The 23 Best Toys for 3-Year-Olds (Preschooler Tested & Approved)

Toy figurines like these baby farm animals give 3-year-olds a springboard to create their own play world. Schleich animals are the gold standard for both realism and durability, able to stand up to rough and tough play. There are plenty more sets, too, like this one with a llama and a hen and a 7-piece set of safari animals.

Age 3 is the perfect time for a real playground ball that they can roll, kick and, with practice, throw. Crocodile Creek's rubber ball has a great bounce and holds up to a lot of play. This is one of the few that, when bought online, ships already inflated so you don't need a pump to get it going.

Dot markers are a fun way for 3-year-olds to create without needing the precise fine motor skills that traditional coloring requires. In conjunction with a dot marker coloring book, they’ll have a blast with these markers.

Mo Willems' books about friends Elephant (a worrier) and Piggie (so overconfident!) are brilliant for preschoolers, using simple words they can start to recognize while also being hilariously funny and exploring big feelings. In Waiting is Not Easy! Elephant is having a tough time being patient. There are a couple of dozen others in the series, including There is a Bird on Your Head! (an award-winning laugh riot) and Should I Share My Ice Cream? (great question).

If your 3-year-old has a favorite doll or stuffed animal, they’ll enjoy pushing them around in a doll-sized stroller. This one is lightweight and foldable for storage. Cambria's two kids played with this exact stroller for years.

Turn on a bubble machine and the party gets started as far as your 3-year-old is concerned. They love to chase and pop the bubbles, and this Bubble Tornado toy, as cheap as it is, has a massive bubble output. (Use it outdoors!). The soap it comes with runs out within a half-hour, but keep the bottle as it works with the machine. Just have a bubble solution refill on hand so you can fill the bottle again.

It's likely your kid already got attached to a lovie during toddlerhood. But at age 3, the urge to nurture is strong and worth encouraging. We love this huggable Bluey that makes a cute companion. (Read our tips for culling and storing stuffed animals that aren't as loved.)

Many 3-year-olds are very excited to clean, so we recommend leaning into that real hard and getting them this mini Dyson replica toy vacuum, which is a big hit with kids. When they're older and don't want to actually vacuum, you can remind them of their youthful enthusiasm.

If you have a dinosaur lover in your midst, one of these dress-up capes (sold separately) will delight the crap out of them. Uncommon Goods also sells outfits for a superheroine and reversible capes that can go back and forth between being a knight and being a dragon, for instance.

This gorgeous book of vehicles is an Apartment Therapy parent favorite. It's got pop-ups, pull-out tabs, spinning wheels, and is overall incredibly engaging, for both little kids and parents. Three-year-olds often have very particular passions, so this series has lots of deep-dives into other faves, such as the Ultimate Construction Site Book and the Ultimate Book of Airplanes and Airports.

This toy is for open-ended silliness — and helps fidgety preschoolers. Kids can sit in the Bilibo and rock or spin, balance on top of it or fill it up with toys and dump them back out. It's great when you need them to stay in your eyesight but occupied. And for kids who find it hard to sit still, even during storytime, this gives them something to rock in while they listen.

Nurturing comes naturally to preschoolers, as does wanting to play pretend. With this vet kit they can unlock the little doors to treat animal patients with the help of a toy thermometer, syringe and more. It comes with a dog and cat but kids can also tuck other small plush behind the doors.

This works as a space-saving toy kitchen for kids who like to play chef, with cookware, pretend food plus built-in sizzling noises and a timer that dings. The singing oven recognizes pieces that your child places on it or in it, setting off songs and phrases to match. It's number-obsessed in a good way, challenging your 3-year-old to count slices of pizza, for instance.

Sporty 3-year-olds will love a tot-size net they can aim for when kicking around a ball. But true to IKEA storage ingenuity, when you stand the Sportslig upright it doubles as a bin to hold balls, plush and other toys.

If we’re being honest, a spray bottle alone is enough to occupy a 3-year-old for hours, but you’ll get so much more in this pretend-play set. Alicia's daughter had it for years, inspiring her to “clean” the windows and more.

Magna-Tiles are the ultimate building toy. They’re especially fun for 3-year-olds because they stack together easily, eliminating some of the frustration for kids who are still learning to build. This 100-piece kit is the master starter set. In our experience, and according to parents we talked to, Magna-Tiles hold together better than cheaper magnetic tiles, but certainly if you end up with several brands you can try mixing and matching.

This train set from Hape is an excellent starter train set. It comes with a lot of pieces — a passenger train and a freight train, plus enough track to make a double loop — so it's a good value for the money. Other pieces like a dump truck and crane expand the fun. It's compatible with other wooden rail brands when you're ready to expand the set.

Writing on a tilted surface can help 3-year-olds who is still learning to properly grip a crayon or chalk. This tabletop easel saves space and pulls quadruple duty: One side is a chalkboard, the other is a whiteboard for writing that's also magnetic for use with magnets, and if you pull down the paper, they can draw on that. It comes with one dry-erase market, five pieces of chalk and 36 letter and number magnets.

Air forts are the newest trend in play forts. They blow up with a box fan, which means they’re easy to set up and compact to store. This starry night version is one of the coziest. Grab a book and snuggle in!

In a world where screen time is inevitable, it may seem like a box that only plays sound would be boring to kids. However, every kid we know enjoys listening to stories and songs on a TonieBox. To add content, you buy additional Tonies, which are the figures that sit on top. Another screen-free, parent-recommended audio player option is the Yoto Audio Player, which you can read about in our Yoto Player review.

Letter and number recognition meet pretend play as kids load and then operate this wooden vending machine. There's loads of play food, play money, and maybe our favorite part, kids can load other small toys into the machine and select them instead. It was one of the hottest holiday toys.

Lovevery play kits aren’t cheap, but they’re developmentally spot-on and in our opinion, worth every penny. Alicia's daughter played with all of the 3-year-old boxes, and many of the toys and books became long-standing favorites. Buy one, or subscribe and get a box delivered every three months.

You might not actually ever have to deal with training wheels if you start your preschooler on this balance bike. They'll learn to move fast on two wheels, giving them the physical skills and confidence to move up to a pedal bike in a year or two.