skitter around corners, calibration small obstacles, and correct themselves. They movement surprisingly quickly, and then if—like u.s.a.—you alive somewhere with bodily big bugs that race across your floor (hello from Texas!), you might want to warn your family unit earlier you allow a Hexbug loose. Once they're in play, they're a blast. For cats, the challenge is to chase them around. (Just use circumspection around pets that aren't discriminating about what they swallow.) For kids, the fun is in creating obstruction courses and elaborate containment chambers out of annihilation you can find, like train tracks, shoes, and boxes. (Adults get to just sit back and watch the cats and kids entertain each other.) The only downside is that each critter in this Hexbug Nano Nitro 5 Pack requires an AG13/LR44 button prison cell battery. The offset one is included, but it volition need to be replaced adequately quickly if your household enjoys robot bugs as much as mine does.
Piece out
Information technology may seem like well-nigh puzzles are created equal, just a couple of them stand out from the rest. Petit Collage's 24-Piece Ocean Life Puzzle has thicker-than-normal pieces that are easy for small fingers to grasp; the pieces likewise provide a scrap of tactile feedback (click!) once pressed into place. Then, when information technology's destruction time, they come apart cleanly, without sticking together. Perhaps all-time of all, every Petit Collage puzzle comes in a vibrant and sturdy box complete with a rope handle for conveying (other 24-piece designs include a earth map and wild rainforest). Crocodile Creek makes similar high-quality puzzles in stackable boxes that won't rip or flatten; they were the hottest picks (and the first to disappear) during our neighborhood puzzle swaps.
Over $50
Tools for toddlers
Play kitchens are all the rage for their encouragement of imaginative play and social-development skills. (Run across our guide to the all-time gifts for ii-year-olds for our no-holds-barred favorite.) But play workbenches deserve the same amount of love. A friend has the Black+Decker Junior Power Tool Workshop, and my toddler tin can't get enough. She collects all the small accessories, such every bit nuts, screws, and bolts, and loads them into the toolbox. But the attention to detail on the power tools is the coolest part: In add-on to a working vise, the Junior Power Tool Workshop comes with a miter saw and a drill, which function realistically and emit battery-powered sounds. The entire thing has more than 50 parts, including a flashlight, a phone, and everything else a kid needs to autumn in dearest with home repair.
A modern dollhouse
Hape's three-story All Seasons Firm is bright, gender neutral, and open on all sides. My daughter loved that she could achieve into any room from almost any spot to adjust the furniture and play with the wooden people (sold separately). I liked the extra furniture sets and accessories we could purchase (like these pets). This was a staple toy during her toddler and preschool years—until we got a puppy who eventually devoured everything in the dollhouse, including the two families who lived at that place. (Note: The price of this item recently jumped from $155 to $200; you lot may desire to consider checking to see if anyone in your area is selling a lightly used, pre-endemic dollhouse on Facebook Marketplace or in a local online parents' grouping.)
The swiftest scooter
When she was 3, my second daughter received a Micro Kickboard Mini Deluxe scooter for Hanukkah. Information technology'south Wirecutter's pick for the best scooter for kids under five, and any doubts I had virtually the value of such a pricey scooter for a preschooler were blown away in one case I saw how my daughter handled the Micro Mini compared with the cheaper scooters she'd borrowed from friends at the park. Other models were wobbly, clanky, difficult to steer, and laborious to propel. She zips and glides around on the Micro Mini with ease, deftly navigating turns by shifting her weight, and using the foot brake on the back cycle to slow downwardly and end. She nonetheless has lots of room to grow with this super-durable scooter; thanks to the hands adaptable handlebar, the Micro Mini can comfortably fit kids up to historic period five, which also ways multiple kids can use it. (Tip: Extending the scooter's handlebar to full elevation makes it convenient for an developed to tow a tuckered-out child home.) When the fourth dimension does come to graduate to the side by side size up, we recommend the Micro Maxi Palatial, equally described in this ode.
A classic ruddy trike
The Schwinn Roadster, Wirecutter's recommendation for the best low-rider tricycle, is built for confident pedalers who are set up to tear up some footing. Unlike other trikes that accept plastic or foam tires, the Schwinn's are air-filled like a bicycle'south, making it a grippier and faster ride. The trike's heftier build and depression eye of gravity (it'due south a riff on the classic Big Wheel) give it the stability needed to handle faster, tighter turns, making it a thrilling ride for a 3-year-old. And with its shiny red-and-silver metallic body, blackness tassels on the handlebars, a bell, and a wooden deck in back (a platform where a friend can hitch a ride), you can't vanquish the Schwinn for manner.
Adoptable animals
Similar many kids, my second daughter developed a total-blown fascination with animals at around age 3. In her instance, information technology was monkeys, monkeys, and more monkeys. Later on amassing a sizable collection of monkey stuffed animals, a monkey necklace, and other monkey swag, she informed me she was ready for a real, live one. Instead, for a $l sponsorship nosotros "adopted" a squirrel monkey named Chestnut at our local zoo in Philadelphia. We printed and framed the accompanying adoption certificate that states my daughter is now Chestnut's "zoo parent," and paired it with a stuffed squirrel monkey from Wild Republic (which offers dozens of stuffed creatures in both small and actress-large sizes, every bit well as these beautiful birds that make authentic bird calls and were produced in partnership with the National Audubon Society). If you don't have a similar program at your local zoo, the World Wildlife Fund offers adoptions for more than a hundred species, and so it's likely you'll observe whatever animal your kid adores, whether it'south a iii-toed sloth or a pangolin. Each adoption comes with a stuffed animal, an adoption document, a photo, an data card about the species, and a reusable WWF tote handbag.
Pedal bicycle perfection
After mastering the art of gliding on a Woom 1 balance bike (the upgrade option in our guide to the best balance bikes, and a recommendation in our souvenir guide for 1-year-olds), my 3½-year-erstwhile has leveled up to this model: a real bike with pedals! So far information technology'southward been the perfect entryway. Like all of the Austin-based company's bikes, the Woom 2 Pedal Wheel is thoughtfully designed for the needs of the youngest riders. With a low standover height and a weight of just over 12 pounds, it's easy for a minor human to mount and operate. The BMX-fashion riser handlebar puts kids in a comfortable upright position, and then they can look effectually while cruising the neighborhood streets. Two hand brakes are suitably sized for lilliputian fingers. When my daughter was first getting started on the Woom ii, we removed the pedals and let her proceed to push off with her feet and glide on the bicycle until she got used to steering and braking. Then nosotros raised the quick-release adjustable saddle an inch or and then and added the pedals. She'southward still trying to build past a dozen or so wobbly rotations, but the basics are at that place. It's cool to meet what kids can do when they have a bike that'due south designed for them.
—Additional reporting by Julie Kim
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-toys-gifts-for-3-year-olds/
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