Which toys do/did your 3 year olds love?

[gabid]

My DD will be 3 next week, we got her a few little gifts but I couldn't think of anything special that she would love for a long time. Last year we got her a scooter which was a great success and is still much loved.

What do your DCs love playing with? Games? There are 100s at Toys r Us, which ones do your 3 year olds really like? We have one Orchard Toys game that is recommended from age 4-8 (the food one with the monkey), but DD loves it. Any others?

[MegBusset]

Lego Duplo absolutely the biggest hit for my two (2 and 4), they play with it every single day.
Toy microwave/kitchen also very popular.

[ClareyLou78]

My DD (just 3) is obsessed with teeny-weeny-tiny things and putting them in pots (tiny babies and dolls e.g. HappyLand, matchbox cars, coins!). She loves threading beads and buttons onto shoe-laces and stacking boxes to keep them in (ikea do great ones). Also LOVES russian dolls and my MIL got her a set of really pretty boxes which fit inside each other with a different picture on each side, so if you look up one side of the 'tower' it's a tree, another is numbers, another animals with their babies etc - very cute! Failing that, a doll's house of some description?

They're all different, eh! My Mum just made her the most amazing ever 'SHOP'. It's taken her weeks. DD played in the huge amazon box it came in for at least an hour!!! =D

Happy birthday-planning. Are you having a party??

[triskaidekaphile]

play kitchen
happyland house
ybike
duplo
farm with Schleich farm animals
dressing up stuff
garage
special doll/soft toy

[Tinkerisdead]

My dd is three next month. For xmas shes getting a play kitchen as she gravitates towards them everywhere we go. For her birthday shes getting some more duplo, a peg board, magnetic dolls, a fishing game and some 20 piece jigsaws as she loves role play stuff but also tactile/consruction type toys. We did go to a toy museum and she loved meccano type stuff to screwing big plastic nuts and bolts. I should add these will be from us as well as four sets of grandparents.

[SazZaVoom]

Wow toys

They are ALL fab and every single child who comes to the house plays with them too from babies to 10 year olds!

[fuckityfuckfuckfuck]

Brio. Lots and lots of Brio.

[gabid]

Lots of good ideas, thanks. Yes, we are having a little party at home, just some friends and a couple of kids from pre-school.

[HappyAsIAm]

happyland stuff - he's been playing with it every day since he was 18 months and he's nearly 4 now. B far the biggest hot is the double decker bus, but the funfair, cottage, school and glider plane have all had amazing use out of them.

duplo - again, he plays with this every day, and it has loads of play potential.

farm and domestic animals from the schliech (sp?) range that ELC sells. we also have some playmbil animals, fencing and a bar, and a tractor, which are all played with together

ELC big city garage (I think its called) which comes with 20 metal cars - a big hit!

some playmobil things such as the aeroplane (currently on offer for £23.99 in ELC) and the swimming pool and paddling pool with a slide (about £35) that they broughout out this year, and the pirate ship

play kitchen - we have separate wooden washing machine, cooker and sink by Santoys (which have been amazing and are still in really good condition), play food, baskets, trolley, till and tea set

Orchard Toys games and puzzles - big bus and big aeroplane jigsaws, opposites game from Galt, Orchard Toys farmyard dominos

wooden train track - by far the most used toy in our house, which we've added to quite a bit

and LOTS of play doh!!

Hope you have a lovely celebration.

[gabid]

Thanks again! I can see though that they are all different.

[MissTinaTeaspoon]

Dd (3.5) loves Sylvanian Families (my old ones!), Playmobil (particularly the camper van and paddling pool set), Happyland (castle and school), play kitchen and till.

Her favourite games are Shopping List (an Orchard Toys one) and Hungry Hippos (bought for 70p from an nct sale!)

She also adores her Leapfrog Tag pen and books.

[BsshBossh]

My DD (3) loves make believe so spends most of her playtime with her Playmobil safari park (now wants a princess castle), dolls house, cuddly toys, garage and cars, plastic dinosaurs, play food and cooker and tea set... Things like that. She has and can do a range of Orchard Toys and Galton board games and jigsaws but she's not as interested in those. She loves books and tries to make up the stories from the pictures. She also loves phonics and numbers apps on the iPad/iPhone. And any musical instruments.

[BertieBotts]

Anything with sodding Thomas on it.

:(

(Okay, helpful suggestions: Train set, Happyland, big floor puzzles. Role play stuff - toy food, shop set, etc.)

[BsshBossh]

Oh, and she's only now getting into crafts and art, colouring in, stickers, painting etc.

[BertieBotts]

Also, DS is just 3 and very cautiously starting simple board/card games. We're getting him into the swing of the idea by "playing" a jigsaw puzzle. Deal the pieces out so everyone has an equal number (or an unequal number, it doesn't really matter. You can easily rig it too so they get the idea that they don't always win.) and the leftover bits, put in the middle to start it off (it helps if they fit together). Go round the circle putting one piece in in turn, if you don't have any pieces which fit onto the jigsaw which is already there, then play skips to the next person. You have two winners - firstly the person who uses all of their puzzle pieces up first, and secondly the person who completes the jigsaw by placing the final piece.

[Wigeon]

Things she plays with several times a week:

Her mini micro scooter.

Train track and trains. (thank you SIL!)

Happyland. (thank you SIL again!)

Duplo.

Dolls and soft toys.

Any sets of things - eg cars, some giant plastic insects we've borrowed from the local Toy Library, a set of realistic little plastic fish for playing with in the bath (or even not in the bath). I wouldn't know what to do with them but somehow she loves sorting them out and lining them up and carrying them around and pretending they are the children at pre-school and so on.

Her mini trampoline.

Other good things: Orchard Toys games (Ladybird game,Shopping list game). A Peppa Pig jumping in muddy puddles games (despite never having seen an episode of Peppa Pig!).

[Wigeon]

Thought of a few more:

Jigsaws

Books

[gabid]

Thanks all, we had a lovely party. We got her a number of smaller presents and she got more at her party, and guess what she was most impressed with - a 4-pack of play dough!?