Best Educational Toys For 3 Year Olds 2022

At the age of 3, your child has developed a lot of integral abilities already, such as, throwing and catching objects (say, a ball), climbing well, running more confidently and so much more, but do you know what more can be achieved with educational toys for 3 year olds?

These developmental educational toys for 3 year olds can help your child develop many important skills. I will tell you about these skills as the blog goes on. During this blog, we will be taking a look at everything about and around educational toys for 3 year olds.

What kind of toys should a 3 year old have?

By 3 years old, your child has already developed so much, but it’s only natural that you want this process to be accelerated and for your child to get the best, so then a question arises. What toys should your child have?

Well, toys that can be played with together with other children are great for this age. Since your child is becoming increasingly interested in making friends and playing with others collectively, if a toy offers this option, it is already good enough. Your child will learn to socialize, share and develop other crucial skills while playing with these toys when doing it cooperatively.

These toys should also further the development of your child’s creative side since at this particular age imagination starts to become more vivid. Toys that have numerous ways of assembly or ones that allow kids to express themselves in other creative ways are great. A lot of the time they can also be played cooperatively with other children.  

Why should you choose learning toys for 3 year olds?

This is a question you might be pondering right now. Educational toys for 3 year olds are made to further your child's development in many areas. Since the choice is between regular toys and toys that provide educational value.

I think that the choice is obvious, because although the main intent for developmental educational toys for 3 year olds is learning, they are still toys, which means they will also bring a good amount of fun. In which case, it is better to go with the educational toys since they offer more than regular toys.

Top educational toys for 3 year olds

Now it’s time to look at some of the best learning toys for 3 year olds…

GIGI BLOKS 100 XXL BUILDING BLOCKS

The big building blocks from GIGI Bloks are a great educational toy for 3 year olds kids. It offers a chance to build something completely new every single time your child plays with it.

These building blocks are made from cardboard which means it is safe for the child while also being friendly to the environment at the same time. This toy is also great for playing together with other children.

There are a few shortcomings with this product though, such as you cannot clean the blocks due to the material they are made out of, and they also tend to wear out for some time.

However, the things you prom from these blocks completely overshadow its cons. My youngest brother has had two of these sets for quite a time now, and they are still in great condition. All in all, this is one of the fun learning toys for 3 year olds. 

Want to find out more about the best educational blocks? Check out our blog about the best educational blocks for kids.

BigShu Magnetic Tiles Building Blocks

This set of magnetic building blocks is a fun and creative learning toy. The reason why this one is among the best educational toys for 3 year olds is its colorful design, which stimulates your child's creative and spatial thinking, not to mention other factors too.

From a practical standpoint, this one is also good because it’s made to be durable, and safe for children, by having round edges and a nice and smooth feel to it.

Bravokids Toys LCD Writing Tablet

When looking at interactive learning toys for 3 year olds this one is also quite nice. It’s a doodle board where your child can draw. You might think that it’s just a regular doodle board but it has some modern features to it.

For example, the screen recognizes how hard the stylus is used on it, if you draw pushing it more to the screen the lines will become thicker. It emulates writing on a paper fairly well. Drawings can also be saved so if your child has drawn a masterpiece, you don’t have to say goodbye to it, when a new drawing idea comes along you can add it, no problem.

Free to Fly Stem Dinosaur Toy

Kids love dinosaurs, surely I did when I was a child. In my opinion, thematically, this is definitely amongst the best educational toys for 3 year olds. The toy combines the interests of the child with learning.

These stem toys come in little parts which your child then combines to make a dinosaur toy. The set includes three dinosaurs. Your child will be able to move its hands, head, and feet, so it also has a realistic feel to it.

All the parts are interchangeable so your child can create a new dinosaur every time if he or she gets bored of the regular dinos. When it comes to learning toys for 3 year olds, this one is great because it meshes the elements of a regular toy with an educational one.

Kids to Discover Cartoon Remote Control Cars

Since the age of 3 is an age where social skills begin to develop this toy is very much made for socializing with other children. The set includes 2 toy cars which are controlled by remote control as well as 2 action figures. The toy cars also feature police sirens and honking sounds which will help your child to develop the ability to distinguish various sounds. 

SUNLIN Dance Mat

This dance mat most definitely ranks among the good learning toys for 3 year olds. It will offer great fun as well as a great workout for your child.

This one has many developmental benefits such as improvement of coordination and audial awareness. The toy can also serve as a means of cooperative play since more than one child can use this at the same time.

This dance mat offers great fun for kids playing together and for the parents because they can also join in the fun together with their child. 

Lucky Doug 236 PCS Construction Race Tracks

With this set, your child can create their own construction site and road. The pieces that the toy set is made out of can be snapped and flexed in numerous amount of ways. All in all, this is definitely one of the best educational toys for 3 year olds out there.

Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

This is for sure one of the top educational toys for 3 year olds. It is really good for learning about colors and shapes since this is the age when kids do learn a lot about these things.

This set of wooden pieces encourages children’s creativity and also offers a chance to learn and understand counting numbers. All around this is among the good educational toys for 3 year olds. It’s simplistic but that is what makes it so appealing.

Skillmatics Educational Game: Search and Find

This is a great toy for learning about objects and different places. It includes 6 double-sided mats with different pictures on each side. Your child can do repeatable and fun activities with this mat, and build important core skills at the same time. This is one of the educational toys for 3 year olds which is great for learning vocabulary.

Seckton Upgrade Kids Selfie Camera

Want to improve your child’s creativity? Well with this photo camera, you can very much do that. Your child can take various photos of things that he finds interesting.

Photography is creative by design and you can also use these photos to learn about many different objects and other things. A lot of photos can be saved on this camera thanks to its 32GB storage.

What does a 3 year old need from a growth perspective?

When looking at learning toys for 3 year olds, it's important to know what does your child need from a growth perspective. Which areas do you want your child to improve more and which ones do you think they need it the most. All this is important to determine which of the educational toys for 3 year olds are the ones for them.

What interests, skills and abilities does your 3 year old have?

This is the first thought you should have when thinking about which ones are the best educational toys for 3 year olds. Children by this age have already developed more skills than when they were only a year younger.

Among the common skills that kids usually have by the age of 3 are physical ones such as running, walking confidently, kicking and throwing objects, and much more. As I previously mentioned they also start developing social skills by this age so it’s well worth to take that into account as well.

What skills do 3 year olds start to develop at their age?

Children by this age develop a lot of new skills. Some of them include the ability to understand various concepts such as his/mine and sharing. Also at this age children begin to immensely improve cognitively.

They start to recognize colors better, their fantasy becomes more vivid, they understand time better (for example times of day like noon and morning) and so much more. The top learning toys for 3 year olds all have the ability to further the development of these skills. 

How to choose the best educational toys for 3 year olds?

Choosing developmental educational toys for 3 year olds may seem tough at the beginning. There are so many aspects in which you want your child to improve, in fact, you probably want them to improve in all of them.

While at first, it may seem tricky or even near impossible there are some good educational toys for 3 year olds that offer just that, especially if you are ready to contribute a bit too.

What sort of benefits should educational toys for 3 year olds have?

Educational toys for 3 year olds may be a little tough to differentiate in the sense of, which one is the best, which one offers the most, and so on. Though the best educational toys for 3 year olds usually tend to have some common similarities.

All of them are well-rounded and can offer development in many areas instead of just a couple. Maybe not all of them are made for it by design but if you mix in a little bit of your creativity then it is possible to cover so much more with just one toy or toy set.

These toys can also help children with certain disorders and difficulties for example in a study conducted by the University of Padova, a 3 year old girl who had a speech impairment had it fixed and under control. They found out that it was largely thanks to playing. Therefore the best educational toys for 3 year olds have not only an educational aspect to them but also a therapeutic one.

What skills should learning toys for 3 year olds teach?

Good educational toys for 3 year olds offer a lot. Though it is still important to know what skills exactly they are going to be helping to develop. The skills that are among the most important are social skills, as well as creativity because at this particular age they start developing more rapidly and it’s good to give the development a little push. 

Memory also develops a lot during this age so it's good if the toy offers a chance to learn to memorize various things. Such as colors, shapes and learning about sizes and spatiality in general. 

Also take into account

While the developmental aspects are the most important as well as making sure that you buy some fun educational toys for 3 year olds, it is also important to into account other factors too, such as:

How safe are your selected educational toys for 3 year olds?

This one of the side factors is by far the most important because safety always comes first. 

You should check for the materials used in the making of said toys, for example, is it plastic or cardboard or some other material. Look at how durable it is, and also check for things such as sharp edges and other things of that nature.

Are you getting the most for your money?

Another important factor here, because who doesn't want to get the most for their money. The thing with educational toys for 3 year olds is that they have a very broad price range which may seem a little confusing at first because you may have trouble determining the criteria.

The prices of educational toys for 3 year olds is anywhere from 5 USD to 100+ USD

Though we recommend you choose a toy or a toy set that costs between 60-80$ since it is not too expensive but also won't be cheap. Toys that are in this price range have been proven to be durable, safe, and also offer a lot of educational value which some of the cheaper toys might have a little less of. 

Is the toy any fun?

Good learning toys for 3 year olds all have a thing in common. They are great fun! They are called toys for a reason after all. Some might argue that they are even better than regular toys because they have been made to offer an educational experience to the child while also entertaining him. The best educational toys will most definitely bring your child a great amount of fun!

Is your child going to outgrow the toy after just a few months?

To answer this question - no. The best learning toys for 3 year olds offer a lot of longevity because most of them are very well-rounded and they can be used in multiple ways. They can be used to learn about many different things that's why the top learning toys for 3 year olds are so good. 

How do educational toys for 3 year olds differ from the same toys for 2 year olds?

Educational toys for 3 year olds are made with the needs of that age in mind. A lot more attention has been paid to the things that a 3 year olds needs instead of a 2 year old.

All of these toys are customed to the age they are made for, for example, educational toys for 3 year olds are made with the thought that socialization is a factor, however, it is not as much of a concern for younger kids.

There are many more examples such as this which just goes to show that every toy for every age is tailored to be fitting to their target audience.

In conclusion

There are a lot of fun learning toys for 3 year olds out there. All of them offer so much, but they’re still different enough to not be too alike and they tend to offer different types of learning.

Of course, when looking at the top learning toys for 3 year olds, all of them seem so nice, that you can already envision how they could help your kid develop. Though since their also so interesting, it may seem like a lot to process, so to conclude…

What are the best educational toys for 3 year olds?

The best toys are the ones that offer the widest range of possibilities and things to learn. You have to pay attention to what your child's needs are and what you want them to learn.

If I had to recommend I'd say go for a well-rounded toy, which is also safe. Take a look at the top 10 and take a minute to think about which one you and your child would like the most. Don't forget that you can always pitch in to enhance the playing and learning experience, think about how you can adjust or edit the toy to make it more compelling and of course more educational.

After all, you’ve read and seen, I hope that you have a better understanding of the educational toys for 3 year olds and that you and your child land on the perfect toy and most importantly, learn with it and have fun with it!

And as always :

Dream BIG!

Build BIG!

Written by: Pauls Paeglis