Best Toys Out There for a 3 Year Old??

Hi J.,
I have 3 boys and their attention span is very limited at this age. I would buy lots of little (and cheap - dollar store) toys for their birthday and give them to him during the day. It made him feel like his birthday last the whole day not just in the morning when he gets his gift and when he was finished with one toy I would put it away and give him the next one. I think boys love to collect things (rocks, bugs, cards, cars) Little leggo cars are always great. creative and playable.
I always found that if I spent $100 the boys would nearly always end up playing more with the box it came in....One year i went and got a refridgerator box and put his little toy inside......he played with the box all week.
hope I helped
Boys are beautiful
L.

You said he likes to jump...have you considered an indoor, small trampoline? I know a family that has one, and it is about 2' x 3' and has a handle across for kids to hold. When ever we go to their house, my kids love to jump on it, and I have considered getting one for us.

Otherwise, maybe a fun outside thing, like a sprinkler that sprays in a fun way (there are bunches in the summer/ swim aisle at Target), or a play pool...outside toys are fun for summer birthdays.
Or, you could go the opposite direction, and get him a story reader. My in-laws got one for my daughter for her birthday this year. It has several different books and cartridges that go with it, and it reads books to the child. It's a great toy, and my daughter loves it. Plus, he probably wouldn't get tired of it quickly because of all the different story choices it has. Good luck, and happy birthday!

My son is 3 1/2 and he is the total boy, sports sports sports. We started out with the better batter baseball which he loved until he went to pitching and hitting with dad. He loves his scooter I got him this 4 wheel one from toysrus its blue and yellow and he loves that. We have a kitchen set and the only time that really gets played with is when we have other kids come over. tricycles, the ball hoppers are great. Keeps them active and they can just jump around the house and wear themselves out. the magna doodles and aqua doodles are always good clean fun and its not something you would have to keep your daughter away so she wouldnt eat the art supplies and she could play too as she gets a little older. Just thought I would throw some ideas out there.

Anything that they can get their hands dirty with! A tricycle since the weather is getting nice. Mine all love things like finger paints, Moon Sand, it's like play-doh but a lot easier to clean, we just built a sandbox for my little ones and the have been entertained for hours. They sell little turtle sandboxes if your space is limited. Gosh this is a little harder then I though cause like one lady said they are usually most entertained with the boxes. My house has just about every toy out there and not anyone of them has really held there attention for more then a few days, wait, I bought my 21 month old a little hand held "video game" so he would quit stealing the older kids game and that is one that he plays with a lot, so does my 4 and 6 year old for that matter, just a thought!

My boys loved Hot Wheels and built a family car dealership with their blocks and cars. They put a picture of my husband as the owner. That was years ago but maybe a zoo for the dinosaurs? Books on dinosaurs to study and look at.
Good Luck,
C. B