3 year Old’s Wish List- 100 Purposeful Ideas from a Mom of Three
(I would put a 3 year old picture of our littlest man too, but he’s only 15 months old at this time).
We have had three boys in a little over three years, so to say we’ve been gifted many gifts for boys ages 3 and under would be an understatement! We are so thankful for our generous friends and family who have given our little ones so many things, but like most moms of littles, it can be overwhelming trying to sift through all the things.
Lately, we’ve taken advantage of amazon wish lists for our boys. They have been a great tool to help family and friends get some ideas, and also have saved us many a meltdown!
Instead of, “Mama, can I have this right now!”, we often hear, “Mama, can you add this to my birthday list?” You would be shocked at how well simply acknowledging a want by saying, “I’ll add it to your list!” does for a little 2 or 3 year old heart. (for more tips on preventing and handling toddler tantrums, check out one of our most popular posts: The Ultimate Tantrum Survival Guide and Other Bonus Parenting Tips)
When it comes to gifts, I like to think of it in terms of categories:
Building, Outdoor, Creative Play, Educational Items, Books, Favorite Character Items, Games, Personalized, Event Gifts …just to name a few. We often try to stick to the 4 gift rule: Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read, but to be honest, we sometimes go a little over.
For more on how we organize all these toys- check out this post here:
**this post contains some affiliate links (at no additional cost to you) which simply means if you purchase an item through the link a small percentage goes towards fees associated with running this blog**
Building:
- Wooden Blocks
- Magnetic Tiles
We have the Magna-Tile brand and also this brand (Kids Magnet Toys Magnet Building Tiles, 120 PCs 3D Magnetic Building Blocks Set, Educational Toys for Kids Children
- Peg Board (all my boys love this! ages 14 months, 3 and 4)
- Waffle Blocks
- Classic or Duplo-Sized Legos
- Tinkertoys
- Bristle Blocks
Outdoor:
- Climber
- Tree Swing/Fun Swing for set swing
- Cozy Coup/Gas Pump
- Scooter
- Bike
- Balance Bike
- Helmet :Schwinn Infant Helmet
- See Saw
- Wiggle Car
- Sports galore: golf set, T-Ball Set
,Soccer Set
,Youth Height Adjustable Basketball Goal
- Pogo Stick:
- Trampoline
Bounce Pro Trampoline (7′ My First Trampoline Hexagon (Ages 3-10) for Kids)
Creative Play
- Doctor (you can even purchase a real stethoscope. separately !)
- Construction Worker
- Fireman
- Knight (or for David and Goliath play-acting as my boys use this for almost daily)
- Foam Swords/Light Sabers
- Animal Figurines/stuffed animals- sea, jungle/zoo, horses- whatever your child loves
- Dinosaurs (big one is his favorite currently)
- Cars/Dump Trucks/Car Transporter/Ramps- our oldest was obsessed with cars from 1-3.5 and still will play with them for hours at 4. He’s often requested certain cars characters by name. One year, Miss Fritter
(a Cars 3 character) was a big hit with the boys. Another we paid almost 20 dollars each for small cars because the only thing he requested for his birthday was Doc Hudson
and Jackson Storm
and the stores didn’t carry them. The King & Chick Hicks
are two of his other favorites. Another huge hit for our boys are any of the haulers from the cars movies (Mack
, Jackson Strom, Cruz Ramirez)
(a Cars 3 character) 
are two of his other favorites. Another huge hit for our boys are any of the haulers from the cars movies (
, Jackson Strom, Cruz Ramirez)
Mighty Truck Carrier – 
-
you can even make a graph and see how many you have of each color- great for beginning of number sense/concepts of less, more
- Trains/Tracks: At 4 our oldest went though a Thomas stage and requested a Thomas birthday party. My parents gifted him a train table at 2. We’ve slowly added Tracks
, bridges, etc and we have almost all of the Thomas characters as well. Cranky was a big hit and highly requested one year (I found a good deal on the barnes and noble website of all places).
. Trace around it, then remove the pieces and have your kids complete the puzzle. This same concept works for magna-tiles, legos, pretty much any building toy.
- Football helmets. Our boys like to “act out” whatever they watch on tv- from Daniel Tiger episodes to football games. These football helmets have been so fun for them and they fit really well on some of their dinosaurs/animals.
- Kitchen Toys- two of our favorites are this food sort (great realistic food items and so fun to sort colors) and this Melissa and Dough cookie tray, but there are so many things to choose from. We got our kitchen from Ikea.
- Tee Pee or Collapsable Tent
Educational Items:
For more simple ideas for teaching your kids at home, check out my post here: 7 Tips for an Easy Prep, No Stress Preschool at Home (from a Mom of 3 under 4)
- Writing tablets/Magna doodles- make handwriting so much fun and not messy!
- Sensory Letters
- Preschool DVDS
- Puzzles
- Lake shore magnetic board with Roller Coaster Set
- Melissa and Doug Sequencing Set
- Melissa and Doug Scissor Skills- one of the things your kids need to know when they go to kinder! (how to cut)
- Removable Sticker Books
- Letter stamps for play dough Alphabet & Number Clay Stampers
, Cookie Cutters
- Wipe Clean Books/ Cards. Usborne Books has some incredible quality ones starting at 7.99. Please let me know if you’d like any personal book recommendations. There are so many wonderful educational, unique books to be found. Our boys love all of them.
, 
Books
- Just a few favorites (but oh we have hundreds!) Don’t Push the Button!, The Book with No Pictures
, A Perfectly Messed-Up Story
, I say Ooh you say Ahh, Can I Join Your Club (this is great for teaching kids to include others)- we are just beginning to start chapter books (Hey Jack stories from Usborne are great! and we hope to start the Boxcar Children soon), the Shine a Light series from Usborne is also so fun! Again, if you would like some more guidance, please reach out to me and I’d be happy to find books more catered to your child’s individual interests. We love books around here! Story telling is such a powerful tool for children!
, 
, 
- Sticker Books
- Gospel Centered Books- check out some of our favorites here: Gospel-Centered Books for Little Ones
- Superbook
– you can watch episodes for free on amazon prime and Right Now Media, if you have that (warning some of the episodes can be a little bit on the mature side)
- Look and Find
are also a big favorite at our house! There are so many different themed ones out there.
– you can watch episodes for free on amazon prime and Right Now Media, if you have that
are also a big favorite at our house! There are so many different themed ones out there.
Games
- Ultra Dash
(We don’t have this yet, but I’ve heard great things.)
- Sneaky Snacky Squirrel
- Gamewright Hisss Card Game
(We don’t have this yet, but I’ve heard great things.)
- Hasbro Gaming Candy Land Kingdom Of Sweet Adventures Board Game For Kids Ages 3 & Up (Amazon Exclusive)
- Zingo Bingo Award Winning Game
Favorite Character Items
- Thomas (as seen above)
- Cars (as seen above)
- Daniel Tiger
- Paw Patrol
- Toy Story
- think outside the box: blankets, clothing, pillows, silverware, lunch boxes, new “big boy” water bottle
– our son recently got told that his munchkin straw cup was for babies!, clothes, light up Paw Patrol Shoes- a Nemo shirt was our oldest’s favorite for a while, as were Nemo pajamas and a Buzz Lightyear Hoody
, character pajamas
- DVDs- some favorites at our house: Nemo, Dory, Cars (all of them), Toy Story,
- Our boys love David and Goliath and my sister got them some super cute little action like figures: Tales Of Glory – David And Goliath
Fun Personalized Items
- Wooden Stool
- Wooden Puzzle
- Personalized Luggage Set
- Nice Backpack or Lunch box
- Hooded Towel for the beach or swimming- my boys LOVE their Shark Ponchos
- Hats or clothing item for a favorite team
- Name train
Event Gifts:
- Trampoline Park Pass or other Indoor Play Ground
- Children’s Museum Pass
- Zoo Membership
- Sports/Dance/Gym/Swim Classes
- Disney on Ice
- Aquarium Outing
There are so many wonderful gifts you can give your children- you could spend days sifting through amazon reviews. Almost every time our boys leave a new friends house they talk about toys they want to add to their “list”, that human-nature of comparison and envy doesn’t have to be taught to rise up so easily in them. I have to constantly fight the challenge for contentment myself- to not look to the right or left, but be thankful for what I have. (Prescription for Contentment, When I don’t feel thankful). You can never get enough. Money. Beauty. Riches. Toys. Success. It’s never enough. I don’t want to inadvertently teach our boys the lie that money can buy happiness and fill the emptiness in our souls. New gifts soon become old ones, cast aside, ready to donate and be replaced my other novel shiny things, and the lie of if only I had this, then I’d be happy…..is a strong one, one that I’m still fighting at not believing.
I have to fight the want in me to buy them too many things. I know that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, but I also love love thinking of things to buy them that they would enjoy. It gives me such pleasure to see their faces when they open up a much-desired gift. And I think it mirrors our Father’s heart who delights to give good gifts. But, oh how our heart for them is to know that all good gifts point up to the Giver– our Father in heaven who so desires for us to give Him our very selves, so much so that Jesus gave up His life to redeem us. I don’t want to create entitled, ungrateful hearts in them by always giving them everything they want because let’s be real, that’s not life. It is good to say yes at times, and it is good to say no at other times.
Don’t forget there is so much joy to be had in simple things: big brown boxes, running outdoors and playing in the dirt, just to name a few.
Happy gift- buying (just not too many, lol), friends! And please, if you have an awesome gift- idea, comment below so other Mamas can benefit.
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