Gift Ideas for 3 Year Old Son!!

I know that it sound really young, but for my daughter’s third birthday, we got her a computer… and if you don’t have that much money, there are some wonderful educational games for learning numbers (math) and colors/shapes/sizes and letters/words by Disney. She was so used to using the computer that in kindergarten she would help the teacher get them all ready for the other kids…I believe it will really help her in the long run to be more technical in a digital world. Best of luck

I have gotten wonderful toys from this website: http://www.ebeanstalk.com/ for my son and nephews, and they enjoy them as much as I do.

Other good sites are:
http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/ which sells classic games, toys, and hobbies.

http://www.barclaywoods.com/home.htm which sells high-quality block sets.

I think you should look into Rescue Heroes, My now 7 year old sons third birthday was a rescue hero explosion and he loved it!
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/rescueheroes/default_flash...

My 3 year old says you should get him a Robot. Hope that helps = )

Age 3 is a good time to start asking what he would like to have for his birthday. It saves you a lot of time and as long as his request is reasonable it lets you off the hook of finding the perfect gift. My son usually surprises me by wanting very simple, inexpensive items. Try it! You may have to redirect his thinking if he wants a live giraffe or a pool 'in' the house but it may teach him to choose carefully and could save you from purchasing unwanted gifts.
Good Luck!
J. R.

My son turns 3 on Friday, and I have gotten him a few gifts I know he will like since he is into basketball, and CARS stuff. I think his favorite gift will be the bubble wrap I bought. They are so simple at this age!

I think it was for my son's 3rd birthday that his Nana got him a tent. You can get "theme" tents...castle, barn, etc....that fold up the same way those pop-open car shades do. My son's was a barn. For another holiday, an aunt gave him a children's camping set that included a small tent, sleeping bag, back pack, water bottle, and compass. He loved to "camp out" in his room. He really seemed to enjoy having his own space to invite us into or later to play make-believe in with his toys. The barn tent was around $20, and the camping set was only about $12, so pretty reasonable. It was also around that age that he got into puzzles, duplo blocks, play dough, and paints. One thing he did that I finally figured out...sometimes he would get a toy and not seem that into it, then, weeks or sometimes months later, he would re-discover it and totally love it. So don't feel too bad if he doesn't seem to love a gift on the first day. At that age, sometimes even a gift is an intrusion into their routine. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

Sometimes we don't get our boys toys, etc. Mostly because they get so much from family that it has gotten very overwhelming.

We take the boys to the zoo for their birthdays and they love it! Our boys are 2 & 4.

Just an idea!

Wooden train set!

As a mother of 4 boys I know that trains give hours of fun.

The Brio sets can be quite expensive, but there are cheaper Brio compatible sets available. The Brio set also have characters like Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder.

Trains sets are good because you can add peices (buildings, bridges, new engines etc) to it every birthday and Christmas. Great present ideas for grandparents, aunts and uncles too.

The best toys you can give are open-ended toys (ones that stimulate the imagination instead of providing all the noise and lights). My son loves wood blocks. I also got him block buddies (firefighter, policeman, pilot, etc) to use with them. He really likes to pretend with the characters. I'm waiting until his 3rd birthday to give him wedgits (pyramid blocks). He also loves his easel. It has a chalkboard and a white magnetic board for letters. His favorite books right now come with magnets to put on the pages. He REALLY loves them. On ebay I was able to find him a wooden name puzzle to help him learn his name. My favorite toy websites are www.kidsurplus.com (cheap) and www.sensationalbeginnings.com (great ideas).

We just gave him a new kind of training bike called the kinderbike (www.mykinderbike.com) and it's AMAZING. It's a small 2-wheeler without training wheels or pedals. The kids learn to pedal on their tricycle and then learn their balance on the kinderbike by pushing it with their feet and then gliding. Then, they go right to a regular bike and never need training wheels or go through that fear of taking them off!!!

I'm also a big fan of outside toys that make him exercise instead of watching TV. He loves his tee-ball set and soccer goal. Another thing you can do cheaply is buy a big low rubbermaid bin at Walmart and fill it with sand. It makes a great sandbox and when you are done you don't have a monstrous sandbox to get rid of.

Educational games: VSmart/VTech for ages 3 are fun. The SmartCycle that is a new video game seems a little old for 3. My son loves Thomas the Train and still talks to people about his "James" birthday he had in October. All I did was buy a James train (the red one from Thomas and Friends) and put it on his ice cream birthday cake. He is 3 1/2 and still likes to play with trains. He also liked the super heroes that he got for his birthday (superman and batman). Just talk to your son and see what he likes, he will tell you. If it is Diego/Thomas/Spiderman then he will know. If he has too many likes, try to narrow them by holding both types of toys and see which one he likes best. Best of luck!

Try kiddlestix they have really neat fun educational toys and can help you find something neat for him.

I know my nephew loved his Vtech handheld game system (they have educational games: colors, numbers, letters). He's 5, and still loves it! Great for car trips too. I think it also hooks into a regular TV for home use. He also likes his racecar track, drawing Easel with chalkboard, dinosaurs, and he has lots of DVD movies.

We have a friend that has the Thomas trains and every time we had a play date with them, my son just loved to play with them for hours, so the Easter Bunny started his train collection and he is in love. We decided to go with the Thomas "Take Along" set, they have magnets to put all the trains together. Last week we got some tracks, he just plays with these little trains for hours and wants to take them with him everywhere he goes.

Like a previous poster said, you can add to it in small increments because the trains themselves are under $5 a piece and it makes a great gift from family and friends to add to your collection.

Since your son is also active (mine is very active as well): My son also loves his tricycle and we got him this mini trampoline for kids for his birthday and he also plays with that everyday. Good Luck!!

K.

I have a son turning 3 in June, and am in the same dilemma! I want to get him that bicycle/video toy I saw at Christmas, but it depends on how much money I have next month.

My son recently turned 3 and we got him a Kid Tough digital camera from Fisher Price. He loves it and takes it everywhere. You can put a memory card in and it holds a lot of pictures and then just use the USB cable to transfer them to the computer. Hope this helps!

if he is a typical 3 yr old I bought mine a v smile. they are video games but they teach you so much. they also teach hand eye coordination. and once he gets better and older you can get a v smile pocket. they use the same games. and I bought a pair of five dollar headphones for it so I can't here it. they are alittle expensive but it will last longer than most toys that you will buy. check em out. my three yr old girl got a v smile pocket for her bday and my six yr old got a new one for christmas. they make games to cover all ages. and they can play them on easy med or hard. gool luck.

The Thomas the Tank Engine trains (mentioned below) were my son's favorite at that age. You might also try legos or duplos. If he doesn't have a tricycle, now's the time! Discovery toys also has a lot of good items to offer this age, and don't forget about fun books. A small (soft) baseball, glove, and bat are fun & build motor skills, as do other sports items.

When my son turned 3 we got him a scooter...not just any scooter...it has 2 wheels in the front and one in the back. It helped him with his balance. At almost 6 you still can't get him off of it. It has been money well spent. We got it online from toysrus. I'm trying to get one for my daughter now that she is about to turn 3. Here's the link http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2567106 and I even noticed it's on sale!!!!

How about a little boys dress up clothes..cop, fire fighter, army man. I think toys r us has a little trunk full of boys dress up. My 3 year old little girl loves to play dress up.
Hope that helps,
A.

http://catalog.teachersstop.com/

we've gotten some great stuff from here. numbers, letters, and emotion charts for the walls. they have a wide variety of educational toys too.

I would find him some items for things he is interested in that might also be educational. Buy what is good-quality and doesn't look like it would break the first time he plays with it. I would advise against things that have many pieces to keep up with, as they always seem to end up separated at our house. Outdoor toys are EXCELLENT for his age group, and they don't take up space in the house! Little Tykes makes wonderful, long-lasting outdoor toys. In fact, my 15-year-old son (and the younger ones, too) still ride on a Little Tykes push tractor (meant for ages 18 mos. and up) down the hill by our house. Go figure, but it hasn't broken yet in all these years. But one huge word of advice to you is not to go crazy on buying birthday gifts! It is SOO easy to overload, and you will regret it! If your child has too many choices of what to play with, I can promise you the child will be overwhelmed, not really interested in much of any of it, and you will wish you'd saved the money and the space in your house! Buy him just a few items that are worth it and that you are sure he will like. After 6 kids (and another on the way), I long ago learned my lesson on gifting the kids. I overdid it with mine for years on special occasions, and it only led to too much stuff that wasn't even played with (but often broken and lost), that we didn't have room to properly store, and that was a waste of money I could have spent on better things for us. If there is too much of anything, your child can't focus on any one thing. You might have noticed how at some children's birthday parties that there is so much, the kids get to the point where they aren't even interested in opening presents anymore, and they don't even seem to care about what is actually in any of them. Your child is only 3, and remember that he one day will not even remember his 3rd birthday or what he received! The main thing is that he and everyone else has fun, and that is what counts--not what he gets from anyone, even Mom!

I am a teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I shop at an educational supply store. They have gifts for many ages and all have an educational purpose with age suggestions.

My boys were about this old when we bought Thomas the Train (Brio). (Check to make sure you are buying lead free!!) They loved the characters from the books and videos as much as the little trains themselves. Later on (Christmas) we bought a cheaper version on the big wooden track set from Costco. The Thomas trains worked fine on it. We kept that train set for years and finally passed it on to a cousin. I kept all the Thomas trains though (for sentimental reasons).

Another idea is Duplo blocks. My boys loved them. Eventually, the got real legos. Now at 8 & 10, they are LEGO obsessed. Good Luck!

Lisa

Anything by a company called VTech is great. I have a 13 and 8 year old and the toys went through both of them and on to nephews. They are very age appropriate and last forever, well worth buying.

DiscoveryToys has some GREAT ideas for 3 year olds that are both educational and fun! My daughter, who is 3 in July, loves them all. If you email me, ____@____.com, or you can go to www.discoverytoyslink.com/katierowell to check out some of the great ideas! Good luck!

When JEff was that age he had a rockie pony He love to get it going. He also have trunks and cars. He was always the kind who loved books, at this age he had the bath tub books little rubber books that had a picture and the mane of the picture. He could and did take them in the tub with him. You may want to look in to these things.

3 year olds are fun! Let's see - they can finally do lots of arts and crafts, so any collection of craft supplies or an easel is great. They love to cut, glue, paint, glitter. 3 year olds love make believe - a tool set, a dr set, even for boys some dress up costumes are great. 3 year olds love to be outside - big items would be trikes, play house, climbing/sliding structures, smaller items - lots of balls, bats, frizbees, sidewalk chalk - take a walk down the "outdoor section" of the toy store. New bathtub toys are a hit at any age. 3 year olds are also ready to start learning. If you have a computer, he can probably start with some easy preschool games or a leapster type system. Puzzles are great for problem solving and don't forget books, books, books!

Hullabaloo ! It is a Cranium game and my kids LOVE IT! We have bought it for every birthday party because that is what the kids all want to play when they come to our house

A. N

Hi, my 3year old son loves every that has spiderman on it. He really enjoys playing in his spiderman tent with his toys. It is his excape from his big sis. He also ejoys playing games on his v-tech v-smile. I hope this information help. Good Luck!!!!

I think it's called My Little Sandbox....check on amazon. it's a 12 x12 little sandbox with little vehicles....it comes in different themes....my 5 year old still loves his construction one. We lay a large towel down and he plays for a long time!

My sons have always loved Thomas wooden railway. I hope this helps. AS

My kids love the Leap Frog items. We have the "Leapster Word Wammer" on our frige (and have now for almost 2 years) and the kids love it and still constantly play with it. They also love the electronic books that are from Leapfrog. Hope this helps!!