Our favourite birthday and holiday gift ideas for 3-year-olds

Your 3-year-old is entering an exciting stage of development. They may be able to carry on more complex conversations, participate in imaginative pretend play, and be an engaged helper around your home. Meanwhile, their sense of self is growing stronger every day: They may express strong opinions on everything from food to clothes to playthings. 

What is the best gift for a 3-year-old?

Look for open-ended playthings that meet their developmental needs while challenging them to learn new skills. These gift ideas help your 3-year-old explore letters, numbers, creativity, and social-emotional skills through puzzles, games, and real-life tools.

Gifts that foster creativity 

Early exposure to art and music supports preschool readiness in several ways, including math, language, and fine motor skills. Tap your 3-year-old’s boundless creativity with gifts they’ll love playing with for years to come. 

Easel

Look for an easel that’s double-sided for more versatility—this easel has a chalkboard and a magnetic whiteboard as well as a roll of paper for painting.  

Art supplies

Now that your child has developed better hand control, the options for art supplies have expanded. Dot markers and stamping kits can be fun choices as they offer new ways to explore colors and shapes.

Music set

Does your 3-year-old already have a few favourite tunes? Children this age often love music in all its forms. A Music Set makes learning music attainable with a guided color-coded program based on the pentatonic scale to help your child create music they’re proud of.

Gifts that encourage pretend play

At 3, the world of dramatic pretend play is opening up to your child. Children this age like to try out roles that let them experiment with a feeling of power or importance, like a king, a teacher, a firefighter…or a parent ❤️ This is the perfect time to introduce gifts that inspire imaginative play.

Pretend play props

Your child’s pretend play may involve imitating adult tasks—like cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. Realistic props like a cash register or a doctor set can enhance their pretend play and support their vivid imagination.

Playhouse

With the Modular Playhouse, your child can explore pretend scenarios using the Peg People or other imaginary pals. The playhouse can be configured in multiple ways to support a variety of storylines that your child may create.

Puppet theater

Take their pretend play to a new level with a Puppet Theater. Using puppets, your child can practice naming and expressing different emotions, helping to build important social-emotional understanding for preschool and beyond.

Expert-curated play kits for your child’s exact stage

The Observer Play Kit

The Observer Play Kit for months 37 to 39 helps your new 3-year-old take ownership of their everyday with the interactive Plan Ahead Weather Board. A Modular Play House complete with furnishings, play people, and a wooden Two-Seater Speedster encourages hours of open-ended play, while the Wooden Emotion Dolls and Emotion Book Set build emotional intelligence.

The Storyteller Play Kit

The Storyteller Play Kit for months 40 to 42 includes puzzles, problem-solving activities, and imaginative playthings that help your child build a positive association with reading, math, and helping around the house. The Easy Connect Fort Set, Puppet Theater, and Storytelling Puppet Set support their developing interest in pretend and dramatic play.

The Problem Solver Play Kit

The Problem Solver Play Kit for months 43 to 45 supports your curious three-year-old’s interest in STEM fundamentals like color blending, measuring, and 3D puzzles.

The Analyst Play Kit

The Analyst Play Kit for months 46 to 48 challenges your (almost) four-year-old to use precise fine motor skills, solve new sensory and STEM puzzles, and cook with fractions—all with fun, hands-on play.

Learn more about Lovevery’s learning and development toys for 3-year-olds.

Gifts for introducing STEM concepts 

Support your curious three-year-old’s interest in STEM fundamentals with gifts that build early engineering understanding while encouraging exploration, experimentation, and trial and error.

Blocks and water blocks

You probably know that block play is a wonderful way to help your child explore spatial reasoning and math skills. If your child already enjoys blocks, a unique set of water blocks can extend their play to bathtime. The blocks float and stick to one another which adds a bit of challenge and fun to traditional block play.

Magnetic tiles

Magnetic tiles are a simple but engaging way to encourage hours of creative play. This open-ended toy lets your child design a variety of structures with different shapes and colors, supporting your child’s spatial awareness while giving them fine motor practice.

Puzzles

At 3 years old, your child may be ready to try slightly more complex puzzles. The Letter Sounds Animal Puzzle can help your child begin to associate a letter with a phonetic sound. As they play with the puzzle, you can name the animals for each letter: “This is the letter A; like the word alligator.” 

The Wooden Wobble Puzzle presents a 3D building challenge. Your three-year-old can use their best mental rotation and problem-solving skills to discover how the pieces fit while balancing the base on a flat surface.

Gifts that support social-emotional learning

Your 3-year-old is developing a greater awareness of their own emotions—and the feelings of others as well. These gifts help young children practice ways to cope with big emotions.

Emotion dolls

Your 3-year-old doesn’t have a full understanding of the complex inner world of emotions yet. Role-playing with the Wooden Emotion Dolls can help expand their emotional knowledge. Each wooden doll represents one of the core emotions such as anger, happiness, or sadness.

Books about emotions

Helping your 3-year-old understand the emotions of others sets the stage for the development of empathy. The Emotion Book Set offers stories of real-life children to help your child relate to the experiences of others. Each book offers a model for how a child their age handles big emotions in healthy ways.

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