educational games for 3 years old

• Recognizing letter names and sounds
• Recognizing lowercase and uppercase letters
• Tracing letters and numbers
• Putting the letters of the alphabet in order
• Matching letter sounds to beginning word sounds
• Counting syllables
• Reading sight words
• Recognizing rhyming words
• Engaging in wordplay
• Understanding and contributing to a short narrative
• Counting to 10
• Recognizing written numbers from 1 to 10
• Sorting by color and number
• Tracing numbers
• Recognizing shapes and patterns
• Recognizing “more” and “less”
• Painting and coloring
• Illustrating a story
• Expressing themselves through art and design
• Recognizing and naming colors
• Recognizing shapes
• Comparing sizes
• Talking about weather
• Picking the right clothes for the weather
• Using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen

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15 Best Learning Activities for Your 3 Year Old Preschooler

5 Fun Developmental Activities for 3-Year-Olds

5 indoor activities for 3-year-olds, 5 engaging art activities for 3-year-olds, how educational activities transform kids’ lives.

Toddlers are very active and always on the go! As a parent, it can be tough to keep up with their energy levels. However, it’s important to find ways to keep your toddler occupied and engaged and learning!

Here are 15 activities for 3-year-olds that are both fun and educational:

1. Recognizing Letters and Sounds

Learning activities for 3-year-olds are most fun when they are dressed up as family games, pretend plays, or become parts of our daily activities and observations. Recognizing letters and their sounds is one such activity that can be done in several ways.

Things you need:

A whiteboard or chalkboard, some colored markers or chalk. You can also use letter cards, board games, or online games for kids .

How to play:

You can play games where you write a letter on the board and teach your child to read it. Preschoolers can start learning both uppercase and lowercase letters . If they get it right, give them a point. If not, give them a clue and let them try again.

You can also play the “sound it out” game. Write a letter on the board and ask your child to make the sound it makes. Again, if they get it right, give them a point. If not, give them a clue and let them try again.

Pointing to letters written somewhere as you go about your day—a cereal box, a signboard, a magazine, etc.—is also an easy activity to help your child learn to read them. Children can also trace letters with their fingers on the sand, match uppercase and lowercase letters, erase letters on a chalkboard, etc. 

If you are busy, play some alphabet songs for your toddler to dance or let them play some online English games .

Skills your preschooler will learn:

Letter recognition, phonemic awareness, letter sounds

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SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

2. Reading with Your Child

Reading books with your child is one of the best things you can do for their development. Not only does it improve language skills, but it also helps them learn sight words, develop their imagination, and understand the world around them.

Books that are appropriate for your child’s age and interests, such as picture books, easy readers, etc.

Sit down with your child and read a book together. You can take turns reading the pages or have your child read the whole book to you.

Books for toddlers should be short and have many pictures supporting the story. This will help keep their attention span, and they will be more likely to understand the concepts in the book.

Read word by word, pointing to each word with your finger, and ask inferential questions based on how, why, what, when, and where to encourage the thinking skills in kids .

Language skills, sight words , attention span, comprehension, memory, imagination

3. Making Up Stories

Children love to listen to and tell stories, and this is an activity that can be done anywhere, anytime. It’s the perfect thing to do in a car while traveling, at bedtime, or even while waiting in line at the grocery store.

None! Just your child’s imagination

Have your child make up a story, either on their own or with your help. Encourage them to use their imagination and be as creative as they want. If they get stuck, you can prompt them with questions or ideas. You may also correct their grammar along the way, but it’s important to let them be creative and have fun with this activity.

If your child is stumped, set an example by asking them for three or four words and make a story that uses all of them. For instance, if they give you the words “cat,” “green,” “ball,” and “tree,” you could make up a story about a green cat that climbs a tree to fetch a ball.

Eventually, you can give words to your child and have them make up a story using those words.

Creativity, imagination, storytelling, communication

4. Playing a Number Game

Offline and online, math can be fun for kids if it’s taught interactively and creatively. Playing the number sense games is one such activity that will help your child learn numbers, counting, and basic arithmetic operations in a fun and engaging way.

A whiteboard or a chalkboard, some colored markers or chalk. You can also use games focusing on numbers and counting, such as board games, card games, etc. Online math games are also available.

There are many games that you can play with your child to help him learn numbers and math concepts. One such game is the “guess the number” game. Write down a number between 1 and 10 on the board, and ask your child to guess it. If he gets it right, give him a point. If not, give him a clue and let him have another try.

You can also play the “greater than or less than” game. Write down two numbers on the board, such as 3 and 5, and ask your child which number is greater. If he gets it right, give him a point. If not, give him a clue and let him try again.

Numbers , counting , and basic arithmetic operations include addition , subtraction , multiplication , and division .

5. Sorting Activities

Sorting is a fun activity that helps children learn about different attributes such as size, shape, color, etc. It also helps them develop problem-solving skills.

Various objects can be sorted according to size, shape, color, etc. You can use blocks, balls, toy cars, berries, buttons, etc.

Let your child choose a few objects and ask him to sort them according to size, shape, color, etc. For example, they can sort blocks by size or toy cars by color. As they sort the objects, help them identify the attribute they use for sorting.

Sorting, categorizing, and problem-solving.

Check out the best sensory activities for 3-year-olds you can try!

One of the favorite preschool activities for 3-year-olds is drawing. At this point, the artistic skills of a child are not really important. Drawing is a fun activity for toddlers to express themselves, work on their fine motor skills, and have fun!

Paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils

Sit with your child and encourage them to draw whatever comes to mind. You can also give some drawing ideas to kids , such as “Draw a picture of your family,” “Draw a picture of your favorite animal,” etc. You may make a drawing and ask your child to trace it or copy it.

Creativity, fine motor skills, imagination, attention span

7. Building with Blocks

One of the easy, no-mess activities for 3-year-olds at home is to let them build with blocks. It is amazing how much fun and creative they can be with this simple activity.

Blocks are also a great way for children to learn about shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns.

Blocks of various shapes and sizes

Let your child play with the blocks freely or give him or her some challenges, such as “build a tower as tall as you can,” “make a house for your favorite stuffed toy,” etc.

Creativity, imagination, problem-solving, eye-hand coordination, shapes, colors, patterns

8. Paper Cutting with Safety Scissors

Children feel empowered with a tool in their hands. And they are so proud of themselves when they can cut the paper!

Paper, safety scissors, craft supplies like pom poms, googly eyes (optional)

Give your child a piece of paper and let him or her cut it any way they want. If you like, you can also give some challenges, such as “cut out a circle,” “make a snowflake,” etc. You can help your child decorate the cutouts with craft supplies if desired.

Fine motor skills, creativity, imagination, attention span

*Please note that only safety scissors should be used for this activity. Regular scissors are too sharp for little ones.*

9. Doing Daily Chores

You’ll be surprised at all the things your toddlers can do if only you let them try. Giving them some simple chores to do not only helps them learn some valuable life skills but also makes kids feel proud and accomplished.

Chores that are appropriate for your child’s age and abilities, such as making their bed, dusting furniture, setting the table, etc.

Choose a chore that you would like your child to help with. Then, show them how to do it and let them try it themselves. Some of the chores that a 3-year-old can do may require some assistance or supervision, but it’s important to let them explore their capabilities and try new things.

A toddler can easily be overwhelmed with too many chores, so it’s important to start small. Choose one or two simple tasks that you know your child can handle. As they get older and more capable, you can give them more chores to do. Remember to praise them for a job well done!

Daily living skills, responsibility, independence, pride, satisfaction

10. Role-playing

What’s funnier than seeing a tiny toddler acting like a fat aunt or an old grandpa? Role-plays are one of the best activities for 3-year-olds as they help them learn about different emotions, people, and situations.

None! Just your child’s imagination. A few props like a walking stick, a hat, a lady’s purse, or a wig could come in handy to help set the scene.

Have your child choose a character that he or she would like to play. It could be anyone—a family member, a friend, a cartoon character, an animal, etc. Then, encourage them to act out the part. They can speak differently, use props, and do whatever they want to bring the character to life. Children learn to observe people around them and understand their emotions in this way.

Creativity, imagination, emotional intelligence, communication, problem-solving

Check out the best outdoor activities for 3-year-olds here!

11. Playing Dress Up

Dress-up games are not gender-specific. Most children love them! This activity helps 3-year-olds use their imagination, learn about social norms and roles, and have lots of fun!

Old clothes, hats, scarves, jewelry, etc., can be used as dress-up items. You can also use old sheets or towels to make capes or skirts. You can also use actual costumes if you have them.

Let your child choose what they want to be, and then help them get dressed in the appropriate clothing. If you like, you can also act out a play or story together with your child in their new costume.

Creativity, imagination, role-playing, problem-solving

12. Making Music with Household Items

This is one of the fun activities for 3-year-olds that can be done with items that you already have around the house. It’s a great way to introduce your child to music and help them develop a sense of rhythm.

Household items that can be used as musical instruments, such as pots and pans, plastic containers, wooden spoons, etc. You can also use actual musical instruments if you have them.

Let your child choose what he or she wants to use as an instrument. Then, encourage them to make music with it however they want. You can also sing along or dance to the music!

Music skills, sense of rhythm, gross motor skills, creativity, imagination

13. Making Art with Thumb , Hand, or Foot Impressions

Most toddlers do not know how to go about making an art piece. But they love to play a role in helping make one! This activity allows them to do just that, resulting in a beautiful piece of art that you can hang on your fridge or wall.

Non-toxic paint, paper, and something to use as a stamp (such as potato, carrot, or eraser)

Let your child choose what paint color he or she wants to use. Then, help them make a thumbprint, handprint, or footprint on the paper. You can also make patterns with stamps by carving a shape into a potato, carrot, or eraser. Once the paint is dry, you can hang up the artwork!

Creativity, imagination, fine motor skills, color recognition

14. Creating a Collage

A collage is a great way for toddlers to express their creativity. They can make amazing birthday cards with photo collages, make wall-hanging art, or have fun tearing up paper and gluing it back together!

Paper, safety scissors, glue, and any other materials you want to use for the collage (such as tissue paper, construction paper, feathers, buttons, ribbons, etc.)

Let your child choose what they want to use for their collage. Then, help them cut out the paper or other materials into small pieces. Once they have a good pile of pieces, they can glue them down onto another piece of paper. You can help them with this if needed.

Creativity, imagination, fine motor skills, color recognition, pattern-making

15. Drawing with Chalk on the Sidewalk

If you live in a safe neighborhood, your children can display their artistic skills outside the home by drawing with chalk on the sidewalk or driveway. This activity is great for gross motor skills and allows you to teach your child about shapes, colors, and patterns.

Chalk in various colors

Let your child choose what color of chalk he or she wants to use. Then, help them draw a picture or make patterns on the sidewalk. You can also join in and create your own chalk masterpiece!

Educate children about different cultures where making art to decorate entrance gates and doorways is a tradition. Indians make rangoli, Chinese make a dragon or zodiac animal drawings, while in the Philippines, it is common to see people painting on bamboo mats called banig . In this way, you can introduce your toddlers to other cultures.

Creativity, imagination, gross motor skills, shapes, colors, pattern-making

A study on Chinese children found that organized extracurricular activities (EAs) are strongly associated with early reading, math, and social skills. Another study indicated that the involvement of parents in preschool children’s learning activities at home during the COVID-19 pandemic was beneficial to kids’ learning behavior and emotional health. 

These studies seem to suggest that any activity that encourages learning, socialization, and creativity would benefit our little ones and shape them into more confident, woke, and aware individuals. 

Some benefits of educational activities for 3-year-olds are:

• They help develop cognitive skills, including problem-solving, memory, and attention span.
• EAs also nurture social skills such as cooperation, empathy, and communication.
• These activities can also boost self-esteem and confidence in children.
• Fun and educational activities are also great for developing gross and fine motor skills.

So go ahead and try out some educational activities with your 3-year-old today! You might just be surprised at how much they enjoy it—and how much they learn from it too.

Explore more online educational resources for kids to aid their learning experience.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How to choose a good educational activity for my 3 year old.

When choosing an activity for your 3-year-old, it is important to consider their interests, abilities, and attention span. You also want to ensure the activity is developmentally appropriate and safe. If you are unsure whether an activity is appropriate for your child, you can always consult their pediatrician or a child development expert.

How can I get my toddler to sit still and focus on an activity?

This can be a challenge for many parents! One tip is to try to find activities that your child is interested in and that they enjoy doing. Also, make sure you provide plenty of breaks during the activity so that your child doesn’t become overwhelmed or frustrated. Finally, praise your child when they display good behavior so that they know that you are pleased with their efforts.

How to help my toddler express their creativity?

There are many ways in which you can help your toddler express their creativity. One way is to provide plenty of opportunities for them to explore different materials and mediums, such as crayons, paint, clay, etc. You can also encourage them to sing, dance, or act out stories. And finally, make sure to praise their efforts and creativity, no matter what the outcome may be.

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34 Fun and Creative Games For Three-Year-Olds

October 23, 2023 //  by  Seda Unlucay

By age three, most preschoolers can sort objects by size and can understand longer sentences. They are ready to ride a tricycle, kick a ball, or play catch. They are also able to play simple board games, develop sight word vocabulary, and practice typing skills.

We’ve gathered a list of 34 games, creative activities, painting and drawing ideas, engaging memory puzzles, and fun physical activities you can use to help sharpen their growing literacy and numeracy skills while keeping their energetic bodies moving. Read on and pick out a few to try with your kiddos!

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• Games for 8-Year-Olds
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• Games for 10-Year-Olds

1. Count Your Chickens Board Game

Get everyone settled down with a counting board game! Count Your Chickens is a classic board game that challenges your young learners to gather all their chickens into a coop. What a fun way to teach counting and cooperation skills!

Learn more: Amazon

2. Play Follow The Leader

Follow the leader is a classic game that’ll teach your kiddos many skills including following directions, sharpening concentration, and developing cooperative skills. It’s also a super way to strengthen physical skills such as speed, balance, agility, and motor coordination.

Learn More: Empowered Parents

3. Make Sparkly Slime

Most of your kids are probably slime and glitter-obsessed, so why not combine the two with a simple recipe? You can help them jazz up their slime by letting them add magical unicorns, trucks, or any toys of their choice for hours of fun playtime!

Learn More: See Vanessa Craft

4. Make a Lego Table

Although made up of small pieces, LEGO is safe for three-year-olds and provides hours of enjoyable playtime. Playing with LEGO gives your preschoolers a fantastic way to develop their problem-solving and logic skills while expressing their creativity. What will your little builders create?

Learn More: Sunny Day Family

5. Felt Cookie Busy Bag

This activity is inspired by the hilarious children’s book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and is sure to have your preschoolers hooked. They’ll have plenty of fun getting creative with patterns and inventing colorful designs for their cookies. You may need to have some real cookies on hand though, as this craft could have them working up a bit of an appetite! 

Learn More: Views From A Step Stool

6. Have Fun With a Fishing Game

Who knew fishing could be educational? This engaging game combines sensory play and fine motor skills and is an easy way to develop your kiddos’ color recognition, counting, and memory skills. They’ll love this water play activity!

Learn More: 7 Days Of Play

7. Matching Bug-Building Game

Your preschoolers will want these Cooties in their classroom! This matching bug-building game challenges your kids to build a Cootie bug, making for hours of creative playtime. They’ll each take turns to spin the spinner which will tell them which color and body part to add to their bug next.

8. Rainbow Counting Game

Bring some color to your math lesson with this sweet game! This bright printable activity will give your kiddos plenty of practice with number recognition, counting, estimating, and simple addition. Grab some cotton balls and dice, and let them have a go!

Learn More: Pickle Bums

9. Make a Jello Dig

It’s time for your kiddies to get their hands dirty! This slimy, squishy, and super fun activity requires nothing more than Jello and some toys or loose parts. You can mix up the jello and add in the toys before leaving it to set. Then it’s for your toddlers to discover! 

Learn More: Busy Toddler

10. Construct a Bubble Pop Road

Build a recycled road! Create this reusable activity by laying out strips of bubble wrap on the floor, using boxes to simulate hills. Then it’s your preschoolers’ turn to test out different cars and trucks and see which ones will pop the bubble wrap!

Learn More: Hands-On As We Grow

11. Counting and Matching Online Game

Grab your preschoolers’ interest with an interactive online game! Letting them play this free educational game provides them with plenty of counting and matching practice that they’ll find super fun! With lots of examples of using ten frames, counting up, and number recognition practice, they’ll soon be experts in all their numbers up to 20!

Learn More: Top Marks

12. Play Peek-A-Boo with Farm Animals

What three-year-old doesn’t love animals? This free farm animal printable makes for a fun game of peek-a-boo! Your preschoolers are sure to love playing hide and seek with their choice of pigs, sheep, cows, or horses, as they practice their cutting and sticking skills!

Learn More: Buggy and Buddy

13. Play a Cooking and Baking Game

Why not let your young learners get creative by helping with easy recipes such as fruit kebabs or decorating cupcakes? It’s a great way to sharpen their cooking skills for later in life as well as being a fun family game. 

Learn More: C oo k Republic

14. Sort Apples and Oranges

Combine your math and healthy eating lessons with this fun sorting activity! It’s a great way to develop math skills such as sorting and counting as well as discussing the concept of same and different. Other items like blueberries, cereal, small crackers, or even items from nature such as pebbles and leaves, will work just as well for this super activity.

Learn More: Carrots Are Orange

15. Develop Geometry Skills With a Fun Learning Game

What better way to learn about shapes than making silly faces? Let your kiddies’ imaginations run wild, combing bananas, pizza, and candy corn to make the funniest faces they can come up with! 

Learn More: Education

16. Loose Parts Play

Loose-part play is a brilliant early development activity. Parts can be anything from recycled items to tile pieces to rocks, pebbles, and beads. It’s a great way to expose your preschoolers to different textures and materials. You’ll be surprised at all the fun and imaginative ideas they come up with!

Learn More: My Teaching Cupboard

17. Bubble Wrap Learning

Lean into the addictive qualities of bubble wrap by using it as a learning tool! Write letters or numbers onto colored stickers, and place each sticker on a bubble. Then let your preschoolers’ take turns popping the bubbles that correspond to the letter or number you’ve called out. 

Learn More: Meaningful Mama

18. Cotton Ball Fun

Hone your kiddies’ fine motor skills with this simple activity! Grab some cotton balls and an empty container and have them place the balls into the container. This is a fantastic way to develop their fine motor skills as well as discuss relevant vocabulary such as ‘soft, squishy, and white’.

Learn More: The Stay-At-Home Mom Survival Guide

19. Make a Block Tower

There are so many ways to incorporate learning with blocks. You can challenge your kiddos to match base colors, practice their counting skills, or just let their imagination run wild while developing color recognition and matching skills. The possibilities are endless!

Learn More: No Time for Flash Cards

20. Try Painting With Rolling Pins

Experiment with bubble wrap and paint! Have your kiddies combine rolling pins and bubble wrap to create a fun, inventive, and super-engaging painting project. The final effect is textured and vibrant, making for a beautiful display or keepsake.

Learn More: Teaching 2 and 3-Year-Olds

21. Animal Sound Game

Engage your little ones’ senses and memory with this Animal Sound Game. You can play the sounds of various animals and have them guess which animal it is. Not only does it familiarize them with different animals, but it also develops their listening skills.

Learn More: Educagaming

22. Sock Puppets Show

Create easy sock puppets using old socks! Encourage your kiddos to get creative by attaching buttons and yarn, and using fabric markers to create their puppets. Then let them create stories and perform a little puppet show! This boosts creativity and storytelling abilities, providing endless entertainment.

Learn More: Children’s Museum of Sonoma County

23. Shadow Puppets on the Wall

Turn off the lights, grab a flashlight, and let the fun begin! Show your preschoolers how to make hand shapes to project fun shadows on the wall, sparking imagination while developing their fine motor skills. From barking dogs to fluttering birds, the shapes you can make are endless!

Learn More: Drama 4 Kids

24. Hide and Seek with Soft Toys

Ready or not, here I come! Play a whole-class game of hide-and-seek by hiding various toys around the room and guiding your kiddos to find each one. This game enhances their observation skills and develops their positional vocabulary of words like under, above, and behind.

Learn More: Find Me Friends

25. Musical Bumps

Play some music and encourage your kids to dance around and burn off some of that energy! When the music stops, they have to sit down as quickly as possible. This energetic game helps to refine their reaction times and gives them a fun dose of physical activity. Let’s get dancing!

Learn More: Party G a mes 4 Kids

26. DIY String Bead Necklaces

Get creative with this necklace-making idea! Give your kiddies large, colorful beads and string, and have them thread their own necklaces. This super creative activity promotes fine motor skills and pattern recognition while giving them the chance to make something they can actually wear!

Learn More: Thimble and Twig

27. Nature Scavenger Hunt

Take the fun outside! Lead your little learners on a walk outside and give them a list of items to find. As they collect leaves, pinecones, and flowers, they’ll be honing their observational abilities and learning all about the great outdoors! 

Learn More: Green Child Magazine

28. Bubble Blowing Fiesta

Challenge your kiddos to build a tower of bubbles! Mix some soap solution and let them use bubble blowers and straws of various shapes and sizes to try and create their bubbly creations! Who will be able to create the tallest tower?

Learn More: Happy Hooligans

29. Dress-Up Relay

On your marks, get set, go! Lay out various clothing items and challenge your preschoolers to dress up as fast as they can. It’s a fun way to improve their self-dressing skills and understand different types of clothing. As a bonus, they’re sure to find the resulting wacky outfits hilarious!

Learn More: Healthy Kids

30. Jump the Stream

Practice jumping with this fun, play-pretend game! Place two ropes or strings a short distance apart on the floor, to create a “stream.” Then, encourage your kiddos to jump across without falling into the water. You can adjust the distance for difficulty, helping them develop their gross motor skills and sense of distance. 

Learn More: YouTube

31. Feather Balance

Give your kids a feather each and challenge them to stand it upright and balance it on their hands. They’ll need to focus and move around to keep the feather from falling over! This fun game is a super way to teach patience and concentration.

32. DIY Sensory Bins

Spark curiosity with a sensory bin! Start by filling a container with items like rice, beans, or sand, then hide small toys inside for your little ones. They’ll spend hours digging to discover and play with all the hidden toys. These are a fantastic way to introduce a new theme or topic!

Learn More: Little Bins for Little Hands

33. Sticky Spider Web

Let your kiddos practice their aim with this sticky spider web activity! Create your web with painter’s tape, then give them lightweight balls or paper to throw and stick to the web. What a great game to develop their motor skills and hand-eye coordination!

Learn More: My Baba

34. Paper Airplane Challenge

Introduce your littlest learners to basic physics and aerodynamics concepts with this simple activity! Show them how to fold paper planes together and then hold a competition to see whose can fly the furthest or highest! Have them decorate their planes to make things even more exciting! Learn More: Science Friday

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“is your kid musical do they love to dance around and sing kneebouncers is filled with catchy and memorable songs that will even get stuck in your head. this program offers educational games for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. so, you can stick with the same program even after your little one ages out of their terrible twos and threes., play with purpose.

For kids, play is their job – and their job is to play. This natural instinct is how they learn. Our games and videos reinforce what your children are already learning. So let them play and know that they’re building their confidence, while learning foundational skills.

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The importance of play

KneeBouncers is play with purpose. Our interactive online games and videos are designed to engage, encourage, entertain and educate babies, toddlers and preschoolers. We keep our content age-appropriate, and l earning fun.

KneeBouncers employs a play-based developmental learning strategy to create our games. Specifically, we focus on games that spark kids’ curiosity and creativity , exploration of the world , social understanding , communication skills and movement . Our play-based developmental strategies support concrete learning objectives, including: mathematical concepts , science , language and literacy , social and emotional development , arts and music and social studies .

We strive to create age-appropriate engaging games that promote playing with purpose. Games increase in complexity as a child grows, allowing us to provide learning fun for babies through preschool students.

“Life is more fun if you play games.”

A whole lotta fun for the itty bitty ones.

KneeBouncers.com , a website full of engaging toddler games  and  baby games online. Featuring a collection of fun, interactive online games designed specifically for babies ,  toddlers , and  preschool kids.  

KneeBouncers’ gang of characters will delight your child as they explore the interactive online games that  parents, daycare and preschool teachers have embraced for their fun, simplicity, and age appropriateness. These toddler games are easy to play and your preschool kids can enjoy playing on their own. The goal with all of our interactive games is to make learning more enjoyable for your baby, toddler, and preschooler.  

Download the coloring sheets and continue the fun and learning offline. They’re a great way to learn new skills, or reinforce skills that your little one is learning. 

Check out every episode of “The KneeBouncers’ Show” – ad free! And sing-along with Kiki and her KneeBouncer friends in all the “Kiki’s Music Time” episodes! From classic children songs to our original songs – you’ll kids will be singing and dancing!

“Play gives children the chance to practice what they are learning.”

Fred rogers, learn. practice. repeat..

You learn by doing and repeating. Once your child is introduced to a new concept, it’s important for them to practice and repeat the new skill. And we make the process fun for them!

Cause and effect games are designed as tapping games that respond to the touch of the keyboard or screen. These simple baby games build confidence and encourage further exploration. 

Matching games are designed to challenge your little ones memory skills. Zoo and farm animals to shapes , colors, letters , and numbers matching games will keep your child’s memory sharp. (Yours too!)

KneeBouncers was created to instill a love of learning in babies, toddlers, preschoolers and everyone in your family. We’ve created lots of original baby games , online games for toddlers , preschool games , coloring pages , memory games , keypress games , tap games , point and click games , original animated videos , sing-along songs , nursery rhyme videos , original children songs , and so much more! 

Extend the play and learning

Get the refrigerator cleared and ready download coloring sheets from your favorite games and reinforce the lesson, more love to share..., love love love.

KneeBouncers has become a go-to for us when we need a quick and easy educational activity for our toddler.

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To my fellow parents and educators,

From one parent to another, and as the creator of KneeBouncers.com, I want you to know that our platform is more than just another website – it’s a labor of love dedicated to early learning and fun.

It started from a personal need – to create a space where little ones could play games without the fuss of a mouse. Our small haven has now grown to include over 100 ad-free, engaging games, videos, and worksheets. We believe that children learn best when they’re having fun, and that’s exactly what we’re here to provide.

By choosing us, you’re not just opting for a safe, educational journey for your child, you’re also supporting a family-owned small business. We’re still a small, passionate team at KneeBouncers, and your trust in us means more than you can imagine. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your child’s formative years.

Thanks – and keep on KneeBouncin’!

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Parent Resources for Learning > Core Skills > 7 Play-Based Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

7 Play-Based Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

by Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos | Aug 10, 2023 | Core Skills

Pop quiz: What’s a better way to get a 3-year-old to learn, pop quizzes or playtime? 

If you guessed playtime, you’re right! Play-based learning activities for 3-year-olds help them develop the skills they need for school and life by tapping into their natural love of play . It’s a lot easier to get a toddler to play a learning game than to sit down and study—plus, they’ll actually learn more!

The Short Cut

• Learning activities for 3-year-olds can help them develop Core Skills , Creativity , Critical Thinking , and the other 5 C’s that help them thrive
• Play-based learning activities work well because kids learn more when they’re doing something they’re interested in
• Many of the best activities are simple and use everyday items from around the house

We’ve put together instructions for seven of our favorite play-based learning activities for 3-year-olds, plus some general tips, to get you started.

Why Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds Work

Three-year-olds have a lot of energy, and they’re often eager to have new experiences. You can take advantage of their natural Curiosity (one of the 5 C’s) to help them learn valuable skills and see where they are in reaching their developmental milestones .

When kids do an activity they’re interested in, their brains literally light up on researchers’ scans. They learn more and retain more of what they learn, including important abilities.

For instance, hands-on activities —in which your child molds, cuts, sticks, sorts, or manipulates objects—help them develop motor skills. They also help them learn to follow directions for precision and accuracy, improving their Critical Thinking. Similarly, activities like putting puzzles together and playing with building blocks help develop reasoning skills and Creativity (another of the 5 C’s).

All of these abilities will help them as they get older and start working on more complex skills like writing and tying shoelaces.

The first six years of a child’s life are a critical time for brain development. The things they learn in this period help them perform well in school, excel in work, build healthy relationships, and live happy, fulfilling lives.

How Should I Teach My 3-Year-Old?

Keep It Simple

Parents sometimes think early learners need an elaborate game or flashy toy to hold their attention. But three-year-olds are fascinated by lots of simple things—different colors and shapes , how these colors change when you mix them (e.g., red and blue make purple), kicking a ball, storybooks about dinosaurs, baking cookies, and so on.

You don’t need anything complicated to create engaging learning activities for 3-year-olds. In fact, you’ll often be more successful if you keep it simple and use everyday items you already have.

Allow for Creativity

Life is full of right answers for 3-year-olds (and a lot of them, like “Can I hit someone when I’m mad?” are important!). But focusing on process over the finished product when you’re playing helps kids maintain their natural Creativity. If they decide to paint a blue dog, that’s OK! And if they choose to create a 10-legged cat, that’s great too. 

Give them time to play with no “right answers” to strengthen this important skill.

Be Flexible and Patient

Not every activity you try is going to be a hit with your kids. That’s OK!

At this age, your child is learning who they are and what they’re comfortable with. Exploring their likes and dislikes (which can change quickly!) is part of their development.

7 Top Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

1. number hunt.

What You’ll Need

• A set of fun items—from teddy bears to building blocks to balls, anything goes!
• Hide the items around a room
• Ask your three-year-old to find a set number of an item or a group of items (for example, ask them to find one teddy, two socks, and three balls)
• If this is too easy and they lose interest, try turning it into a race against the clock (can they find the items in just one minute?)
• If they find the game a little tricky, ask your child to search for one item at a time (e.g., one teddy, and then one sock, and then one ball) and progress from there

We love this activity because it helps develop working memory and numeracy, important areas of both Critical Thinking and Core Skills.

2. Pasta Necklaces

• Dry, uncooked cylindrical pasta
• Sealable plastic bags
• Food coloring
• A cotton thread or string (you can also use an old shoelace)
• Paper towel
• Beads (optional)
• Place the pasta into the plastic bags, then add a few drops of food coloring to each bag
• After adding the coloring, seal each bag and let your kids give it a good shake
• Line the trays with paper towels, pour the colored pasta on top, and allow it to dry
• While the pasta dries, cut the string so it’s the right length to make a necklace for your child and tie a knot on one end
• Once the pasta is dry, your child can slide the pasta (and beads if you use them) onto the string to make a necklace. When they reach the end of the string, tie the two sides together and you’re done!

This is a fun way to help your child practice counting (“How many pieces of pasta are you adding?”), develop fine motor skills, and explore Creativity.

3. Trace Yourself

• Have your child place part of their body (like their hand) on a sheet of paper
• Show them how to trace around it using a crayon
• Let them take over tracing and finish
• Encourage them to decorate their tracing however they’d like—maybe their hand needs eyes and a mouth!
• The simplest body part to start with is your child’s hands. Once your child has mastered tracing out their hands, they can progress to their feet.
• For even more fun, use a very large piece of paper and trace your child’s whole body. They can then add features and clothes.

This activity requires little prep and can be great for an easy afternoon when you’re in the mood for low mess levels. And it’s an excellent way to help your child practice their fine motor skills!

4. Make an Ocean

• HOMER Sail the Sea printable coloring page
• Crayons, markers, or colored pens
• Help your child color in the printable and discover the interesting creatures that live in our seas
• As your child colors, point out the letters and say their names, the sounds they make, and creature names that start with them (“S” makes a “sssss” sound, for “seahorse”)
• Try to get your child to make the letter sounds too
• Lean into process over perfection. The goal is to introduce your child to letters, sounds, names, and the links between them—if all they want to do is say “sssssss” and color, they’re still learning!
• To make things even more fun, give the creatures silly names and make up stories about them

This is a great activity for developing Core Skills like letter-sound recognition and fine motor skills!

5. Build a City

• Building blocks
• Get out the blocks and start making things, giving each building a name (“This is a candy store. This is an apartment building. This is a playground.”)
• Invite your child to name their own creations as they build alongside you
• If they’re enjoying the game, ask them to copy buildings you’ve made (“This is a candy store. Can you make one too?”)

This quick, simple activity helps develop Critical Thinking (copying your buildings), Core Skills (fine motor skills), and Creativity, all at once!

6. Watch It Grow

• HOMER printable seed growth tracker
• Crayons or pencils
• Large jar (glass or clear plastic)
• Fast-growing seeds (e.g. peas or beans)
• Paper towels
• An old milk or juice carton
• A ruler or measuring tape
• Ask your child to fill the jar with paper towels, then pour water onto the paper towels until they’re slightly damp
• “Plant” the seeds in the damp towels, positioning them close to the jar’s edge so you can watch them grow
• Use the printable to decorate the “watering can” (the milk or juice carton) and add a tag with the plant’s name
• Each day, make a fun moment of checking the jar and asking your child to note any changes you can track in the field notes (“Oh! We finished breakfast! Time to check the jar!”)
• If the paper towels dry out, add water

This activity introduces kids to how plants grow, stoking their Curiosity (another of the 5 C’s) as they explore the way the seed changes day by day!

7. Create Your Own Color Hunt

• Five objects that match each color of crayon, located in or around the house
• Optional: HOMER Make a Color Hunt printable
• Draw a square in the center of a piece of paper (or use the optional Make a Color Hunt printable)
• After drawing the square, use just one color to color it in
• Hand your child the paper and ask them to find five items in or around the house that have the same color
• For kids who aren’t counting yet , you can place items in a bucket or box and ask them to find all the items inside that match the color on the paper

This is a great activity to help with sorting, learning colors, and counting!

Continue the Adventures with Begin!

There are lots of ways to help your child stay entertained, engaged, and learning at home! These activities should help your 3-year-old develop a wide range of important skills.

And if you need more, don’t worry—we’re here to help. Sign up for our emails or check out our award-winning products, from kid-safe learning apps to hands-on activity kits , or try our Early Learner Bundle to see how it all comes together to give your child their best start to achieving their fullest potential.

Jody has a Ph.D. in Developmental Science and more than a decade of experience in the children’s media and early learning space.

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Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos

Chief Learning Officer at Begin

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13 Best Preschool Games for Ages 3 to 5

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Our game closet is overflowing. We play a LOT of games . We always have. This is why I want to share the best fun and learning preschool games for kids ages 3, 4, and 5.

These preschool games are favorites from the classroom and home as a parent of two game obsessed children. I’ll share the games we’ve played over and over –and games that helped my kids practice and learn important skills, too.

What’s important to remember when choosing the best game for your child is that it’s FUN . As you’ll see with the games below, these choices are also playful, engaging, and interesting .

For us to stay as non-technology-oriented as possible, my family plays board and card games in the evenings. (Instead of watching TV or being on electronics.) I highly recommend this. It’s a great way to spend family time together. And I love that we’re building memories.

13 Preschool Games for Ages 3 to 5

The Super Sorting Pie Ages 3+ Not only is this a learning game for beginning math skills but my kids loved to pretend play grocery store with it, too. As a math game, it gets kids sorting and counting. Then, use it to make pies, play grocery store, and do other interesting fruit-related things. (And my kids won’t allow me to get rid of this — it’s just too much fun. Even now that they’re well beyond the preschool ages.)

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game Ages 3+ Practice matching, sorting, counting, and simple math skills with this entertaining, educational game for preschoolers.

Racoon Rumpus Matching Game Ages 3+ Raccoons are having a party in your closet. Roll the color and costume dice and search the cards until you find a match! The person with the most critter cards wins. Kids think this game is so much FUN!!

Feed the Woozle Ages 3+ Preschoolers use fine motor skills along with counting skills to feed silly snacks (like hairy pickles) to the Woozle in this playful cooperative learning game. Players also have to get up and move, too — so get ready!

Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco Game Ages 4+ Get kids to practice shape-matching with foods! Talk about fun! Not only is this game a blast, but the lift-the-flap board book of the same name is also darling.

Sum Swamp Ages 4+ We played this addition preschool board game a LOT when my daughters were new to addition and subtraction. Get this board game to make practicing math facts fun!

Zingo: Bingo with a Zing Ages 4+ Help your preschoolers to develop language and matching skills with this exciting bingo game that’s not only easy and fun to play but very popular with kids, my own included. This is one of our favorite preschool learning games.

Guess Who? Board Game Ages 4+ My kids played this reasoning game from the time they were preschoolers until middle school. It’s a great parent-child game that kids love!

Mini Muffin Match Up Ages 3+ Play this preschool game with kids to learn how to recognize numbers and colors, then use the materials to pretend play later. Your kids will LOVE it!

Go Fish / Crazy Eights / Alphabet Concentration / Old Maid Ages 4+ These are the classic card games of childhood. Stick them in your bag and have them with you at restaurants. I used to take my kids out for game dates at a bagel store and have many happy memories of Go Fish and bagels. My suggestion for Go Fish is to start with pairs instead of fours — it makes it easier to win with preschoolers and shorter to play, which is also better for younger kids.

Outfoxed Ages 4+ Can you use the clues to eliminate suspects and figure out whodunit? This preschool game asks players to find the guilty fox to win.

Hoot Owl Hoot ages 4+ In this cooperative game for preschoolers, players help the owls fly back to their next. The game will help children practice color matching and decision-making.

Cootie ages 3+ Does anyone else have fond memories of playing this game as a child? Players choose a cootie bug body first and then begin to create their entire bug by adding legs, eyes, a mouth, and more.

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If you’re looking for a preschool game option on the computer or phone, here are the best learning game options for preschoolers.

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Melissa Taylor, MA, is the creator of Imagination Soup. She's a mother, former teacher & literacy trainer, and freelance education writer. She writes Imagination Soup and freelances for publications online and in print, including Penguin Random House's Brightly website, USA Today Health, Adobe Education, Colorado Parent, and Parenting. She is passionate about matching kids with books that they'll love.

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One Comment

Really important to remember when choosing a game for child is that it’s first and foremost FUN. I appreciate your work which you made to write this beautiful article. Nice to Read it. Thanks

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SNOW SANTA Potato Head

SHAPES MATCHING PUZZLE Games for Christmas

LOFYS: Number Game for Kids

ONLINE COLORING for KIDS

SHAPE PUZZLES with ANIMALS online

5 Piece Animal Jigsaw Puzzle

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CATCH THAT CAT: Identical Cats on Halloween

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COUNTING TO 10 Game Online

Find One MATCHING PAIR Game Online

DOMINO FOR KIDS (Preschool / 4-5 years old)

COLORS SEPARATION: Drag Color Game

Learn to Count in DIGIZOO

COUNT TO 10 Game for Kids

ANIMAL PIANO for Kids Online

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SHADOW MATCHING: Transportation Game

ART PIXEL: Coloring Game for Kids

WOODEN SHAPE PUZZLE Online

TRANSPORT SHADOW Matching Game

MAGIC SHOW: Find the Rabbit in the Hat

DINOSAURS, FIX the PATCH: Complete the Dinosaurs

PICK & MATCH: Memory Game for Kids

Animal Coloring Pages Online

KOALA COLORING Pages Online

LETTER SHAPES: ABC Silhouettes

BALLOON ALPHABET: Letter Recognition for Preschoolers

HAPPY CRAYONS: Magic Painting

Easter Eggs Halving Matching Game

Free online educational activities for 3 year old boys and girls in preschool education, also called kindergarten. Young children stop being babies and begin to think creatively to solve problems at this age of three years. Although one of the most important senses at this age is touch, we can take advantage of these interactive activities to stimulate this creativity, in kindergarten or at home. Enjoy these virtual children’s games for 3 year olds, or include, as a teacher, these games in your classroom dynamics, online, without the need to download materials to your students’ computers or tablets. And they are free.

- KINDER MATH Games Online

Educational topics for 3 years.

• Hidden Object
• Same and Different
• Jigsaw Puzzles
• Animal Sounds
• Geometric Shapes
• Numbers 0-10
• Transportation
• Occupations

FUN GAMES for KIDS

• Car Games for Toddlers
• Dino Games for Kids
• Kids Board Games

What do children learn at age 3?

• Language: By age 3, children can speak in complete sentences and understand the meaning of basic words. They can follow simple directions, ask questions and participate in simple conversations. They can also learn new words and build their vocabulary. In the classroom, they can learn letters, starting with vowels.
• Math: At this age, children can begin to understand simple math concepts, such as counting to 10, identifying colors and shapes, and understanding the idea of “more” and “less”. They can also begin to learn about sequence and pattern.
• Visual discrimination: 3-year-olds can begin to distinguish between different shapes, sizes and colors. They can also begin to understand the idea of one-to-one correspondence, which means that an object has a partner or equal.
• Attention: 3-year-olds can focus on a task for a short period of time and can follow a sequence of activities. However, they can still be easily distracted and need guidance to maintain focus on an activity.
• Society: 3-year-olds can begin to understand the idea of social rules and expectations, such as appropriate behavior in public and the importance of sharing. They can also begin to grasp the idea of social relationships and how to interact with other children and adults.
• Science: 3-year-olds can begin to explore the natural world and learn about nature and animals. They can also begin to understand simple science concepts, such as gravity and cause and effect.

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“ My 4-year old is working on @khanacademykids this morning and loving it. The combo of school facts along with social/emotional content is outstanding. ”

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20 Games For 3-Year-Olds They'll Play Over And Over Again

You may even remember some of these classics from when you were a kid.

BuzzFeed Staff

1. A Ladybug's Garden Memory game  that redefines the matching game genre since it ditches the classic card-flipping style and instead teaches memory with cute ladybugs instead!

For ages 3+ and if you like this you should check out these parenting toddler products .

Promising review: "Excellent quality! My granddaughter loves this fun and educational game!" — Denise Watkins

Get it from Fat Brain Toys for $24.95 .

2. A Whack A Frog game  to keep your toddler from smacking (or throwing) anything (and everything) they probably shouldn't be. Instead, they can refocus that energy on whacking each frog that lights up for a ribbiting  time .

For ages 3+ and don't forget to check out these parenting products with before and afters .

Promising review: "My 3 year old neice and almost 5 year old daughter love to play this game. It's super cute and the kids enjoy playing together or on their own." — Samantha Smithingell

Get it from Amazon for $23.99+  (clip the coupon on the product page to save $5; available in two colors).

3. A "Silly Poopy's Hide & Seek" game (from the makers of What Do You Meme?) that actually involves hiding a fake plastic poo that talks and gives clues to its whereabouts.

For ages 3+

Here's BuzzFeed editor John Mihaly to give you all the dirt about this poop...

"You know as a parent when your brain tells you, 'This might be a bad idea!' but your gut tells you 'Nah, this is going to be hilarious! Maybe.' Luckily, my gut was right this time. Silly Poopy is beyond silly and not poopy at all. It is indeed a poop-ton of fun for the whole family thanks to its infectious song that sounds like it was taken straight from a 1970s game show. Best of all, my kid loves it and hopefully, this is the only poop he tries to hide around the house. — John Mihaly 

Get it from Amazon for $12.99 .

4. A motion-sensing Red Light Green Light game  for taking parents back to those classic recess games — except now they can share that fun with their small tot as they quickly race to make it past the toy car before it says "Red light!"

For ages 3+ and make sure to check out more ways to keep your kids busy for hours .

Promising review: "Our 2.5 year old and 5 year old were familiar with playing Red Light, Green Light so we’re able to play with the “real” traffic light immediately. It is definitely a hit!" — sylvialynn

Get it from Amazon for $24.99 .

5. A game of Honey Bee Tree  to get your kiddo buzzing with excitement as they pull each leave out in the hopes of not dropping any of the adorable bumble bees. 

Promising review:  "This is a fantastic game. Reminds me of Kerplunk, but we prefer the Honey Bee Tree because it's more appealing to my 3-year-old — especially because he loves bumble bees. We like that the sticks have leaves, which makes it easier to grasp. The wings on the bees sometimes help to catch their fall through the sticks, which makes it fun. It's a very cute game, has an easy set up, and really helps my 3-year-old practice taking turns and working on playing gentle. Plus dexterity. He caught on really quickly and regularly asks to play." — Amazon Customer

Get it from Amazon for $19.99 .

6. A RaboSky Beanbag Toss  that isn't just a fun yard game for inebriated adults, but your child can take turns tossing these beanbags while it lowkey teaches them colors and motor skills.

For ages 2+

Promising review:  "I needed something that would keep my 3-year-old busy while I cooked dinner in the kitchen. This thing is amazing. It fits nicely in my small kitchen, and I can even toss the bean bags with him while I cook. We are interacting and he's entertained and not tugging on my leg every few seconds. It also provides him something that he can do on his own. You can stand it up or lay it down, and it provides two different levels of difficulty. It folds up really small and comes with a carrying case, so we can easily take it with us on vacations and such! " — Jose Martinez

Get it from Amazon for $24.99  (clip the coupon on the product page to save 11%; available in four styles).

7. A Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel game  for creating a totally nutty play time with your loved one — especially as they work to collect five acorns by spinning the spinner and picking up the matching acorn with the special ~squirrel squeezer~.

Promising review: "Our family LOVES this game. It’s fun for both of our 9-year-old and 3-year-old to play together. It helps with fine motor skills, is easy enough for the 3-year-old to know the rules, helps with knowing the colors, and how to take turns. All of that yet it’s still fun for the 9-year-old too. This is going to be so fun to gift to friends." — Angela Fleming

Get it from Amazon for $17.24 .

8. An Elefun and Friends game  so energy-filled kids can chase butterflies launched from an inflatable elephant and hopefully drain them of some of that seemingly limitless energy supply. 

Promising review: " My kids (now adults) had this game, and now the grandkids play it. It's really cute, makes an elephant sound, and lightweight plastic butterflies fly out the top. The game has four nets and the goal is to catch as many butterflies as you can. My grandkids even tore up small pieces of paper to make more butterflies, and that worked well. Both my 11-year-old and 3-year-old grandchildren have fun with Elefun." — Marlee

Get it from Amazon for $26.99 .

9. A game of Hi Ho! Cherry-O  for bringing your toddler's favorite snack to playtime while introducing basic math through counting and sorting the fruit-shaped game pieces.

For ages 3+. With a simple set up, playing a round of this only requires using the spinner to collect the fruit and build the included puzzle.

Promising review: "We've been looking for cooperative games for our 3-year-old so we ordered this. She LOVES this game! It combines counting and turn-taking, which she is now doing really well with. The directions are easy to follow and when we have guests over, she even teaches people how to play the game." — B. Peadro

Get it from Amazon for $11.99 .

10. A classic game of Candy Land  too sweet not to resist a round (or two) of, and since it's simple to play, it won't take long for your kiddo to pick up on the rules — just pick a card and move the gingerbread to the color.

Promising review:  "This game brought me back to my childhood. I’m very much enjoying playing this game with my kids as I remember playing it when I was younger. I love that the game has remained simple and nostalgic. My 3-year-old loves playing this game because he can play all by himself without having an adult help him and I’m all for him feeling independent!" — Gigi0802

11. A mix and match game of  Cootie  that makes is actually acceptable to tell a child that they have, well, cooties. They'll unleash their creativity as they put together the different accessories on the colorful bugs, while learning about colors too!

Promising review: "I bought Cooties for all my children and grandchildren. Now I bought it for my great granddaughter and she loves it. She doesn't even have to play the game, she loves putting the different variations on the bodies all by herself." — Amazon Customer

12. An Ants in The Pants game  your toddler will be antsy  to play as you and your kiddo attempt to put as many "ants" in the panda's bottoms. 

Promising review:  "This game is an old time favorite that’s been around for many years, (I played it in the '70s!). This was purchased as a gift and didn’t disappoint! It’s pretty much as I remembered from my childhood. My granddaughter loved it and while it’s a challenge getting the ants to flip exactly where you want them to go, it teaches patience and takes practice. Once again, an old time favorite that ALL ages can play, family fun!" — Chinchopper79

13. A  Count Your Chickens  board game that teaches counting and team cooperation as the kiddos herd the chicks back to the coup before the mother hen returns. A clucking good time for sure! 

Promising review: "Our 3-year-old granddaughter and 5-year-old grandson love to play board games! This is another fun cooperative game to play with them or they can play with each other! 30 little chicks are scattered around the board and as you spin to move the mother hen around the board, the goal is to be able to get all the chicks back in the chicken coup before mother hen reaches the coup. They love it! This is a great game for the 3-year-old to grasp and the game goes quickly (10–15 minutes), so it holds her attention. I would recommend this game for little ones! This Nana has so much fun playing with my grandbabies!" — Dianna S.

Get it from Amazon for $15.99 .

14. A  Family Bingo  card set to out aside for some rainy day, indoor fun and learning (counting, colors, and animals) — the littles ones will be squealing with delight, especially once they get their first BINGO!

Promising review: "I thought this would be a small flimsy game and I was so wrong! It’s very cute and appropriate for kids as young as three. Got this to practice sight words with my first grader and he loves it! We start easy with animals, letters, then numbers, and at the end, sight words and it’s so much fun. It has cute little colored bags to keep everything in order and it has a lot of red dots to use as marks. We have used this several times and even take it from house to house and it still looks new!" — Gm

Get it from Target for $14.99 .

15. A game of  Lucky Ducks  the little tykes will be quacking to play as they try to match the ducks as they move around the pond by looking at the bottom of each one.

For ages 3+ and requires two AA batteries (not included).

Promising review: "My kiddos love playing with this game. It took about five minutes to place all the stickers on and it does require batteries. But it's a super simple game they enjoy for about 10–15 minutes until they want the next one (typical for us, haha)." — Mariana

Get it from Amazon for $19.99+  (available in two styles).

16. An interactive Let's Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar  board game inspired by the classic Eric Carle children's book. The object of the game for the kids to transform their caterpillar to create a beautiful butterfly as they collect puzzle pieces along the way! 

For ages 3+ — also teaches kids basic motor skills and encourages decision making.

Promising review: "My 3-year-old grandson loves this game. It has butterflies, caterpillars, and puzzles — all three are fun! Takes a few tries for everyone to make a complete butterfly, but it's fun!" — JD

Get it from Walmart for $12.99 .

17. A Barrel of Monkeys  ideal for the toddler who enjoys some good ~monkeying around~. They can create their own games or they can see how many monkeys they can string together — don't be surprised if you find these hanging all around your house!

Promising review: "This is still a classic! Bought this for the grandkids (three and 5-years-old) to play with while we vacationed together. I wanted something low-tech to give them a break from the DVDs and tablets. I was surprised at how much fun they had with these silly Monkeys In A Barrel — they even made up their own games." — Sunkist

Get it from Amazon for $9.94 .

18. A game of Gator Golf  your kiddo can play indoors or outside while learning colors, counting, and taking turns — it's so entertaining you won't be saying "later gator!" to this activity anytime soon.

Promising review:  "I got this game for my niece to play while she is here for the summer. Best decision ever. This fun game comes with four colored balls, a putting stick, and a cute gator head. The object of the game is to be the first to get your ball into the gator's mouth three times. I thought it was fun to play with my niece and I loved we could make up our own rules. It is also a great way to teach color and numbers. The game is made of really nice quality plastic. It has a moving part where when the ball hits the back of the gator's mouth it pops back out. Plus, even adults can have fun with it. I have had many game nights where hubby and I battle it to be the supreme titleholder of hole-in-one with this game. Definitely, a must-buy item for kids to play indoors or out." — Rebecca Bryant

Get it from Amazon for $15.19  (clip the coupon on the product page to save $3.80). 

19. An interactive magnetic fishing puzzle  to help your tots distinguish letters, numbers, and colors. They'll use a lil' fishing rod to catch a hold of a fish-shaped puzzle piece and move it into the correct spot using some agility and brain power!

Promising review: "Absolutely in love with this puzzle! My toddler spends HOURS playing with this! Mom win 🙌🏻!  She loves using the magnetic fishing rod to fish for each letter and number, and has so much fun matching the cutest little fishies back to their “home”! I love how colorful and smooth the pieces are! This puzzle will provide many hours of fun, entertainment, and education for my little girl!" – Mommy2Be

Get it from Amazon for $15.90 .

20. A  toddler scavenger hunt that'll keep their little selves busy while they complete tasks and hunt for "treasure" (clothes, furniture, knickknacks, and other items) around the house!

Promising review: "This is a fun little game! My 3-year-old really enjoys it. He has a speech delay and this game has helped him learn new words and to follow directions. It’s nice that it’s all together on one ring so I don’t have to worry about losing pieces. And the cards are sturdy so it will still be in good shape when my younger son is ready to play." – Amy E

Your kiddos waking you up to play *another* game:

Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity. 

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Scott Gilbertson

11 Great Games to Educate and Entertain Your Kids at Home

If you're stuck inside and your kids are climbing the walls, but you aren't yet ready to let them watch Netflix from dawn to dusk, well, I don't blame you. Here are some games that are sometimes called "edutaining." Think of them as fun games that also teach something, but in a way your kids probably won't notice.

I do suggest setting some screen time limits before handing your children a device, but with these options you can at least rest assured that your kids are learning something.

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Ages 6-12 ( Computer , iOS , Android )

Animal Jam is an online virtual world originally created in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. It teaches kids about zoology and ecology with games, adventures, and parties and online social elements. With 160 million registered users, this is one of the largest virtual worlds for kids. If the online play gives you pause, know that the parental controls are pretty good, allowing you to lock down the game if you desire.

Ages 5 and up on Nintendo Switch ( GameStop , Amazon )

Eric Ravenscraft

Julian Chokkattu

This is a great game that encourages spacial thinking and unique puzzle solving. Kids can pilot Toad through courses based on the Super Mario Odyssey game while hunting down treasures and solving puzzles.

This math-based role-playing game is free to play. Kids proceed through the game by answering skill-building math questions to earn rewards. There's an interactive element, too; they can go on quests with friends. The difficulty levels increase as your kids make progress in the game.

Ages 3-8 ( iOS , Android )

This physics puzzle game features rolling aliens that teach your kids about acceleration, buoyancy, gravity, and more. Like games of yesteryear, there are no ads, no in-app purchases, and it doesn't need an internet connection.

Ages 4 and Up ( Computer , iOS , Android )

Tinybop has dozens of learning-oriented apps and we've been fans for years . You can purchase them in bundles for iPhone or iPad (Android users there is one Tinybop bundle in the Play Store which has six games.) My kids love the Curiosity Kit ($16) , which includes apps about the human body, animal anatomy, and space. Tinybop is currently offering its Tinybop Schools subscription , which features ten science apps and classroom support, for free through the summer to help out parents and kids while schools are closed (no credit card required).

Ages 4 and Up ( iOS , Android )

Dragonbox games are primarily math-related, though they also partnered with chess champ Magnus Carlsen to create Magnus' Kingdom , a chess-learning game that's been very popular in my house. It uses an adventure-style approach to teach kids about different chess pieces and how to play. I strongly suggest picking up a real-world chess board (I like this no-stress chess board for beginners $18 ) as well. Your kids will ask for it. Trust me.

Ages 3 and Up ( Computer , iOS , Android )

It's time you let delightful animated monsters teach your kids everything from basic ABCs to complex sentences. It has puzzle games with talking letters and well-illustrated definitions to help your child learn to read. Originator, the publisher of Endless Alphabet , has many other games as well , including Endless Reader , which helps kids learn sight words, and Endless Spanish which helped my kids significantly improve their Spanish vocabulary.

Ages 4-6 ( Computer )

This language, arts, and music learning site has dozens of games and activities to help your kids learn to read, add, subtract, and identify shapes.

Ages 4-8 ( iOS , Android )

PBS Kids has dozens of apps, many of them related to the shows on PBS Kids. If your kids like a particular show, they'll probably really engage with its related game, as well.

Ages 4 and Up ( iOS )

Stop-motion animation is a fun form of art that teaches patience. This animation app will help your kids start creating their own little animated masterpieces. The interface is reasonably simple, but it might require the help of an adult the first time through.

All ages ( Apple Podcasts for iOS , Google Podcasts for Android )

Check out our guide to kids' podcasts for some ideas on great podcasts that will keep your kids entertained. If you're a podcast fan yourself, you should try using Pocket Casts (great app). I suggest getting a separate podcast app for your kids, so there's no way they'll accidentally end up listening to any adult content you don't want them to hear.

March 25, 9 am: This story was updated to add links to the Tinybop Android app bundle.

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Some of the Best Online Learning Games for Kids

By Courtney Schley

To find our favorite learning apps and games for kids, we spent more than 40 hours researching and testing 50-plus apps recommended by educators, experts, and parents. If your family has a tablet and you want it to be more than a game-playing and video-watching device, or if you’re trying to find apps for your smartphone that will do more than keep your kids occupied in a pinch, we have some great suggestions.

As with our guides to STEM and learning toys, we didn’t test scores of apps to try to find the “best” ones. Rather, most of the apps here have been chosen by teachers for their students in classrooms, used by Wirecutter parents and their kids, or recommended by the experts and educators we spoke with. (For details, read more about how we selected the apps in this guide.) The apps we cover in this guide are great learning apps not because they’re designed to make kids smarter, to drill facts, or to replace in-school learning, but because they each offer something fun, unique, and interesting for kids and adults.

The research

Our favorite math apps, our favorite coding apps, our favorite science and exploration apps, our favorite social and emotional learning apps, our favorite ebook app, how we picked and tested.

These math games don’t simply drill facts or make kids memorize but rather use visuals, narratives, and storylines to help kids discover math concepts and build their skills. We like these apps because they offer games and exercises tailored to different ages and skill levels and because they encourage adults and kids to play together.

A family math app: Bedtime Math

Bedtime Math (iOS and Android)

Bringing math home.

This free app makes math a part of daily family life, like a bedtime story. A peer-reviewed study showed that it not only helps improve kids’ math performance but also makes parents feel more comfortable with math.

Buying Options

How it works: Bedtime Math ( iOS and Android ) seeks to do for math what the bedtime story does for literacy, by turning math into an enjoyable bonding routine between child and caregiver.

The free app offers a daily word problem for children to solve together with an adult during bedtime or anytime. Each exercise centers on a short narrative or interesting fact and poses questions at four difficulty levels, from pre-K through elementary school.

Why it’s great: Bedtime Math is one of the few children’s educational apps that have been evaluated in a peer-reviewed study . This particular study demonstrated that students who used the app significantly boosted their math scores; it also showed that Bedtime Math can help parents mitigate their own math anxiety , a phenomenon that can negatively affect their children’s attitudes toward math and their ability in the subject. Teacher Jennifer Auten told us she liked that the questions were written at a middle-school reading level, meaning an adult must facilitate the discussion but you have a choice of four levels of difficulty based on the child’s age and math level.

Apps for visual math: DragonBox Numbers and DragonBox Big Numbers

DragonBox Numbers (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Visual numeracy.

Cute Nooms help kids visualize and conceptualize numbers and arithmetic operations.

DragonBox Big Numbers (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

More-complex arithmetic.

Kids follow characters called Nooms on adventures, solving long addition and subtraction equations in the process.

Ages: 4 to 8 and 6 to 9

How it works: DragonBox Numbers ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), aimed at kids 4 through 8, introduces number sense, addition, and subtraction through cute characters called Nooms. (The characters are designed to resemble Cuisenaire rods , math learning aids that introduce kids to arithmetic operations in a hands-on way.) Kids feed, slice, and sort the Nooms, developing familiarity with addition, subtraction, fractions, and ranges. In DragonBox Big Numbers ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), for kids 5 through 9, players follow the Nooms on more complex adventures, solving long addition and subtraction equations in order to gather and trade resources.

Why it’s great: The Nooms function as digital versions of what classroom teachers call math manipulatives , physical learning aids that help young children understand theoretical math concepts in a concrete way. For older kids, the DragonBox series continues on with algebra and Euclidean geometry.

Many great apps teach coding to kids as young as preschool and progressing through upper elementary grades. We’ve highlighted four of these apps because they’re particularly easy to get started with and don’t require reading or, for the child or the parent, a coding background. Regardless of what app they use, parents should think of coding apps as a family activity, said Pat Yongpradit of Code.org . “You will rarely have such a rich media experience as you can when coding with your kid,” he said.

Coding puzzles for beginners: Lightbot and Lightbot Jr

Lightbot (iOS and Android)

Coding puzzles.

The app’s simple puzzle challenges are easy to jump into for kids and adults with no previous coding experience.

Lightbot Jr (iOS and Android)

Coding puzzles for younger kids.

A slower-paced, easier set of puzzles for kids as young as preschool.

Ages: 9 and up (Lightbot); 4 to 8 (Lightbot Jr)

How it works: In Lightbot ( iOS and Android ), kids solve a series of simple puzzles by lining up commands that make a robot advance over obstacles and light up squares. As they master basic concepts, they add more-complex commands, such as conditionals, loops, and nested statements. Lightbot Jr ( iOS and Android ) follows a similar structure but at a slower pace and with simpler challenges that focus on reinforcing the basics. A minimal amount of reading is required, so pre-readers may need adult help at the beginning.

Why it’s great: Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit educational organization that promotes and develops STEM curricula and resources, told us, “The best apps for young students without previous experience are those that teach and help build logic and reasoning skills [and] critical thinking skills, and provide brain teasers.” PLTW’s curriculum writers like the Lightbot and Lightbot Jr apps as ways to get kids as young as 4 started with the basic concepts and logical structures of coding.

A creative coding app: ScratchJr

ScratchJr (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Visual programming.

Using graphical coding blocks, ScratchJr lets kids animate characters and create storylines.

Ages: 5 and up

How it works: In ScratchJr ( iOS , Android , Amazon ), kids select characters and backdrop scenes and drag graphical programming blocks, which snap together like puzzle pieces, to make animation sequences and storylines. Although the app has some written cues, the programming blocks largely use symbols (such as arrows and stop signs) to indicate what they do (such as move the character forward or make them stop). As kids become familiar with how to structure the code, they can create multi-scene stories.

Why it’s great: ScratchJr isn’t lesson-based (though you can consult a variety of curricula and tutorials for the app) but rather designed to give kids a sandbox in which to experiment, learn, and create through trial and error (the app offers sample animations as well). Pat Yongpradit of Code.org , which recommends ScratchJr among other coding apps and games, noted one particular benefit: “It’s very free-form; you’re not basically being directed down a particular path.” Younger kids will need an adult or older child to guide them as they get familiar with ScratchJr .

An app for hands-on coding: Osmo Coding Awbie

Osmo Coding (iOS)

Tangible coding.

The Osmo system uses physical game pieces in conjunction with the device’s screen, making scripting and coding tangible and accessible for pre-readers.

Ages: 5 to 12

How it works: Osmo Coding Awbie requires a base system—a stand and a mirror that attach to the device’s camera and that are compatible with other Osmo games —for the iPad , iPhone , and Amazon Fire . The system allows players to use physical pieces to interact with the screen-based game. Kids use bricks marked with commands, arrows, numbers, and loops to create scripts that direct a silly character through mazes and challenges, picking up prizes such as strawberries.

Why it’s great: Teacher Jennifer Auten, who uses Osmo Coding Awbie and other Osmo games in her classroom, said the fact that it combined an app with physical pieces made kids more patient and thoughtful as they worked through the challenges: “When something is purely on the screen, kids will sometimes end up just tapping as fast as they can, randomly guessing. With the manipulatives, it slows their thinking down.” Auten also noted that the physical pieces made it easier to play the game with multiple people, fostering discussion, collaboration, and group problem-solving. She also likes that Osmo Coding Awbie is open-ended: “Kids can explore and create their own paths.”

In this category we chose these three apps—focused on anatomy, the natural world, and space—because they offer kids unique, open-ended ways to explore science topics. Each app encourages kids to meander, linger, and dive deeper at their own pace.

An app to see what’s inside: The Human Body

The Human Body (iOS and Android)

Seeing what’s inside.

The Human Body offers a visually and aurally interesting way to wander through the body’s organs, systems, and functions.

How it works: In The Human Body ( iOS and Android ), kids explore anatomy by jumping around to different organs and systems—for example, watching a mouth chew food and swallow drink, sliding into a stomach breaking down food, and following flashing nerve signals as they race up to the brain.

Why it’s great: The Human Body focuses less on teaching kids specific anatomical lessons and more on sparking wonder and fascination toward the body and what it can do. The app’s engaging visuals are neither cartoonish nor graphic, and the thoughtful sound effects are as compelling and instructive as the animations: Gurgles, wooshes, creaks, and spurts give kids a visceral sense of what’s happening inside them. You can toggle on or off the text labels that identify the systems and organs, but no reading is required to get deep into the app, making it equally accessible to pre-readers.

An app for discovering nature: Toca Nature

Toca Nature (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Natural-world building.

Toca Nature is an open-ended building app—similar to Minecraft—where kids can explore and shape the terrain, collect resources, and observe wildlife.

Ages: 4 and up

How it works: In Toca Nature ( iOS , Android , Amazon ), kids start with a simple plot of land where they can raise or lower mountains, create lakes, clear or plant forests, and make deserts. They can zoom in to different areas of their terrain to collect and distribute resources (like mushrooms, fish, or berries). As they change and shape the environment, different kinds of animals, plants, and fish will appear, multiply, migrate, or disappear.

Why it’s great: Similar to popular narrative-less building games like Minecraft , Toca Nature harnesses the enjoyment kids get from open-ended creating, wandering, and exploring games, with a unique focus on the natural world. Common Sense Media senior editor Christine Elgersma said that an app like Toca Nature doesn’t have explicit learning goals—it’s not trying to teach kids the names of animals or types of terrain, for example—but rather is “an exploratory app with experiences that a kid really couldn’t have off screen.” By creating and manipulating the environment, and then observing how the plant and wildlife change as a result, kids can see how animals, resources, and the environment interact.

An app for exploring space: Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System

Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Cats in space.

Explore the solar system with a jet-propelled cat.

Ages: 8 to 12, or 6 and up with an adult

How it works: Kids explore the app much as they would read a book, delving into facts, illustrations, and animations about planets, moons, stars, and space exploration. At various points, quizzes and other challenges let you earn sardine treats for Professor Astro Cat.

Why it’s great: Jana Grcevich , an astronomer, science educator, and author , told us she enjoyed the Professor Astro Cat app ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), along with the popular book series it’s based on, with her then 6-year-old niece. The app requires reading, but the entertaining storyline and fascinating facts make it fun for adults along with younger children.

Social and emotional learning , which includes self-awareness, empathy, communication skills, and building relationships, among other capacities, has increasingly been recognized as a critical component of children’s education. These three apps let young kids explore different aspects of self-expression, emotions, and social play.

An app for self-expression: Me: A Kid’s Diary

Me: A Kid's Diary (iOS)

A digital diary.

This app lets kids explore self-expression through drawing, writing, photos, and audio and video.

Ages: 7 and up

How it works: Kids create a digital diary of their lives by answering questions about themselves; making avatars for family members, friends, and other loved ones; and designing their own media. Kids navigate all these entries on their Me Map, a sort of multimedia landscape of their lives.

Why it’s great: Me: A Kid’s Diary helps kids creatively document their feelings, experiences, and loved ones through different media and modes of expression. In some ways, the app offers an experience akin to social media—uploading photos, making videos, writing reflections, and mapping personal connections—but in an entirely closed environment (there’s no actual communication or sharing within the app). This can create a space for kids to start to explore (and for parents to discuss) digital self-expression and sharing.

An app for emotions: Daniel Tiger’s Grr-ific Feelings

Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Feelings (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Exploring emotions.

The beloved PBS character helps young kids identify, act out, and explore their feelings through games, songs and creative activities.

Ages: 2 to 5

How it works: Kids explore the familiar world of the PBS Kids series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood ( iOS , Android , Amazon ) through simple games, songs, and art activities that focus on identifying and exploring feelings and emotions. It offers different ways for kids to practice, talk about, and experience emotions, such as by drawing a picture, taking a photo of themselves feeling angry or happy, or practicing a calming exercise with Daniel Tiger.

Why it’s great: The app is simple and accessible for very young kids, with frequent verbal cues and reminders to help them through the easily navigable interface. “Even without the Daniel tie-in, it could actually still be a pretty successful app for teaching a lot of social, emotional, and self-care skills,” said Harry Sawyers, Wirecutter senior editor and father of three. “But having the familiar characters and songs really helps jump-start their interest if, for example, they ‘have to go potty—stop, and go right awaaaaay!’”

An app for social play: Toca Tea Party

Toca Tea Party (iOS)

Tea for two (or more).

Toca Tea Party presents the elements of a tea party—drinks, desserts, and dishes—for unstructured imaginative play.

Ages: 2 and up

How it works: Toca Tea Party couldn’t be simpler: You set a tea table with plates, cups, drinks, and treats for three guests, and the rest is up to your imagination. There’s no objective beyond pouring drinks, munching treats, and wiping up spills, and the app has a built-in end point: Once you’ve finished the snacks and beverages, the table clears itself and the dishes drop into a sink, ending the party.

Why it’s great: Toca Tea Party isn’t so much a game as a scene for unstructured imaginative and social play for young children. Kids can play alone (perhaps by inviting dolls or stuffed animals as guests) or with one or two others—a unique feature for a tablet game to pull off well. My two daughters, now 4 and 5, haven’t tired of Toca Tea Party after two years, and their play centers on chatting, pretending, and sharing.

An app for reading: Epic! ebook subscription

Epic! e-book subscription

Endless ebooks.

This app allows young readers to choose from up to 35,000 different books for a low monthly cost.

How it works: For $8 a month, kids gain access to some 35,000 children’s books in an intuitively designed app. Epic’s library is updated regularly with new titles, including classics and the site’s original content. Many of the picture books have a “Read to me” function, where a narrator reads the text aloud and the pages turn automatically. The app also suggests books by age and based on what a child has previously read, allowing kids to easily discover new titles at their reading level. Epic! works on iOS, Android and Microsoft tablets and smartphones.

Why it’s great: While some subscription kids’ e-book apps tend to be populated with the kinds of uninteresting titles you’d find in a bookstore bargain bin, Epic! offers an impressive library of children’s books, including many of the beloved classics and award-winning authors you’d find in a well-curated children’s library. (The Wizard of Oz, with the original 1900 illustrations, was one memorable find that gave us many nights of rapt bedtime reading.) The app is simple enough to use that both of my daughters can independently browse books by the cover art and find what interests them—even though they are both pre-readers. Fairy tales abound, but I’ve also found them paging through books about geology, Ramadan, and coding.

Since we began researching learning apps in 2016, we’ve spoken with a range of experts, including a classroom teacher, a child developmental psychologist, a pediatrician, an astronomer, education researchers, app developers, and others.

These have included Kathy Hirsh-Pasek , a professor of psychology at Temple University who has written about and conducted research studies on educational apps for young children; Jennifer Auten , an award-winning teacher in Cupertino, California, who has been using tablet and smartphone apps in her first- and second-grade curricula since the iPad was released in 2010; Christine Elgersma , senior editor, parent education, for Common Sense Media, an organization focused on children’s media; and Pat Yongpradit , chief academic officer at Code.org, a nonprofit that advocates for computer science education. Last, we’ve spoken with parents on our staff for recommendations of apps they and their kids love in categories such as science, music, and coding.

We read articles and reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and child developmental psychologists and educational researchers to learn about kids’ media use and about principles for designing learning apps. Finally, we read through reviews and ratings from well-regarded children’s media sites such as Common Sense Media .

Similar to what we found when researching learning toys , we discovered that developers and app stores often label apps as “educational” with little research or evidence, and few experts, to support those claims. In 2016, the AAP released a broad report on children’s use of digital media, calling for more-rigorous evaluation of apps that claim to be educational: “Unfortunately, very few of the commercially available apps found in the educational section of app stores have evidence-based design input with demonstrated learning effectiveness.” Similarly, in a 2015 article , Hirsh-Pasek writes that educational apps “present a significant opportunity for out-of-school, informal learning when designed in educationally appropriate ways” but notes later on that “[o]nly a handful of apps are designed with an eye toward how children actually learn.”

Experts are still studying what makes learning apps successful pedagogical tools, as well as fun and interesting activities for kids. But after speaking with experts, reading research, and trying out apps ourselves, we identified a few features that seem to be common among great learning apps.

• Offer unique experiences: Several of the experts we spoke to noted that a good educational app should offer children something they couldn’t simply do, learn, or explore in a classroom or the real world. If the app is “basically a worksheet on screen, [or] an experience that could be replicated off screen, then that’s not a good use of the screen,” Elgersma said. “You want it to be an experience that kids could really only have in that screen world.”
• Be open-ended, with limits: Most of the apps in this guide are open-ended in the sense that they encourage kids to independently explore, create, and navigate within the app. But researchers say it’s important to have built-in limits, as well. The AAP has pointed out that digital games have traditionally been designed with rewards and reinforcement designed to keep kids playing as long as possible. The organization recommends that learning apps instead have “automatic ‘stops’ as the default design to encourage children and caregivers to pause the game use and turn to the 3-dimensional world.”
• Be engaging but not distracting: Apps have great potential to engage children through interactive features, but some research has shown that too many bells and whistles can distract children or reduce their comprehension. A good learning app uses interactive, animated, and responsive features to engage kids or enhance their comprehension, not simply to entertain. Hirsh-Pasek has written that parents should evaluate an app’s interactive features and ask: “Do the enhancements actually add value and increase engagement, or do they cause distraction?”
• Encourage interaction: The AAP and other organizations say that learning apps that encourage real-life interaction among multiple people—adult and child, or child and peers—can be especially strong at facilitating learning. The apps in this guide are fun and interesting for kids and adults, and many foster conversation and play outside of the app itself.

As with our guide to learning toys , we focused primarily on apps aimed at kids 3 to 9 years old, though older kids can enjoy many of our recommendations, as well. We chose this age range because, as Hirsh-Pasek has written , “there are so many apps targeted toward [children in this range] that parents and educators do not know how to navigate the marketplace of possibilities.”

All the apps we recommend in this guide adhere to the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act . Among other things, COPPA requires that websites and apps directed at children under age 13 obtain permission from parents before collecting or sharing personal information from children, or targeting them with behavioral advertising. None of the apps in this guide require children to enter personal information in order to use the app’s functions, and none offer social media sharing or connectivity.

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, et al., Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning , Psychological Science in the Public Interest , April 20, 2015

Yolanda (Linda) Reid Chassiakos, et al., Children and Adolescents and Digital Media , Pediatrics , October 1, 2016

Jana Grcevich, PhD, astronomer, science educator, author , phone interview , December 1, 2016

Jennifer Auten, first- and second-grade teacher, Cupertino, California , phone interview , November 8, 2016

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, professor of psychology, Temple University , phone interview , January 8, 2019

Christine Elgersma, senior editor, parent education, Common Sense Media , phone interview , March 12, 2019

Pat Yongpradit, chief academic officer, Code.org , phone interview , April 18, 2019

Meet your guide

Courtney Schley

Courtney Schley, a senior editor covering sleep and appliances, has been at Wirecutter since 2014. She has held several roles at Wirecutter, including research editor, as well as supervising editor of baby and kid coverage.

Further reading

How to Set Up a Remote Learning Space for Your Kids

by Melanie Pinola

With many schools closed this fall, it’s time to set up a remote schoolwork area for kids that’ll make learning a little easier.

Kids Exercise Videos to Help Keep Your Family Moving (and Sane)

by Ingrid Skjong

Free online exercise videos can help everyone from toddlers to teenagers stay active and calm during a coronavirus self-quarantine. These are our favorites.

These Four Video Games Are Fun for the Whole Family

by Haley Perry

If you’re looking for a video game for your next family game night, these are the games we recommend for all ages and skill levels.

8 Time-Tested Sidewalk Games We Love

by Dan Koeppel

Old-school games from the sidewalks of New York are still surprisingly fun—and require not much more than chalk.

16 Best Board Games for 3-Year-Olds (Plus What to Avoid)

Inside: Stop playing boring games like Candyland and Hi Ho! Cherry-O with your child—and play these fun and educational board games for 3-year-olds instead.

As just about anything you attempt to do with a 3-year-old, playing a board game with them requires a Mother Teresa level of patience.

Between a preschooler’s short attention span and their inability to sit still longer than a few minutes, you’ll be lucky to get through a whole game with them. As an added bonus, they have an almost gleeful disregard for following the game rules.

And yet, skipping board games with your preschooler isn’t the answer, either.

Because research shows that playing board games with your preschooler improves their social skills, such as by developing a cooperative spirit, teaching them how to take turns, and nurturing other prosocial behaviors like sharing and helping others. 1 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364. Board games can also boost educational knowledge. 2 Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Med, 13 (22). For example, playing a number board game with a preschooler supports their early mathematical development. 3 Elofsson, J., Gustafson, S., Samuelsson, J., & Träff, U. (2016). Playing number board games supports 5-year-old children’s early mathematical development. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 43 , 134-147.

Short on Time? Here Are Our Top Picks

If you’re in a rush, here’s a quick run-down of the best board games for 3-year-olds that have been most popular with the parents and kids in this community:

• Best Overall Board Game for 3-Year-Olds: Spot It! Jr Animals , $10†
• Best Cooperative Game for 3-Year-Olds: Orchard or Hoot Owl Hoot , $50 or $19
• Best Educational Game for 3-Year-Olds: Concept Kids: Animals , $28
• Best Memory and Matching Game for 3-Year-Olds: Sequence for Kids , $16
• Best Card Game for 3-Year-Olds: Spot It! Jr Animals , $10

† This site is reader-supported. When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices shown are from time of publishing.

What’s a Parent to Do?

Unfortunately, the most commonly recommended board games for 3-year-olds like Candyland and Chutes & Ladders are all chance and no strategy. At best, they prepare your child to understand the concept of a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Not to mention the whole point of playing a game with your 3-year-old is to have fun while connecting. If you’ve actually managed to get your child to sit still for a game but you’re bored out of your mind, your child will sense that. Kids are more perceptive than we give them credit for.

The solution: Play better games.

When you play board games that you and your 3-year-old enjoy, you’ll be more likely to play with your child. Because keeping a copy of Hungry Hungry Hippos in your closet that you secretly hope your preschooler won’t find certainly isn’t going to help grow their social skills and educational knowledge.

Instead, cleanse your game collection of those mind-numbing board games for 3-year-olds and replace them with games you’ll both look forward to. Life is too short to be pulling out your hair when you could be giggling with your preschooler.

16 Board Games for 3-Year-Olds Your Child Will Love (And You Will, Too)

Use this list of fun board games for 3-year-olds to beef up your family game collection, and you won’t be sorry. (See what I did there?)

This list grew out of my family’s quest for the best family board games and card games over the last several years. Plus, we researched for hours and hours online to find as many suggestions as possible of board games for 3-year-olds, then market-tested them with our own crew and with friends who have preschoolers.

Not only will your child love these board games and card games, but you will too. If you need more ideas after you check out this list, head over to our list of the best preschool board games for more ideas.

And if your 3-year-old has a short attention span or isn’t interested in following board game rules, you’ll find a section at the end of this article to help you with that, too.

Related: The Best 21 Preschool Board Games You’ll Actually Enjoy, Too

But First, a Warning

When my second child was three, she swallowed a coin that got stuck in her throat. One emergency room visit, one surgery, and one five-figure hospital bill later, trust me that choking hazards are nothing to take lightly. We were lucky that we caught it in time.

Some of these board games for 3-year-olds—even the games marketed specifically for preschoolers—may contain game pieces that are the perfect size to be choking hazards. Please always keep a close eye on your child when they’re playing with a game that has small pieces. And if you have an infant or toddler, make sure they’re sleeping or otherwise occupied so they don’t find a fallen game piece and pop it into their mouth.

A Quick Note About Suggested Ages

Keep in mind that as with anything when it comes to kids and suggested ages, your mileage may vary. For example, some 2-year-olds might be able to play and enjoy some games for 3-year-olds, whereas some 3-year-olds might need help playing a few games marketed to 2-year-olds.

If you try a game and your child doesn’t seem ready for it, put it away for a couple weeks or a month, then try again. Your preschooler’s brain is growing constantly , 4 Brown, T. T. & Jernigan, T. L. (2012). Brain development during the preschool years. Neuropsychology Review, 22 (4), 313–333. so they might surprise you sooner rather than later!

Note: indicates my family’s absolute favorite board games for 3-year-olds. These are the games my whole family can’t get enough of! In fact, we love them so much that we stock them in our store. Order from us here , and you’ll be supporting a family-owned business while also treating your own family to a fun new game!

Cooperative Games for 3-Year-Olds

When you’re starting out playing board games with your 3-year-old, cooperative games are your best bet. That’s because competitive elements of a game tend to go right over preschoolers’ heads. 5 Schmidt, M. F., Hardecker, S., & Tomasello, M. (2016). Preschoolers understand the normativity of cooperatively structured competition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143 , 34–47. Also, competitive games typically leave younger kids feeling less enthusiastic about the game 6 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364. and may even lead to more aggressive behavior and less cooperation after the game. 7 Bay-Hinitz, A. K., Peterson, R. F., & Quilitch, H. R. (1994). Cooperative games: a way to modify aggressive and cooperative behaviors in young children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27 (3), 435–446.

Here are the best cooperative games for 3-year-olds, according to the parents and families in our community.

1. Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard by HABA

Time to Play: 15 minutes for Hoot Owl Hoot; 10 minutes for Orchard Number of Players: 2–4 for Hoot Owl Hoot; 1-8 for Orchard Minimum Age: Both games are a great fit for 3-year-olds and up Get It: Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard

When it comes to cooperative games for 3-year-olds, these two are our favorites aside from Feed the Woozle below. But because the game play for these two games is so similar, I recommend picking up either Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard.

My kids love both games, so you really can’t go wrong. The wooden game pieces and picnic baskets for Orchard are super well-made and sturdy, but if that game is a bit outside your price range, Hoot Owl Hoot is just as fun. My kids regularly pull out both games to play together independently!

Pro tip: With Orchard, if your child still tends to put small objects in their mouth, I recommend starting out with the First Orchard edition because it has larger game pieces perfect for younger kids.

Orchard or First Orchard

Note:  The manufacturer says Hoot Owl Hoot is for ages 4 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) the vast majority of 3-year-olds are ready for this game.

Hoot Owl Hoot

By the way, we’ve tested nearly every cooperative game for 3-year-olds made by Peaceable Kingdom, the same folks who make Hoot Owl Hoot. The other games were fun too, but Hoot Owl Hoot has been the clear winner!

2. Feed the Woozle

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes Number of Players: 2–5 Minimum Age: Some 2-year-olds can play this, so it’s a great fit for 3-year-olds and up Get It: Feed the Woozle

In this cooperative game, you work together to feed the Woozle by balancing snacks on a spoon while you deliver them. And as an added challenge, you’ll have to hula dance, bunny hop, or do something else silly at the same time. But watch out because if a snack falls along the way, the Woozle won’t eat it. When you’ve fed the Woozle 12 snacks, your whole team wins.

Cooperative games like this are great for building teamwork skills while still getting practice with taking turns. For that reason, this is a  perfect  first board game for 3-year-olds to teach turn-taking, foster good sportsmanship as you encourage your teammates, and nurture a sense of collaboration as you work together. And because each game takes around 10 minutes, it’s perfect for short attention spans, too.

This game also helps develop motor skills, gives practice with counting, and builds frustration tolerance. But most important of all, it’s pure silly fun!

Pro tip:  When you need a way to keep your kids entertained so you can load the dishwasher (or catch a catnap), this game works great for an older sibling to play with a younger sibling. My kids play this together all on their own at least once a week!

Feed the Woozle

3. concept kids: animals.

Time to Play: 20-30 minutes Number of Players: 2–12 Minimum Age: Most 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Concept Kids: Animals

This cooperative guessing game is perfect for kids who love animals, and it’s one of those rare educational games that’s actually fun for both kids  and  adults.

As you play, you’ll build your child’s deductive reasoning skills, foster their sense of teamwork, and load them up with oodles of new animal facts. Your child will have so much fun playing they won’t even realize how much they’re learning along the way!

This game is a particularly excellent choice for younger kids because it doesn’t require reading. Plus, if your kids tend to butt heads, the cooperative gameplay will get them working together.

Note:  The manufacturer says this is for ages 4 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) most 3-year-olds are ready for this game.

Concept Kids: Animals

4. outfoxed.

Time to Play: 15 minutes Number of Players: 2-4 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Outfoxed!

This board game is like Clue but for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. A fox stole a pot pie, and you have to figure out which fox it was before they escape into the foxhole.

My kids will regularly play this cooperative whodunnit game independently, and I love watching them work together as a team to solve the mystery.

This is a fun little game to build your 3-year-old’s logic and deductive reasoning skills.

Note:  The manufacturer says this is for ages 5 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) some 3-year-olds are ready for this game.

5. My First Castle Panic

Time to Play: 20 minutes Number of Players: 1-4 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: My First Castle Panic

Castle Panic is one of my favorite cooperative board games for the whole family, so I was excited to discover they had a kids’ edition.

Because this is a cooperative game, you work together to fight off a horde of monsters who are trying to tear down your castle walls and destroy your castle. It sure is fun to work together as a family towards a common goal that doesn’t involve loading the dishwasher!

My First Castle Panic

6. dinosaur escape.

Time to Play: 10-20 minutes Number of Players: 2-4 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Dinosaur Escape

This is another of our favorite cooperative board games for 3-year-olds. In this one, all the players work together to get all the dinosaurs safely to the island before the volcano erupts.

Your child will build memory skills and learn how to work on a team, all while having fun playing in a pretend world with dinosaurs and an erupting volcano. Even my 12-year-old gets into this preschool game!

Because this game is designed for younger kids, you’ll rarely lose to the volcano. But for 3-year-olds just getting their feet wet in the world of board games, that goes in the pro column because it helps build their confidence.

If you’d like to make this game more challenging over time, the game instructions include suggestions for variations. Or you and your kids can come up with your own house rules. Here are a few rules we sometimes play with to make it more challenging for older kids:

• Dinosaurs can search only the area they’re in
• Game pieces can move in only one direction
• Add more dinosaur or animal figurines so you have to rescue more before the volcano blows
• Each player can move only one dinosaur
• If you get a T-Rex, shuffle all the fern tiles and redistribute
• If you get a lizard, go back one space

Dinosaur Escape

Educational games for 3-year-olds.

Research shows that playing an educational board game with your 3-year-old can help them learn. 8 Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Med, 13 (22). As one example, playing a number board game with a preschooler supports their early mathematical development. 9 Elofsson, J., Gustafson, S., Samuelsson, J., & Träff, U. (2016). Playing number board games supports 5-year-old children’s early mathematical development. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 43 , 134-147.

But all educational board games are not created equal. Some learning games can be a snoozefest for your preschooler (and you). Here are the tried-and-true educational games for 3-year-olds that you’ll actually enjoy together.

With both these cooperative board games for 3-year-olds, your child will get practice with color matching. Hoot Owl Hoot also gives young kids a taste of strategic thinking and planning ahead.

Jump to the full description earlier in this post.

2. Concept Kids: Animals

This delightful game will get your 3-year-old thinking about categories, similarities, and differences. Plus, they’ll get to hone their deductive reasoning skills.

3. Outfoxed!

I’ve loved playing this game with all my kids at age three! If you want to build your child’s deductive reasoning ability, this is the best pick.

4. My First Castle Panic

This cooperative game is excellent for teaching your child to slow down and think through their next steps. And because it’s cooperative, you can be a gentle support to your child as they develop their strategic thinking skills.

5. Sequence Letters

Time to Play: 20 minutes Number of Players: 2-4 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Sequence Letters

This game will help your child with recognizing letters and the sounds they make, but unlike most educational games, they’ll actually have fun playing this one. (And so will you!)

Sequence for Kids or Sequence Letters

Memory and matching games for 3-year-olds.

Memory and matching games are the perfect fit for 3-year-olds because those kinds of games support the development of their working memory as well as their emotional knowledge, which they need for healthy social play. 10 Shimizu H. (2023). The Impact of Working Memory on the Development of Social Play in Japanese Preschool Children: Emotion Knowledge as a Mediator. Children, 10 (3), 524. This is important because working memory is essential to early childhood learning. 11 Gathercole, S. & Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working Memory and Learning: A Practical Guide for Teachers. SAGE Publications Ltd. Plus, research shows preschoolers with strong working memory skills are more likely to graduate high school. 12 Fitzpatrick, C., Archambault, I., Janosz, M., & Pagani, L. S. (2015). Early childhood working memory forecasts high school dropout risk. Intelligence, 53 , 160-165.

Below, you’ll find the best memory and matching games for 3-year-olds, as reviewed by real parents and families in this community.

1. Sequence for Kids

Time to Play: 20 minutes Number of Players: 2-4 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds and up can understand and enjoy this game Get It: Sequence for Kids

Most 3-year-olds aren’t yet ready for the classic Sequence game, so the Sequence for Kids version is a great way to get them familiar with that fun game before they’re ready to graduate.

What I love about this game is that after you play a few times, you’ll notice your child start thinking ahead a couple turns instead of just playing the second they find a match, which is excellent for developing their strategic thinking skills.

2. Spot It! Jr. Animals

Time to Play: 10-20 minutes Number of Players: 2–8 Minimum Age: Even toddlers can play this one, so it’s an excellent pick for 3-year-olds and up Get It: Spot It! Jr. Animals

This card game is similar to the regular version of Spot It! but simplified for younger kids with larger images and fewer images on each card.

My favorite part of this matching game for 3-year-olds is that it’s so portable . I can throw it in my purse when we’re heading somewhere the kids will have to wait a bit, like the doctor’s office or to a restaurant. The small tin holding the cards also makes this game a great fit as a stocking stuffer for kids .

If your child loves this game, Spot It! 123 is another version that will help develop their number sense.

Spot It! Jr Animals or Classic or 123

3. life on earth memory game.

Time to Play: 10-20 minutes Number of Players: 1 or more Minimum Age: 3-year-olds and up can understand and enjoy this game Get It: Life on Earth Memory Game

It took us three tries to find the best memory matching game for 3-year-olds: the Life on Earth game by eeBoo.

The original Memory game was fine, but the artwork is babyish so our older kids weren’t as interested in playing with their younger sibling, not to mention the cardboard pieces were flimsy and easy to bend. Another edition was a little too “creative” for young kids to figure out, and we couldn’t seem to find the memory game that was the perfect fit.

Then we found the Life on Earth edition: The artwork is gorgeous , and the thick, sturdy pieces are perfect to prevent bending or ripping by curious little hands. Plus, with younger kids, each piece gives you an opportunity to talk through different types of animals and share fun tidbits you know about them. Great for building your child’s vocabulary!

Here are a few ways you can play this memory game with your 3-year-old:

• Classic game: Flip all the cards upside down and take turns flipping two at a time to find matches.
• Variation for younger kids: Flip all the cards right side up and take turns spotting matches. Or as another option, you can set out just a few matching sets at a time like 3 or 4 matching sets face down.
• Sorting game: Flip all the cards up and sort them into groups. For example: Which of these would you find in the ocean? The sky? On land? Or: Find all the purple cards, and so on.

Life on Earth Memory Game

This clever cooperative game helps develop your child’s working memory skills because when you receive new clues, you have to compare that to what you know about the pool of suspects. Plus, Outfoxed is just plain fun . This is an all-time favorite for my family!

5. Concept Kids: Animals

This is another fun cooperative game that will give your child practice with memory skills. For example, they have to remember which animal they’re giving clues about, and they have to remember which clues they’ve already given. But because 3-year-olds are still learning, all is not lost if they forget! They can simply peek at the animal card again, or they can check the clues on the board.

In this cooperative game, your child will build memory skills while playing in a pretend world with dinosaurs and an erupting volcano. If your 3-year-old loves dinosaurs, this game is a must!

Card Games for 3-Year-Olds

Card games are a fun choice for playing with your preschooler because they’re typically quick to play, which is great for their short attention span. And you can typically set up a card game more quickly than a board game so that your 3-year-old doesn’t lose interest before you even start the game.

In this section, you’ll find the best card games for 3-year-olds that you’ll both enjoy.

1. Spot It! Jr. Animals

This card game for 3-year-olds is simple and quick yet still challenging enough to keep adults engaged, too. Whenever we would head on a trip with our kids at age three, this portable little game is the first game I’d pack.

After your child masters this version for younger kids, they can graduate to the regular version of Spot It! .

2. Create a Story Cards

Time to Play: 5-15 minutes Number of Players: 2 or more Minimum Age: 2-year-olds can play this one (even if their stories don’t make a lot of sense!), so this is a great fit for 3-year-olds and up Get It: Create a Story Cards

This simple card game for 3-year-olds is a great way to foster your child’s imagination and build literacy skills.

The game has several variations, but our favorite is this: Each player takes turns picking a random card. The first person starts a story with “Once upon a time…” and then on the next turn, the next person uses their card as inspiration to add to the story.

The stories we come up with as a family always leave us giggling!

What’s especially great about this game is you have several versions to choose from, and to kick it up a notch you can even mix different sets together:

• Fairy Tale Mix-Up
• Animal Village
• Mystery in the Forest
• Volcano Island

This one also makes for a fun travel game to take along on road trips or plane rides.

Create a Story Cards

3. sleeping queens.

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes Number of Players: 2–5 Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Sleeping Queens

This card game is technically for older kids, but our preschoolers all played this game since the age of three. Of all the games for 3-year-olds in this list, this one has been a top favorite for our kids and our number one go-to as a family. The rules are simple enough for a preschooler to understand, but the game still keeps everyone on their toes.

We really and truly never get tired of this one. Plus, you can play a whole game in about 10 minutes, which is perfect for getting in a dose of family connection before sending little ones off to bed.

Note: The manufacturer says this is for ages 8 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) many 3-year-olds are ready for this game if you help them.

Sleeping Queens

By the way, when you’re playing card games with your child, this card holder is a must have for little hands. Your child can hold it to see their cards, or they can set the holder down on the table for a break. (This particular card holder has stood the test of time, as opposed to other card holders we’ve tried.)

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More Awesome Games for 3-Year-Olds

If you need more ideas of games to play with your preschooler, here are the best games for 3-year-olds that didn’t fall into the above categories.

1. Yeti in My Spaghetti

Time to Play: 5-15 minutes Number of Players: 1 or more players Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help Get It: Yeti in My Spaghetti

This game is similar to Ker-Plunk, but it’s a better fit for 3-year-olds because Ker-Plunk’s marbles are choking hazards.

To play this fun little game, you lay the spaghetti pieces across the bowl then put the yeti on top. (No logic or story behind this setup—just go with it.) Then each player takes turns pulling out one piece of spaghetti. If the yeti falls to the bottom of the bowl on your turn, you lose. This is usually the point where the kids collapse into giggles, which can be contagious!

This game is perfect for preschoolers because it helps develop their executive functioning skills when they learn (the hard way) to be patient and pull the spaghetti pieces out slowly .

Yeti in My Spaghetti

2. animal upon animal.

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes Number of Players: 1-4 Minimum Age: Even some 2-year-olds can play this one, so it’s a great fit for 3-year-olds Get It: Animal Upon Animal

When your child is ready to move from cooperative to competitive board games, this is a fun stacking game. In this game, you stack different wooden animal figurines on top of a large alligator, trying to see how high you can stack them before it all comes crashing down. This game develops your child’s executive functioning skills as they learn they’ll need to be patient and use creative problem-solving in order to get their animals to stack without falling down.

But even when the stack does come crashing down? Giggles all around.

This game is great for developing your child’s fine motor skills. But it can also be a fun challenge even for adults because the painted pieces are a bit on the slick side, so it’s harder to stack them than you might imagine.

Then when your child beats you fair and square at this game, you won’t even care because they’ll literally glow with pride.

And unlike some other stacking games for kids that are made with low-quality plastic, these sturdy wooden pieces are made to last. 3-year-olds aren’t always the gentlest with flimsy game pieces, but our copy of this game has lasted through four kids! (Side note: This game is made by the same company who makes Orchard , which my kids also love and is featured earlier in this list.)

At first, start by just stacking the pieces like you would with blocks. As your child gets more confident and comfortable with the physics of the game, you can follow the game rules.

Warning: If your child still tends to put small objects in their mouth, I recommend starting out with the First Animal Upon Animal edition because it has larger game pieces perfect for younger kids, then later you can get this edition.

Animal Upon Animal

3. the sneaky, snacky squirrel game.

Time to Play: 15 minutes Number of Players: 2-4 Minimum Age: Even toddlers get into this one, so it’s excellent for 3-year-olds and up Get It: The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

This makes a good first board game for 3-year-olds because it doesn’t require a lot of strategic thinking, it’s quick to play, and the game rules are easy to understand. Plus, the artwork is adorable!

But here’s my favorite aspect of this game: Kids can easily play this independently while you sneak a catnap on the couch.

If you have more than one child or your child likes to play board games with friends, you’ll likely want to play this with the kids the first couple of times to help them learn the rules, but after that you can peace out.

Here’s the setup: Your forest friends are hungry, and they need your help. Be the first to fill your log with delicious acorns, and you win.

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Beware: board games for 3-year-olds to avoid.

If your child is enjoying playing a game with you and you’re enjoying the experience too, ultimately, that’s the most important factor in what makes a board game a good fit for your family.

With that said, some parents have reported certain board games for 3-year-olds as being mind-numbing for adults and/or frustrating for the child.

If you want to avoid that experience, here are a few board games for 3-year-olds to skip bringing into your home. If you already have any of these and you want to phase them out, what’s worked well for other parents is to move the game to a less visible spot wherever you store board games and instead move one of the fun games from earlier in this article in their place.

• Candyland: This game does give kids practice with taking turns and following directions, but that’s true of any game. Kids can get unnecessarily frustrated with this game because the penalties are completely random, and they have no agency for making a choice that would influence the outcome of their turn. Adults don’t enjoy this game because it’s repetitive and boring, with absolutely zero mental effort required. The game manufacturer also seems to have changed the game board in recent years, such as by making the path visually busy and hard to follow and by adding more squares to the path to make the game longer. Neither of which are a good fit for young children.
• Hi Ho! Cherry-O: This game does require counting, so in theory it could be an educational game for 3-year-olds. But if your child ends up frustrated and sad, they won’t be learning anything. As an adult, setting up the tiny fruit pieces (40 of them!) to start the game is tedious. Also, when you grab your basket from the game board, those tiny fruit pieces will roll into the hole left by your basket—and you have to pause the game to put them all back where they belong. From a child’s perspective, the spinner is unfriendly, with almost half of the spaces you can land on forcing you to give all your fruits back. That can be incredibly frustrating for young kids.
• Chutes & Ladders: As with Candyland, this game involves zero decision-making. Just spin the wheel and move, which makes it mind-numbing for adults and means it doesn’t have staying power with kids as they grow. Also, adults and kids don’t enjoy that this game seems to drag on, especially as you reach the end.
• Hungry Hungry Hippos: This game is frustrating for young kids because the hippos tend to detach during the gameplay, and sometimes the mouths won’t open, whereas other times, the mouths get stuck open. That means you have to stop the game and fix it, which requires extra patience on a young child’s part—not their strong suit. If that weren’t bad enough, the marbles often get stuck inside the track or a hippo’s neck, so you have to stop the game and fish them out. On the adult side, the setup for this game is tedious, as is having to be “tech support” when the game breaks while you’re playing it.
• Don’t Break the Ice: The legs of the ice stand come off, which is helpful when you need to put this game back in the box, but not so helpful when you’re in the middle of the game and they come off. Then your child has to wait while you put it back together, interrupting the flow of play. The ice also falls out too easily, especially with repeated plays as what’s holding the ice in place loosens over time. And as with the other non-recommended board games for 3-year-olds in this list, the game is all luck and no strategy.
• Let’s Go Fishin’: Similar to Hungry Hungry Hippos, this game does give young kids motor skill practice. However, the motor that spins the board goes fast and the fish are very small, so it’s too challenging for many 3-year-olds. Also, adults report that the sounds of the motor and the fish rotating are grating, plus kids who are sensitive to sensory input hate the noise. But most important of all, the current version of this game seems to have quality control issues because it often breaks after a few times of playing it.

How to Play Board Games With Your 3-Year-Old: 8 Tried-And-True Tips

If you haven’t played many board games with your preschooler yet or if you’ve tried and it hasn’t worked well, this section is for you.

Preschoolers aren’t exactly known for their ability to sit still, follow directions, and take turns. So at first, playing board games with your child can feel a bit…futile. They zip off three minutes into the game, they seem determined to destroy as many game components as possible, and trying to bend your preschooler’s will to follow the rules can land you in the middle of an epic tantrum wondering when the “fun” is supposed to start.

After introducing my own four children to board games and also playing countless games with the preschoolers of our friends and neighbors over the years, I’ve stumbled on a few tricks for how to make playing games with your 3-year-old go more smoothly.

Here are a few tips for introducing your preschooler to board games so that you’ll both grow to enjoy the experience of playing games:

• Do a test run. Your preschooler has a limited attention span. So if you’re playing a brand-new-to-you game for the first time, you might use up all their patience while you’re reading the rules and figuring out the game. Before you sit down to play a new game with your child, play it by yourself after your their bedtime or during naptime (if you’re still lucky enough to have a napper at this age!). That way, when you do play the first time with your child, you’ll be able to jump right into the fun part.
• Go for cooperative first. When you’re starting out, play cooperative games for 3-year-olds like Outfoxed! or Orchard . Why? Because competitive elements of a game tend to go right over preschoolers’ heads. 13 Schmidt, M. F., Hardecker, S., & Tomasello, M. (2016). Preschoolers understand the normativity of cooperatively structured competition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143 , 34–47. Also, competitive games typically leave younger kids feeling less enthusiastic about the game 14 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364. and may even lead to more aggressive behavior and less cooperation after the game. 15 Bay-Hinitz, A. K., Peterson, R. F., & Quilitch, H. R. (1994). Cooperative games: a way to modify aggressive and cooperative behaviors in young children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27 (3), 435–446. If you do play a competitive game where there’s one winner, you can make a big deal about how much fun it was to play the game together. You can also model good sportsmanship by congratulating the winner, but try to keep the focus on how fun the whole game experience was.
• Make it quick. Because young children have short attention spans, you’ll have the best results if you start out with quick 5- or 10-minute games like Yeti in My Spaghetti , rather than games that take 15 to 20 minutes or longer.
• Let them choose. Wherever you typically keep your board games, make sure the preschooler-friendly games are at eye level and the others are less visible. Then let your child pick which game they want to play. (Forcing a child to play a specific game they’re not interested in typically won’t result in a fun experience!)
• Put fun first. If you’re a stickler for following the rules (that’s me!), you might get especially frustrated when your 3-year-old loses interest in a game you’ve started or refuses to play by the rules. But if at any point you or your child are no longer having fun, give yourself permission to hit the pause button on that game and try again later. I am absolutely guilty of turning a game into an unnecessary power struggle with my child, and that never ends well!
• Bend the rules. While your child gets used to playing games, feel free to bend the rules to simplify a game or make it more fun for them. Some of the board games for 3-year-olds listed above include rule variations for younger children, but you can make up your own variations too. The ultimate goal is to connect with your child and inspire a love of playing games, so be flexible. For example, when we’re playing the Life on Earth Memory Game with a 3-year-old, we flip all the cards right side up and take turns spotting matches that way. Or as another alternative, you can set out just five to six matching pairs at a time and flip those over.
• Repeat yourself. For a young brain to learn , they need repetition. So while it may feel frustrating to keep reminding your child of what to do next and what not to do, gentle and kind reminders are exactly what they need to improve their ability to focus, remember instructions, and control their impulses.
• Play on teams. To get your child used to the mechanics of game play, play a few rounds with them on your “team” before you let them loose to play on their own. When you’re on a team together, your preschooler can be responsible for things like rolling dice, picking a card from the draw pile, moving your pawn, and so on.
• Follow the leader. For example, if your child is having fun stacking the animal pieces in Animal Upon Animal , that’s awesome. But if instead they start playing pretend with the animals and doing all the animal noises, that’s awesome too. The overall goal of playing board games with your preschooler is to have fun together, so follow your child’s lead and roll with the punches.
• Narrate the game. Pretend you’re a sportscaster, and comment on everything that happens in the game. Narrating the game both helps your child understand the game rules and boosts their vocabulary. Also, game strategy may be a foreign concept to your preschooler right now, so talking through your own decisions during the game can help build their reasoning skills.
• Move back one space. Every child develops at their own pace. If the board games for 3-year-olds in this article aren’t working for your 3-year-old, that’s perfectly okay and nothing to worry about. You can follow the tips in the rest of this section to infuse a playful spirit into your board game experience until your child is ready for more, or you can pick up one of the best board games for toddlers and see if those might be a better fit for now. Remember: If you try a game and your child doesn’t seem ready for it, put it away for a couple weeks or a month, then try again. Your preschooler’s brain is growing constantly , 16 Brown, T. T. & Jernigan, T. L. (2012). Brain development during the preschool years. Neuropsychology Review, 22 (4), 313–333. so they might surprise you sooner rather than later!

Before you go, get my FREE cheat sheet: 75 Positive Phrases Every Child Needs to Hear

What are your favorite board games for 3-year-olds? Share in a comment below!

• 1 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364.
• 2 Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Med, 13 (22).
• 3 Elofsson, J., Gustafson, S., Samuelsson, J., & Träff, U. (2016). Playing number board games supports 5-year-old children’s early mathematical development. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 43 , 134-147.
• 4 Brown, T. T. & Jernigan, T. L. (2012). Brain development during the preschool years. Neuropsychology Review, 22 (4), 313–333.
• 5 Schmidt, M. F., Hardecker, S., & Tomasello, M. (2016). Preschoolers understand the normativity of cooperatively structured competition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143 , 34–47.
• 6 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364.
• 7 Bay-Hinitz, A. K., Peterson, R. F., & Quilitch, H. R. (1994). Cooperative games: a way to modify aggressive and cooperative behaviors in young children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27 (3), 435–446.
• 8 Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Med, 13 (22).
• 9 Elofsson, J., Gustafson, S., Samuelsson, J., & Träff, U. (2016). Playing number board games supports 5-year-old children’s early mathematical development. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 43 , 134-147.
• 10 Shimizu H. (2023). The Impact of Working Memory on the Development of Social Play in Japanese Preschool Children: Emotion Knowledge as a Mediator. Children, 10 (3), 524.
• 11 Gathercole, S. & Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working Memory and Learning: A Practical Guide for Teachers. SAGE Publications Ltd.
• 12 Fitzpatrick, C., Archambault, I., Janosz, M., & Pagani, L. S. (2015). Early childhood working memory forecasts high school dropout risk. Intelligence, 53 , 160-165.
• 13 Schmidt, M. F., Hardecker, S., & Tomasello, M. (2016). Preschoolers understand the normativity of cooperatively structured competition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143 , 34–47.
• 14 Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 355-364.
• 15 Bay-Hinitz, A. K., Peterson, R. F., & Quilitch, H. R. (1994). Cooperative games: a way to modify aggressive and cooperative behaviors in young children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27 (3), 435–446.
• 16 Brown, T. T. & Jernigan, T. L. (2012). Brain development during the preschool years. Neuropsychology Review, 22 (4), 313–333.

I'm a mom of four, a Certified Parent Educator, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family . I believe if you want a loving parent-child relationship that will last into the teenage years and beyond, the time for nurturing that kind of relationship is now . The good news? All you need is 10 minutes a day. Start here »

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You can nurture a warm + loving relationship with your child—in just 10 minutes a day.

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The 40 Best Toys and Gifts for 3-Year-Olds, According to Experts

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

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

"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 things considered, these were the faves.

GUND 'PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie' Skye Stuffed Animal

This plush is on a roll! Fans will thrill to have Skye, the star of PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie , complete in her super hero outfit. The other pups are available as well. Ages 1+

Crayola Spill Proof Paint Set

Good Housekeeping testers were amazed at the way these semi-solid paints didn't drip, slosh 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+

This book won over Good Housekeeping Institute testers with a clever gimmick: Each page has a poem about a different animal, then kids have to use a "slide and see" feature to reveal which creature it is. Testers also loved the unusual animal selections: " This book introduced us to sea dragons and owl butterflies,” one reviewer said.

RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Book Awards

Fat Brain Toys Teeter Popper

Get them to work on their balance and coordination with this curved board, which kids can sit on or stand on and rock back and forth. The fun part is that the bottom is covered in suction cups, so it makes a popping sound. It comes in pink, green and blue. Ages 3+

Micro Kickboard Mini Deluxe Scooter

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

Yoto Player

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 ease of use. This comes with a make-your-own audio card, but then you can explore cards with Disney themes , bedtime music , and more. Ages 3+

RELATED: The Best Preschool Graduation Gifts

Bluey 5-Minute Stories

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+

LeapFrog Rainbow Learning Lights Mixer

Kids really got into the pretend play with this one. “My son loved pulling apart the pretend butter and eggs and adding stuff to the bowl,” one parent tester said. But in addition to pretend baking, kids can use this to follow a recipe card, listen to instructions, press the buttons to make the paddle spin, practice counting (pressing the buttons from one to five) or practice colors (the mixer lights up in different ones). Ages 2+

RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards

Step2 Waterfall Discovery Wall

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+

RELATED: The Best Water Tables

VTech Storytime with Sunny

Testers were taken in by the expression on this light's face, which moves when it talks and tells stories. It comes with four disks that are packed with stories, songs, games, jokes, tongue twisters and more. It also works as a nightlight and an alarm clock, so testers appreciated that they could use it for bedtime and wake-up routines. It comes in pink and blue. Ages 3+

S’Mores Break! Sensory Fidget Activity Set

These fidget toys are perfect for the little camper in your life. Each one is different: The s'more can be squished, the marshmallow in the cocoa spins and the cinnamon roll telescopes in and out. In addition, there are guided, social-emotional activity cards included in the set that aim to help kids calm themselves down or name their feelings. Ages 3+

Melissa & Doug Top & Bake Wooden Pizza Counter Play Set

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+

Tactile Turtles Math Activity Set

This set is filled with 36 turtles of different sizes, colors, belly shapes and textures, and the included activity cards show kids how to use them to practice early math skills likes sorting, counting, and grouping. "My daughter loved the tactile feeling of the turtle shells and the bright colors," one parent tester said. Our experts also liked that hand2mind says these turtles are made with post-consumer recycled plastic. Ages 3+

LeapFrog Interactive Learning Easel

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 elements, which offer guided drawing activities that kids can follow along with. There's also traceable magnets that help them practice letters and shapes. Ages 3+

Brio Mickey Mouse Train Set

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+

Camping Outdoors Memory Matching Card Game

Test their matching, retention and strategy skills with this classic memory 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+

Replica Dyson Ball Vacuum Toy

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+

Fisher-Price Meditation Mouse

With social-emotional learning a huge focus for children today, this toy can help kids regular their feelings. There are three modes of guided meditation: one for daytime relaxation, one for nighttime soothing and one three-step calm-down exercise. Ages 2+

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

At age 3, kids might start to have the attention and comprehension needed to play a family game. This one challenges players to get one of each acorn — and they have to use a squirrel-shaped tweezer to pick them up, too. Ages 3+

Osmo Little Genius Starter Kit

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+

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 was the chief technologist and executive technical director of the Good Housekeeping Institute for over 15 years , overseeing testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also managed GH's research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems. 

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Preschool Summer Camp Ideas for 3 Year Olds

Introduction to preschool summer camp activities.

As the summer heat rises, mercury levels shoot up, and so does the spirit of young preschoolers.

Choosing the perfect summer camp for these little mischief-makers means curating the right list of summer camp ideas for 3 year olds. From building social skills to encouraging curiosity, the right mix of activities can turn these sunny months into a memorable learning experience for them.

All you parents can sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee while we take you through a cherry-picked list of engaging summer camp ideas for 3 year olds.

Let’s make your preschoolers’ summer something to remember!

Importance of Summer Camp Activities for Child Development

At age 3, the child's mind is at a pivotal stage of cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development. With the right summer camp ideas for 3 year olds at your disposal, you get to provide the perfect chance to nurture these budding skills through hands-on learning experiences.

But how does summer camp activities help kids? Let’s see.

By Improving Cognitive Development: Engaging 3 year olds in carefully designed activities helps stimulate their rapidly developing brains, promoting problem-solving skills, memory retention, and language acquisition

By Aiding in Physical Growth: Age-appropriate activities involving movement, coordination, and fine motor skills support physical development, laying the foundation for future physical competence

Through Bettering Socio-emotional Skills: Tailored group activities encourage preschoolers to improve social interactions, develop empathy, and build confidence in their abilities

By combining high-energy outdoor adventures, brain-training math and literacy games, and lessons that nurture social-emotional skills, summer camp programs can feed your preschoolers’ curiosities while supporting crucial developmental milestones. 

Also Read: Preparing Preschoolers for Summer Break

Outdoor Activities

Let's take this fun outdoors, shall we? Because there's no better way to enjoy the warm weather than by taking the fun outside. Besides, a bit of Vitamin D is a sure shot guarantee to get those spirits up high!

Here are some outdoor summer camp ideas for 3 year olds to get your preschoolers moving and exploring nature.

1. Nature Scavenger Hunts 

One of the tried-and-true summer camp ideas for 3 year olds, scavenger hunt, keeps kids engaged and aware about their environment. 

This activity encourages kids to make a checklist of common plants, flowers, and trees in their camp area and challenge them to find and identify each one along the way. 

Nature scavenger hunts enable them to discuss various colors, smells, and textures and help them develop an understanding of the surroundings.

2. Simple Sports and Games Tailored for 3 Year Olds

At age 3, kids are bursting with energy and enthusiasm to run, jump and play. Simple sports and games are the perfect way to channel that enthusiasm while reinforcing basic motor skills.

Activities like obstacle courses will have them scrambling, hopping, and weaving their way to victory with unstoppable energy.

As they navigate the challenges, they'll build balance, strength, and the invaluable skill of following directions - all while burning off excess energy and reveling in the thrill of accomplishment.

Read More: Reasons Why Sports are Important in a Student's Life

3. Gardening Projects to Introduce Basic Botany Concepts

Getting kids' hands dirty with gardening projects allows them to learn about the wonders of plant life firsthand.

Gardening projects allow kids to cultivate a love of fresh, homegrown produce by guiding them through the joys of vegetable gardening. Kids are encouraged to plant their favorites like cherry tomatoes, carrots, or pumpkins, and dig, weed, water, and even harvest the crops later.

As they witness the transformation from seed to harvest, they'll gain a deeper understanding of where their food comes from and the basic needs of plants.

Creative Arts and Crafts

Let's switch gears and tap into the creative side of young learners with these artsy summer camp ideas for 3 year olds.

1. Easy Painting and Drawing Projects

A simple scribble transforms into limitless possibilities for kids. Easy drawing projects help kids draw random shapes and scribbles on paper and challenge them to turn those lines into pictures. This activity unlocks imagination and encourages storytelling skills.

The key is to focus on the creative process over the final product to nurture the creativity and self-expression of your preschoolers.

2. Crafts Using Natural Materials

Getting crafty with items found in nature is an eco-friendly way to spark your preschoolers’ imagination and creativity.

Leaf rubbing is such an activity that lets kids gather a variety of leaves and place them under a sheet of paper. Using the side of a crayon or pencil, kids rub firmly over the leaf shapes and observe as vibrant prints appear with intricate details and patterns.

Activities like these connect kids to the outdoors while improving creativity, pattern recognition, and an appreciation for nature's beauty. Simple yet impactful!

Also Read: Art Ideas for Kids: Outdoor Line Drawing

Educational Activities

Summer is the ideal time to keep those little minds active through purposeful play. Here are some educational activities that broaden the young minds.

1. Storytime Sessions to Foster a Love for Reading

Storytime becomes an immersive experience when the reader infuses it with character voices and opportunities for interaction. By using different voices and accents to bring the story's characters to life, you can captivate young listeners and draw them into the narrative.

Don't just read the story aloud; engage kids by asking questions about the illustrations and plot along the way.

This interactive approach transforms a passive listening activity into an engaging dialogue that promotes comprehension, active listening, and critical thinking skills.

To improve your kids' literacy skills, Vedantu offers its English Superstar Course! Help your little one sign up today and explore the world of storytelling through interactive online classes!

2. Simple Science Experiments to Spark Curiosity

Hands-on science experiments allow little learners to explore concepts in an engaging, multi-sensory way.

One simple concept to investigate is sink or float. 

Children can make predictions about whether different objects will sink or float when placed in water

This activity tests out their hypotheses, by having them carefully observe and describe what happens. Why did the wooden block float while the metal car immediately sank?

It teaches kids that items behave differently based on their shape or added materials. An egg dropped into a glass initially sinks, but when kids try placing it on a coffee filter set atop the water's surface - the filter acts like a raft, allowing the egg to float!

The key is using safe, familiar materials that allow children to predict, observe, test, and draw conclusions through play. Simple experiments satisfy their curiosity!

3. Number and Letter Games for Early Literacy and Math Skills

Let's explore a world of fun and learning with these creative games that blend playtime with early literacy and math skills:

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt- This activity requires writing uppercase and lowercase letters on sticky notes and hiding them around the room. Kids need to search and collect the letters they find using baskets or bags. As they gather each one, the parent can identify the letter name and sound it makes. This allows kids to practice letter recognition while incorporating movement and excitement

This game builds crucial pre-reading skills like knowing the alphabet, connecting letters to their sounds, and identifying letters in different contexts. The hands-on interaction with letters reinforces learning in a fun, multi-sensory way.

Transform your kids into spelling champions with Vedantu's Spelling Bee Master Course! Help them enroll and excel in the world of words through engaging and interactive online classes.

Counting With Stuffed Animals- Gather up your kids’ favorite stuffed animal toys and have them practice counting the objects. Start by lining up just a few and counting them together. Then, mix them up and ask "How many tigers are there?" encouraging kids to count each one

Simple activities like this develop critical math skills such as one-to-one correspondence (assigning one number to each object) and cardinality (understanding the final number represents the total quantity). Using familiar objects helps cement these essential early numeracy concepts through repetitive play.

Social and Emotional Learning

While summers are full of fun, they're also ripe for teaching important social-emotional skills.

1. Role-playing Games to Understand Emotions and Social Interactions

Through engaging role-play, kids can explore emotions, practice communication, and learn how to navigate tricky social situations.

Activities like puppet shows encourage kids to develop their storytelling skills and unleash their power of imagination and creativity. In a cozy puppet theater, they can put on dazzling performances for their friends, either by following pre-written scripts or improvising their own captivating tales!

2. Group Projects to Teach Teamwork and Cooperation

They say teamwork makes the dream work, and that's especially true for energetic preschoolers. 

Engaging kids on activities like group murals can do wonders, where they collectively plan, design, and bring their artistic visions to life on a large canvas, developing crucial skills in communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.

Working side-by-side toward a collective creation or challenge reinforces skills like active listening, problem-solving, and respecting others' ideas. It's teamwork at its finest!

Safety and Health Practices

Alright, let’s take a quick safety break.

Keeping little mischief-makers safe and healthy is a top priority, especially during the scorching Indian summer. Here are some essential safety and health practices to instill in your preschoolers:

The Indian summer can be unforgiving, so it's crucial to teach our little ones about staying hydrated and protected from the sun

Encourage your child to carry a water bottle and take regular sips, especially during outdoor play. Make it fun by decorating the bottle with stickers of their favorite cartoon characters

Also Read: Introduction to Summer Camp Activities for Preschoolers

Introducing Basic First-Aid Concepts Through Role Play

Teaching first-aid can be engaging and educational through role play.

How about a 'Teddy Bear Clinic' where kids can practice bandaging their stuffed animals' injuries? It's a gentle way to introduce basic first-aid concepts. Kids can dress up as doctors or nurses and pretend to treat their toys. This imaginative play helps them understand the importance of caring for others.

By incorporating these safety and health practices into kids’ summer routines, you can ensure they have a fun and safe time while learning valuable life skills.

Tips for Choosing A Preschool Summer Camp

As we wrap up, let’s look at some pro tips for choosing a preschool summer camp for your tiny tot. Consider these the last-minute reminders for you to cross off your ‘summer camp ideas for 3 year olds’ list.

A Well-Rounded Mix of Activities to Cater to Diverse Interests- Just like their grown-up counterparts, 3 year olds come with a diverse array of interests and inclinations. An ideal summer camp should reflect this diversity by offering a well-rounded mix of activities that cater to a range of preferences

Activities Based on Weather Considerations - It is crucial to have a flexible schedule that can adapt to changing weather conditions. The right camp should should have both indoor and outdoor activities 

Safe and Age-Appropriate Activities for 3 year olds- It is very important for a summer camp to have activities that align with the developmental milestones of this age group, fostering their growing skills without posing any undue risks. From carefully selected art supplies to supervised outdoor play, every aspect of the camp should be tailored to meet the needs of your 3 year olds and provide a nurturing, enriching environment for them to thrive

Bonus points : Involving kids in the decision-making process adds to their excitement and helps prevent any FOMO!

A thrilling preschool summer camp embraces the warmth of summer and lets kids express themselves through exploration, creativity, and joyful play.

With a diverse array of activities that cater to the unique needs and interests of 3-year-olds, a perfect summer camp can unlock a world of learning, growth, and unforgettable memories for your tiny tot.

From outdoor adventures that nurture their physical development to educational games that sharpen their cognitive skills, each component of the summer camp should be thoughtfully designed.

Vedantu assists the preschool summer camp experience for kids by offering transformative online courses and interactive learning platforms that nurture their unique talents and prepare them for future success.

Elevate your kids' learning this summer with Vedantu's transformative educational camp courses. Unlock a world of personalized learning experiences tailored to their interests and passions. Book a free demo session to learn more!

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Arts and Crafts for Kids Ages 4-6, Alphabet Drawing 60 Pages, Dry Erase Toddler Tracing Book, Pre k Preschool Learning Activities to Write, Education Toys Gift for Boy Girl 3+ Years Old

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• Reusable Cards Unlock Creativity - Alphabet tracing and drawing kit, two-sided skills practice. Turning alphabet learning into joyful art. For example, let's start with the letter A, and before you know it, we'll turn it into a cute alligator! How cool is that? With just six simple steps, let's create some wonderful drawings together while learning the alphabet!
• How to Draw The Entire Alphabet! ABC Drawings! - The preschool workbook is accompanied by a beautifully designed gift box. Includes 60 pages of kindergarten workbooks, 8 colorful markers and 1 eraser. With simple steps and cute animals, let's explore the world of letters together.
• Letters A-Z Early Learning - Start your child practicing writing letters by encouraging them to trace the letters on a picture and then try to write them independently. Repeated practice promotes memory and hand-eye coordination, which are essential for developing good writing skills.
• Educational Homeschool Supplies - Save paper, waterproof, tear-resistant, and reusable dry erase pages. Essential for School Readiness, offering support for autism activities, Montessori education, and fine motor skills development in toddlers.
• Perfect Gift for Boys and Girls Ages 3-6 - Such as Birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter or Valentine's Day for classroom play, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten and homeschooling. The box set makes it easy to store the cards to travel with, enjoy playing, interacting and sharing happy times with your family!

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How to Draw Animals with ABC! Turning letter tracing and drawing into pleasurable art, as well as transforming letters into fun animals in simple steps, can spark your child's creativity and interest in learning, it's an ideal gift for boys and girls aged 3-8 years old.

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