Help me put together a list of toys for 3 year old...sounds easy, but

[lynn]

He has an infant and toddler sister.  Most boy toys for inside that in know he'd love have smallish parts.  I'm keeping some specials things at my house for him since there are several adults to watch out for the littles What is on my list for him?  TIA

[Condessa]

 https://minivoyager.com/travel-kits/ has great options by age.  They are aimed at traveling with kids, but also just have good ideas for busy little people.

[TABmom]

Wooden train/train tracks. Play doh might be something special if mom doesn’t want to deal with the mess at home.

[Terabith]

Magnatiles and wedgits are awesome.  Toy cars and vehicles.  Toy animals/ barn/ dollhouse (even boys like dollhouses).  Basics for all kids like dress up clothes, art supplies, blocks, large motor toys (ride on toys/ tricycle/ balance bike/ scooter/ swings/ balls/ small trampoline/ etc).

I would get a play pen and let 3 year old play with things with small parts inside the play pen.  (i.e. Not putting baby in play pen, but using it for preschooler.). 

[HomeAgain]

I second the Magnatiles and Wedgits, especially if you get the Wedgits building cards.  We also had Automoblox: wooden/plastic cars that could be taken apart and snapped together in various ways.  The regular cars were good sized...7 or 8 inches long.  Bruder trucks were popular here, and Imaginext people and buildings. 

A slightly more delicate toy, but most kids who have come here are fascinated by our Buddha board.  It's an Aquadoodle, but more adult looking. 😄

[athena1277]

Little People.  There’s all kinds of different sets and they are all baby/toddler safe.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Chiming in with the same ideas: Little People, wooden train sets, Magnatiles, playkitcshen (the IKEA play kitchen is amazing, btw!), Toobs or Playmobil sets

[gardenmom5]

the biggest hit for that age was the FP lawnmower.

 

I'm a big fan of wooden blocks, wooden trains, little people, duplo

my almost 3yo gs is constantly hauling around his thomas the tank engine trains - different size.  wooden, battery operated, etc.  the baby is barely mobile (he can roll, but doesn't use it to go places), and doesn't seem interested.  His mother, and uncle, were walking at his age . . . . 

[mmasc]

My boys absolutely adored this particular lego set, and we had a BUNCH! But they played with this one over and over again. 

https://smile.amazon.com/LEGO-Duplo-Creations-Building-Blocks/dp/B07GVR2H1M/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=lego+duplo+cars&qid=1628546599&sr=8-5

Mine were also big fans of Do-a-Dot Markers and the pads that go with them (or even plain white paper!)  

ETA: seconding the play kitchen! My ds absolutely loved his and he used it for a thousand different things—cooking dinner, preparing snacks, McD’s drive-thru lol

they also loved Little People and Weeble Wobble sets at that age  

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by mmasc

[stephanier.1765]

Thank you for starting this thread! My granddaughter is almost 3 so I've been making copious notes and the occasional purchase from the replies. I did want to add that blocks, kitchen and Little People are big hits for her. I've also created a outdoor "toy box" with sidewalk chalk, splash pad, and ride on toys. I've been able to find most of the things at Goodwill. 

[kbutton]

Mine liked anything that seemed grownup, and then he'd do elaborate re-enactments of real life things. Dress up clothes, pretend power tools, etc. were all part of this, and he was very detailed. He elaborately re-enacted a tree cutter taking down a tree, for instance. He had many things he used for this, but I think his inspiration was the pretend chainsaw. 

Melissa and Doug puzzles were also a hit. 

He liked things he could make patterns with. They have all kinds of things for that now, and not all have super small pieces. I think I saw a set once where you drilled plastic pegs into a pegboard in certain patterns with a pretend drill. 

Safari types of figures, but not only that brand were a hit at that age too. 

Imaginext from FP was a big hit.

My second kiddo liked several of these things, but he also liked artsy stuff and lots of pretend play at this age. He also liked playdough and clay.

[BusyMom5]

I have a 3 year old girl-

She plays with Floor Puzzles,  Play Doh, Duplo Legos,  and Potato Head.   She also loves stickers,  cutting paper, coloring with markers (supervised of course).  At that age my boys liked Imaginext figures, and Rescue Bots.

[lauraw4321]

Ball popper. So popular and safe for infants. Duplo blocks. Wooden puzzles with handles. Leapfrog grow and learn. 

[Paige]

My 3yr old's favorite thing for a year and a half has been a pair of kid binoculars and they have no small parts. 

[Clarita]

Little Tike baseball pitching machine and a pack of foam balls. Don't expect him to use it properly, but the foam balls don't hurt very much or the kids will safely learn not to stick their face in the path of the balls.