What are the best toys for a 3 year old boy? Well, in my opinion they are those that provide both educational and developmental benefits, to help kids maximize their pre-school learning. Toys for a 3 year old boy should also be colorful, easy to play with and just right for inspiring the imagination. So, without further ado, here's my selection of those toys that I think meet all these criteria.
Role Playing Toys for a 3 Year Old Boy
If the boy you're buying for loves to role play, then here are a few gift ideas that might do the job nicely. Speaking of jobs, a cousin of mine once ran a grocery store...
#1. How about your 3-year-old boy opening his own store?
Ah, yes. The simple pleasures of running your own business, even if it's not for real. When I was a boy, I loved playing shopkeeper. Strangely, it wasn't the selling that I was most interested in - it was the setting up and arranging all of my goods for the viewing public (family and friends). Whenever someone bought something, I usually didn't like the fact that it upset my presentation!
Anyway, both boys and girls can develop their own skills in being a market trader wth this great double-duty play center. Be the envy of the neighborhood by selling or giving away lemonade, cookies, fruit, party favors... the list is only as long as their imagination.
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Grocery Store / Lemonade StandThis dual-action grocery stall, lemonade stand, would make an ideal gift for boys (or girls) that love to role play. It features sturdy wooden contruction, portable plastic bins for storage or pretend shopping, and is easy to assemble and swap between groceries/lemonade.
Melissa & Doug toys are also a name you can trust for quality and for understanding what kids find fun.
Having set up his own shop, your 3 year old is now going to need to start taking some of that hard-earned money from his customers. For this, he's going to need a cash register. In fact, the picture below shows the Learning Resources Teaching Cash Register in action on a lemonade stand just like the one shown above.
I was initially hesitant to pitch this as a toy for a 3 year old boy, because there are mixed reviews about the appropriate age-range and the fact that it contains pretend coins which could easily end up in little mouths. However, there are numerous positive reviews from parents who have bought this for their 3-year-old, that say how much fun their kids have and how it's helping them learn math. So, I'm going with them on this one!
Learning Resources Teaching Cash RegisterIt's called a teaching cash register, because it does just that. In fact, it actually talks - helping young kids learn basic math skills along with the identification of and, dare I say, the value of money.
The Learning Resources Cash Register features four interactive learning games, large buttons for little fingers, LCD screen displaying easy-to-read numbers, and a coin reader that can tell the difference between real and pretend (plastic) coins.
There's so much more to this great toy, which is also a winner of several industry awards. It really is something you should check out (pardon the pun).
#2. Bathtime toys for a boy that wants to be a pirate
I don't think I've ever met a boy that didn't want to be a pirate at one time or another. With this playset, your 3-year-old can be the scourge of the seven seas - or at least the bathtub. Aaarrrggghhh!
As you can see from the video here, the pieces within this set stick to bathroom tiles pretty well, and the islands float with plenty of toys on them (sorry, the video may not be available on mobile devices - it's a Google thing). It's cute, it's fun and there's lots of squirty action to be had. Avast ye landlubbers!
What's more, this set has won the Creative Child magazine Preferred Choice Award and the iParenting Media Award. Shiver me timbers!
ALEX Toys Pirates of the Tub
A favorite as a gift for grandchildren, Bathtime Fun Pirates of the Tub comes with 38 pirate-related pieces, including 3 squirters and a suction-cup mesh bag for storage.
The pieces and toys are colorful, easy to handle and are also free from phthalates, so they are safe for kids.
If you have difficulty getting your 3-year-old boy in the bath, then I'm sure once he's got this pirate playset, you'll have trouble getting him out. Good, clean fun doesn't come much better than this.
Does Your 3 Year Old Boy Like Creative Toys?
As well as having an affection for all things scientific, I'm also very much a lover of the arts. It's probably a little unusual but hey, variety is what makes the world go around. But, if you know a 3 year old that's just crazy about creativity, whether it's making pictures or building things, then this next selection of toys could be a big hit.
#3. MindWare Imaginets will keep your 3-year-old busy
As the name suggests, Imaginets is imaginative play with magnets, or rather magnetic shapes. The aim of the game is to create pictures from the shapes, and this can either be from your own imagination or using any of the included design challenges. This set is ideal for developing fine motor skills, visual thinking and problem solving.
Whether you're homeschooling, buying for that nephew, grandson, cousin or it's a little friend's birthday, Imaginets is an inexpensive and enduring playset. Reviewers like myself (I bought one of these last Christmas) consistently point out that it's great for keeping their 3 year olds busy. Imaginets is just one of the range of creative and educational toys and games from MindWare that cater for kids of all ages.
MindWare ImaginetsArrange brightly-colored magnetic blocks on white boards to create designs and pictures that are only limited by the imagination. The set includes 50 cards featuring designs to copy. The boards themselves are also suitable for dry-erase markers, so kids can decorate a backdrop for their creations.
Comes in a sturdy wooden carry case with rope handles, making it perfect as a toy to keep little-ones amused on those long car journeys or whenever you're on the go.
#4. A toy for a boy who needs to brush up his DIY skills!
Actually, I'm just kidding with the title here. But this next featured toy does involve drilling... and design. The Educational Insights Design & Drill is in many respects similar to MindWare Imaginets (shown above), in that patterns and pictures are created by positioning colored shapes onto a surface. However, in this case the surface is an activity board full of threaded holes, and the colored shapes are actually toy bolts that fit those holes.
Like Imaginets, the aim of the game with Design & Drill is to create designs and patterns from either your own imagination or from one of the 20 included cards which feature designs to copy. The added dimension is that the different colored bolts have different shaped heads, so you need to select the right drill bit for the right color. I think this is a neat variation on the game and adds more of a twist (pardon the pun) to the skills learned from a relatively simple toy.
Educational Insights Design & Drill
As far as toys for a 3 year old boy go, I think the Educational Insights Design & Drill ticks a lot of boxes. It includes a cool reversible power drill that works exactly like a real drill, a selection of drill bits, a combination wrench and lots of colorful bolts.
Don't forget you'll also need 3 AA batteries, which aren't included in this set.
#5. Encouraging builders aged 3+ to play and learn
Time for some creativity in 3D now, with the Tinkertoy Transity Building Set. Toys like this are a bit of a favorite with my boy, because they consist of a variety of different shapes that can be connected together in any number of ways, giving him the opportunity to make pretty much anything he can think of. They're also great toys for both kids and adults to sit down and play with together.
The set itself includes eyes for making things like the dog shown in the picture below. It also includes characters that could be the passengers in cars, planes, trains or the controllers of cranes and launch pads - the possibilities really are endless. The only downside to my opinion on this building set, is that it'll get played with so much you may find you need more pieces!
Tinkertoy Transit Building SetThe Tinkertoy Transit Building Set contains 150 durable, lightweight, flexible and colorful plastic pieces. It also includes instructions for the building of 15 easy-to-assemble creations.
Tinkertoy building sets are manufactured by the company behind K'NEX toys. The Transit Building Set is just one of a range of Tinkertoy sets with which the parts will also be compatible. The manufacturer's are proud to let their customers know that their sets are made in the USA and are not imported.
Learning Toys for a 3 Year Old Boy
It's inevitable that young boys these days are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and are spending more time playing on home computers, tablets and smartphones. But, as long as they strike a balance with other, more active pusuits, I think this is not actually a bad thing. Technology for kids and for their future is here to stay, and I can definitely see how it will ultimately lead to educational benefits that we are only just beginning to realize.
So, if you're a parent who wants the use of their iPad back, then here are a few tablet-inspired alternatives that are perfect toys for a 3-year-old boy. In fact, let me re-phrase that - they're not toys, they're learning app tablets.
#6. Vtech InnoTab 3S Learning App Tablet for boys
The Vtech InnoTab is a product that I've been following for a few years now and I provide a detailed review of it on the site InnoTab 3 vs LeapPad Ultra. The model shown below is the InnoTab 3S which features a 5-inch color touch screen, 2 MP rotating camera, 4 GB internal memory with a micro SD card slot for memory expansion, and is Wi-Fi enabled. As a parent, you don't need to worry about where your kids are connecting to online, because the InnoTab 3S is set up to only visit Vtech (and parent) approved websites. Check it out in the video below (sorry, the video may not be available on mobile devices - it's a Google thing).
Use it to capture photos and home video. Play your own DVD movies (requires conversion first). In fact, it does much of what an adult tablet does - only kid style.
It uses a proprietary operating system, so some favorites, like Angry Birds, won't be available. Nevertheless, there's more than enough content to keep any boy both top-of-the-class and entertained.
InnoTab 3S Learning App Tablet
The InnoTab 3S comes pre-loaded with a number of apps, so it can be enjoyed straight out the box. A rechargeable power pack is included, which allows it be charged with the batteries inside the device - just like a regular tablet.
The InnoTab 3S is also available as a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Limited Edition bundle, which comes pre-loaded with 20 apps and 2 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse games.
#7. Get your 3 year old boy ahead in letters and math
It's probably fair to say that Vtech's main rival in the battle of toys for boys aged 3 upwards, is LeapFrog. Both companies have an impressive pedigree of creating learning devices that are a big hit with both kids and parents alike. The LeapFrog Scribble and Write, shown below, is just one of those devices. It doesn't pack in as many of the features of the Vtech InnoTab 3S or the LeapFrog LeapPad, but it focuses on one thing - and it does that extremely well.
With the Scribble and Write, 3 year-old boys can learn the important preschool skills of writing and listening to the sounds of letters and numbers. The attached stylus is suitable for kids who prefer to use either their left or right hand, and is also ergonimically designed to encourage proper finger placement and pencil control. There are a number of included learning activities, which can be adjusted to different levels for increasing challenge.
LeapFrog Scribble and WriteGive the gift of learning with the LeapFrog Scribble and Write. It's a great device for preschoolers to learn to write and say their letters and numbers.
Recommended by parents and grandparents, I thinks it's also a wonderful tool for adults to get involved with teaching their little-ones, and for them to then share that learning with their siblings. The Scribble and Write comes with a parent guide.
#8. The Learning Journey series of toys for boys
I don't know what 3 year-old boy doesn't like games, and when I was little I used to love playing bingo. In fact, one of my most treasured childhood memories involves my mother, my grandmother and a game of bingo that I won. Anyway, I'll save that for another time... but for now lets go on a learning journey.
The Learning Journey Match It! is a series of award-winning educational titles. Each contains sets of puzzle pairs that introduce kids to a specific learning topic, such as letters, words, numbers and math. Using colorful illustrations, Picture Word Bingo will help your 3 year-old recognize a wide range of objects, animals and people, expanding their vocabulary in a fun way.
The Learning Journey Match It! Picture Word Bingo
One of a series of learning games from another award-winning manufacturer. The cards in this bingo set are well made and the easy-to-carry box is nice and sturdy.
This is one of those games for young boys and girls that I'd recommend for car journeys or when on holiday. It's portability and engagement are perfect for keeping little-ones entertained and educated at any time.
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