35 Best Gifts for 3

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Everything they need for pretend play, for playtime with others and for outdoor activity.

Three-year-olds have reached their preschool stage. Gone are the toddler years and the toddler toys that go with it. At this point, they might be gravitating toward more sophisticated playthings that match their developing skills.

"Around age 3, children start showing more interest in playing with others, instead of just playing next to each other," says Jacque Bogdanov, PsyD, child psychologist and founder of ChildBehaviorClinic.com. "It's a great time to introduce easy games that encourage cooperation and turn taking, like simple board games or matching and memory games. Their imagination is also growing, so they tend to enjoy toys that encourage pretend and dramatic play like play food and kitchens, dolls, and so on."

Don't forget those preschool energy levels, either! "Three-year-olds have a high need for physical activity and movement too," Dr. Bogdanov says. "Give them something to pedal or jump on that encourages gross motor development like bikes, trikes and scooters."

With all this in mind, these are the best toys and gifts for 3-year-olds in 2023. Recommendations come from the Good Housekeeping Institute, which tests toys to ensure their safety and durability. Real 3-year-olds give their input, too, to make sure the toys are something they'll actually use and want. Some are even current or former Good Housekeeping Institute Best Toy Award winners. When all the testing was done, these were the faves.

Role-playing items that get their imaginations going, art sets that help them with their creativity and play sets featuring their favorite characters were clear favorites this year.

Looking for more recommendations for toys and gifts for 3-year-olds? Check out more of our gifts for kids:

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What set this water table apart from all the others was its space-saving design: Most of the features are aligned vertically to keep it to a smaller footprint. Kids can scoop and pour water and watch it cascade through the different features. It's also two-sided, so siblings can use it at the same time. Ages 18 months+

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These cups of modeling dough come in sizeable, 7-oz cups (and include a wooden scooper!), which is enough to make lots of projects, and they usually have some kind of design that kids get to squish around after they open it for the first time. What the Good Housekeeping Institute's kid testers really loved was the smell, and parents appreciated the thought put into the eco impact, like using plant-based dye and paper packaging. On the Land of Dough website, you can find lots more designs, and even smaller, 3-oz tubes. Ages 3+

Good Housekeeping testers were amazed at the way these semi-solid paints didn't drip or spill (though they did notice that if kids got the paint on their hands, they could make smudges that way). This set makes tapping into their creative sides even easier with eight paint colors, three brushes and activity sheets to paint on. Ages 3+

There are so many different ways to use this easel: There's a chalkboard on one side, a whiteboard on the other and the top even has clips to hold up paper for drawing with crayons or markers. But what kid testers really love the most was the interactive element, which offers guided drawing activities that kids can follow along with. There's also traceable magnets that help them practice letters and shapes. Ages 3+

This toy will introduce preschoolers to the basics of coding without them even really realizing it! Each of the caterpillar's segments has a dial on it that kids can use to give it an instruction (turn left, go forward, etc.), then they can watch it follow the sequence they've programmed into it. Ages 3+

Our youngest thinkers are growing up with technology, so we might as well use our latest gadgets for educational play. Because touch is an important factor in early childhood learning, this Little Genius starter kit uses silicone sticks and rings to help your child create shapes, letters and numbers to follow the included games' prompts. All three games, ABCs, Costume Party and Stories can be monitored via a parent app to track learning progress. You could get it for iPads or Fire tablets. Ages 3+

This audio player is designed for preschoolers to be able to use by themselves; they just have to put a card in to start a story, song or podcast, and take it out when they want it to stop. Good Housekeeping testers appreciated its long battery life and small size, which makes it easy for kids to tote around themselves. The starter bundle comes with seven audio cards, but then you can explore cards with Disney themes, bedtime music, nonfiction tales from history — or even make your own from downloaded mp3s. Ages 3+

RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards

While parents have been known to put together their own DIY sensory bins, this takes all the work out of it for you. The Ocean and Sand Sensory Bin has water beads and moldable sand, plus toys to hide, and scoopers and sifters for kids to use and find them again, giving them a multisensory experience. There are other themed sets, too, including, a dinosaur dig, a mermaid lagoon and an alien planet, among other motifs. Ages 3+

RELATED: 20 Best Sensory and Fidget Toys for All Ages

Good Housekeeping Institute testers were impressed by the sheer number of bubbles this machine created. Throw it on for 3-year-olds, and it's an instant party! Ages 3+

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Get Mickey, Minnie and Donald to their destinations on time with this Disney-themed train set. This set features Brio-quality tracks and pieces, but also includes the characters kids know and love. It comes with three figures and eight pieces of track and an engine and wagon along with accessories like a fence crossing, bench, tree and sign. Ages 3+

This scooter was designed with preschoolers in mind: It has three wheels to help keep them balanced, and the handlebars are height adjustable to keep up with them as they grow to age 5. Plus, it comes in half a dozen colors, so you can choose their favorites. Ages 2+

RELATED: The Best Scooters for Kids to Get Them Rolling

This family game takes the idea of a matching challenge to a whole new level. The object is easy: To match the correct animal heads to the body. But if you don't get the right combo, every player has to move like the animal body while making noise like the animal head. It's silly, it's active and it'll get the whole family laughing. Ages 3+

Order up! This set gets their imaginations firing as they add their favorite topping and pretend to cook the pizza in the oven. But they'll also practice sorting and counting — it comes with fake money — as they run their own pizza shop. Ages 3+

While colorful and cartoony cleaning toys are great, this one is hilarious because it looks so much like a real Dyson vacuum. Colorful balls swirl around, but that's not all: It even has enough real suction to pick up small pieces of paper, which you can empty through a removable dustbin in the back. Ages 3+

It's made of cardboard, but this indoor slide is really sturdy enough to hold up to 50 pounds. And then when they're done sliding to their heart's content, the whole thing folds up flat for easy storage, so you can bring it out on rainy days and put it away again when the sun comes out. It also comes in Barbie, Baby Shark and PAW Patrol designs. Ages 2+

Add three stuffies to their collection in one fell swoop while keeping the element of surprise! This comes with three mystery 8" plush Squishmallows, the huggable pillow/toy hybrid that's an obsession among kids. No matter which ones are inside, you know they'll be soft and fun to squeeze. Ages 3+

If you have a Bluey or a Bingo at home who wants a nightly bedtime story, these are the perfect length for the "just one more story" time. Each one centers on the family of Heelers that kids know and love. Ages 2+

When kids care for baby dolls, they learn empathy and flex their imaginative muscles. These baby dolls have a cute bumblebee theme: they are sweet all swaddled up, but when you open the saddle the blanket looks like bee wings. You can choose from a mint color, a yellow color or a pink color. Ages 3+

Test their matching, memory and strategy skills with this twist on the classic Go Fish game. The illustrations in the deck have a camping motif, so they're great to keep in a backpack and use in the park or on the go. Ages 3+

This block set isn't the cheapest, but it has so many ways to expand their block play as they get older with pieces that thread, magnetic blocks, sticks that let kids build out structures horizontally, peg people to encourage imaginative play and more. The blocks come in bright, cheery hues and they all store away in one box. Ages 18 months+

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.

Rachel Rothman (she/her) is the chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she oversees testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also manages GH's growing research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems. During her 15 years at Good Housekeeping, Rachel has had the opportunity to evaluate thousands of products, including toys and cars for GH's annual awards programs and countless innovative breakthroughs in consumer tech and home improvement.

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