Choosing toys for toddlers can be difficult, especially in today’s world where easy entertainment comes at the touch of buttons on screens. But both experts in early childhood development and experienced parents know how important it is to limit screen time in young children, making it a priority when choosing toys, to pick the best toys for three year old boys and girls—toys with the ability to provide children with the desire to play, learn, and explore while away from screens.

At age three, little boys are busy achieving important milestones in both motor skills and cognition, as well as in language development. Choosing toys that provide hours of open-ended play to promote and foster creativity while increasing fine motor skills is an important goal when choosing the best toys for three year old boys.

Great choices include building materials with multiple shapes and pieces to allow the creation of structures to bring a child’s imagination into 3-dimensional life. Toys that they can play with independently, as well as with friends and siblings to foster both self-confidence and social skills are also essential.

A quick browse through some carefully selected toy choices should inspire parents to choose some of the best toys for 3-year-old boys that are available today, from the companies we trust to bring our children learning, as well as the simple joy of childhood play.

Some of the best toys for three-year-old boys are building blocks and building or linking pieces that can stimulate creativity and enhance fine motor control in young children. Experts in early childhood development all agree that such toys are considered STEM toys, in other words Science, Technology, Engineering and Math toys to engage children in fun play with multiple learning benefits.

Children learn many things from play building materials, including problem-solving, cognition, and fine motor skills. The large number of tiles included in this large set makes it possible for children to share with others to learn teamwork and enhance social skills.

Jack & Roo Mag Builders invite creativity with endless opportunities for building structures, and vehicles such as cars, trains, trucks, and rocket launchers. Four flat tiles on wheels are included for multiple vehicle building. The 104 magnetic tiles easily attach through magnetic pull and come in a variety of shapes, including 50 squares, 8 extra-large squares, 18 equilateral triangles, 12 right triangles, 12 isosceles triangles, as well as 4 magnetic car bases. These can be combined in an endless variety of ways to construct buildings of many shapes and sizes. Your child can unleash their creativity to build skyscrapers, homes, train stations, churches, farms, parking garages, and many more. The possibilities are endless, making this one of the best toys for three year old boys and girls.

The tiles wipe clean easily and come in a convenient, durable plastic box for easy cleanup and storage.

Key Features
  • 104 magnetic tiles for endless creative building
  • Beautiful tiles are magnetized for easy 3-D construction
  • Includes four magnetic flat tiles on wheels for creating vehicles
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 and up
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 104
Pros
  • Large storage case included for quick clean up
  • Many shapes included for endless building design opportunities
  • More pieces for lower price than MagnaTile brand
Cons
  • Magnetic pull is not as strong as MagnaTiles

One of the best toys for three year old boys to get them out of the house for outdoor play is the Fisher-Price Harley-Davidson Tough Trike. This tricycle is designed to look like a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, so little boys will love feeling super-cool when they ride it. The long, low style of this tricycle with a wide back wheel base, gives it superior stability for less chance of tipping. The back tires are wide and rugged, and all tires are tough and durable, allowing for off-road riding through grass or bumpy terrain.

The Fisher-Price Harley-Davidson Tough Trike has easy-grip handles to prevent small hands from slipping. It also sports large, non-slip pedals, making it easy for little ones to get the tricycle moving, and less likely that their feet will slip while pedaling.

The Fisher-Price Harley-Davidson Tough Trike is designed to make it easier for little riders to feel confident on a tricycle with stability and comfort. Even very young children who can’t reach the pedals can use their feet to drive this motorcycle-style tricycle.

Children can enjoy outdoor adventures on this tricycle and collect treasures on their way with the secret under-the-seat storage basket. The basket is roomy enough to carry a child’s picnic lunch as well.

The ability to pedal a tricycle is considered an important milestone for four year olds, so starting a child on the Fisher-Price Harley-Davidson Tough Trike at age two or three will ensure that they will master this skill before their fourth birthday. This fun, tough-looking trike will also help improve balance and coordination in young children, making it one of the best toys for three year old boys.

Key Features
  • Harley-Davidson Style tricycle
  • Pedal-powered
  • Easy-grip handlebars
  • Back storage basket
  • Wide, rugged tires for durability
Specifications
  • For Ages: 2 to 5
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: Yes
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 1
Pros
  • Large, no-slip pedals
  • Wide wheel base for stability
Cons
  • Long, low design requires long legs to reach pedals

One of the best toys for three year old boys is the Rolimate Wooden Block Puzzle with anima pictures. This cute wooden puzzle set comes with nine brightly painted blocks which can be turned to create a different animal puzzle on each side, with a total of six animals. The blocks can be arranged to complete each animal including a lion, zebra, rhinoceros, tiger, and giraffe. The vibrantly colored blocks can also be played with like building blocks to build a tower, giving these puzzle blocks multiple uses as both building blocks and six puzzles, all in one cute package.

The Rolimate Wooden Block Puzzle is perfectly sized to fit small hands and be easily manipulated. The blocks are made of premium beech wood, which allows them to be lightweight and durable. They are painted with non-toxic, water-based paint and the blocks are polished smooth with the edges and corners sanded to be safe for young children. The blocks are sized to be too large to pose a choking risk for children or younger siblings.

The blocks come with an attractive, natural wood storage tray for easy clean-up. They are well-made and adorable and will not only provide fun for children, but also look decorative in their room.

Experts in early childhood development recommend both building blocks and puzzles for enhancing cognition, problem-solving, creativity, and fine motor skills, meaning this toy offers two important skill-building toys in one.

The Rolimate Wooden Block Puzzle may be one of the best toys for three-year-old boys because it offers the versatility of six different puzzles which can be constructed in a flat position or horizontally, or the blocks can be used for stacking and sorting. This toy also encourages animal recognition along with problem-solving, reasoning, and fine motor skills.

Key Features
  • Wooden block puzzle with six animal pictures
  • Blocks can be turned with each side making one of six puzzles
  • Wooden storage tray included
Specifications
  • For Ages: 1 to 3 years
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 9 cubes
Pros
  • Edges are sanded smooth for no sharp edges
  • Non-toxic vibrantly colorful paint
  • Versatile blocks can be used for stacking or create flat or upright puzzles
Cons
  • Paint may eventually chip

Experts in early childhood education tell us that the best toys for three-year-old boys include building blocks and engineering toys to foster both creativity, open-ended play, and fine motor skills in preschoolers. The ETI Toys STEM Learning Original 101 Piece Educational Construction Engineering Building Blocks is an engineering kit with over 100 interlocking pieces and two building wrenches to encourage children to create their own toys with moving parts.

Included is an instructional booklet with 12 toy designs to get a child started, but the options are endless for creating toys such as robots, vehicles, helicopters, and airplanes. This huge building set will occupy a child for hours and offers opportunities for independent play, or playing with an adult or another child. The two included wrenches encourages socialization and teamwork during playtime.

The educational instruction booklet offers multiple toy designs that grow in complexity, meaning this is a toy that your child won’t soon outgrow, but can grow along with your developing child.

The ETI Toys STEM Learning Original 101 Piece Educational Construction Engineering Building Blocks are washable and nontoxic. They are certified BPA-free and come in a convenient storage container that allows for easy transportability.

This building set is considered a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) toy, and is not only fun, but also educational and helps young children to develop critical skills. This makes it one of the best toys for three-year-old boys. And girls shouldn’t be left out of the fun either!

Key Features
  • Engineering building blocks
  • Includes Ebook with 12 toy designs
  • Allows endless opportunities to build and create buildings, vehicles, and robots
  • Wrenches click for interactive play
  • 101 pieces for extensive building and versatility
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 to 6 years
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 101
Pros
  • Non-toxic BPA-free building pieces
  • Encourages both independent play and teamwork: extra wrench included for two players
  • Easy-carry tub included for storage and transport
  • Gives children the opportunity to create their own toys
Cons
  • Choking hazard for those with younger siblings
  • Only four center blocks so only four toys can be built at a time

The VTech Drill & Learn Toolbox is one of the best toys for three-year-old boys who love to “help” daddy fix things around the house. This brightly colored toy toolbox comes with a working toy drill, a hammer, wrench, two nails, and two screws. The tool box comes equipped with three brightly colored turning cogs with satisfying clicking sounds when turned. Inside the toolbox is an electronic fixing tray with holes for nails and screws to be hammered or screwed into.

The VTech Drill & Learn Toolbox is interactive, and children get encouraging interactive feedback when they use the tools to insert nails and screws. The light-up buttons on the side of the toolbox can be pressed for children to enjoy cute songs, as well as to receive fun information about tools and their uses and the sounds they make during use. Double-sided instruction cards can be inserted into the interactive box for children to learn more, including information about color and numbers while they are making fun “repairs.”

The tools pack away inside the toolbox for easy storage and transportation, and the drills fit into a holder on the side of the box. A battery-saving feature turns the box off after two minutes of disuse, making it advisable that parents first teach young children how to turn it back on by themselves.

The VTech Drill & Learn Toolbox offers children hours of fun, while at the same time teaching them about tools and their functions, as well as learning about colors, numbers, and being entertained with fun songs and sounds. An important bonus is that while children are enjoying their play, the VTech Drill & Learn Toolbox and tools promotes fine motor skills as children learn to hold and manipulate tools effectively. This makes it one of the best toys for three-year-old boys. And girls can certainly join in on the fun!

Key Features
  • Toolbox and working tools
  • Interactive information about tools and their uses
  • Includes number and color learning, as well as songs
  • Includes turning gears with clicking sounds
Specifications
  • For Ages: 2 to 5 years
  • Batteries Required: 2 AA batteries
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: Yes
  • Number of Pieces: 10
Pros
  • Gears make satisfying clicking noises for immediate positive feedback when turned
  • Working tools increase fine motor skills
  • Interactive play allows learning opportunity and positive encouragment
  • Drill does not require batteries
Cons
  • Drill does not fit in toolbox, but instead hooks onto the outside
  • Battery-saving automatic turn-off causes it to power off after two minutes of disuse - leading to parents having to turn it back on.

Some of the best toys for three-year-old boys are classic toy building pieces such as Lincoln Logs. The Lincoln Logs 100th Anniversary Tin with 111 All-Wood Pieces brings back nostalgia in parents who remember the original real-wood logs that they played with as children. Now, a new generation of children can also enjoy the simplicity of real maple wood logs and the endless creative building opportunities available for hours of open-ended play.

This set of 111 Lincoln Log building pieces comes in a beautiful tin specially decorated for the 100th anniversary of Lincoln Log toys which took place in 2016. The first Lincoln Log building sets were released in 1916 by the son of world famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright and has since been a beloved favorite childhood toy for four generations.

The Lincoln Logs 100th Anniversary Tin with 111 All-Wood Logs also comes with an instruction booklet that offers three building ideas to get children started, but the possibilities of creative building play are endless. The large, roomy storage tin comes with extra space so parents can store additional pieces if purchased separately to enlarge the set for further building possibilities.

The log building pieces in this set are beautifully stained the original rich brown color, with green roof pieces and rust-red facing pieces. All maple-wood pieces can be easily wiped clean, and handily stored away inside the attractive tin.

Experts in early childhood development agree that blocks and building toys are one of the most important toys in early childhood for developing both cognitive abilities and fine-motor skills, as well as creativity, making Lincoln Logs one of the best toys for three-year-old boys, or boys and girls ages 3 and up.

Key Features
  • 101 classic all-wood Lincoln Logs
  • Included manual with instructions for 3 buildings
  • Beautifully stained and colored building pieces
  • Building pieces come in decorative 100th anniversary tin
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 and up
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 111 pieces plus tin bucket
Pros
  • Made of high-quality maple wood
  • Easy clean-up and storage in decorative tin bucket
  • Promotes fine-motor skills and creativity
  • Tin is roomy enough to fit additional Lincoln Logs if more are purchased
Cons
  • Smaller parts can be a choking hazard for younger siblings
  • Set contains more small logs than larger

One of the best toys for three-year-old boys who love cars, motorcycles, and racing is the VTech 3-in-1 Race and Learn. This is a brightly colored racing toy and driving simulator that can be used on a table, the floor, or in a car seat to provide long-lasting entertainment. This racing toy has knobs, toggles, switches, and a gear shift that makes racing sounds as a child plays.

The VTech 3-in-1 Race and Learn has a steering wheel that easily converts from race car steering wheel to motorcycle handlebars or jet toggles. The included LCD screen plays nine courses including motorcycle, car, and jet graphics so a child can play interactively and enjoy the feeling of really driving with combined graphics, sound effects, and vibration.

The VTech 3-in-1 Race and Learn, not only provides a fun play-driving, riding, and flying experience, but also includes learning features to teach letter recognition in both upper and lower case, phonics, number sense, shapes, and more—all while a child has fun playing with the racing features.

This toy driving simulator is ideal for keeping young children entertained in a car seat while driving, so they can have the fun of “driving” as well. The parent-friendly volume control feature means parents can keep the noise down to a non-distracting level when the toy is used in a moving vehicle.

The VTech 3-in-1 Race and Learn promotes many skills necessary in reaching essential milestones, including building hand/eye coordination, and multi-tasking, as well as letter and number recognition—and all while a child enjoys the fun racing experience, making this driving simulator one of the best toys for three-year-old boys. And, of course, girls who like cars, planes, and motorcycles can also benefit from this fun toy!

Key Features
  • 3-way racing toy for fun driving simulation
  • Converts from car to motorcycle and airplane
  • Realistic racing sound effects
  • Small screen to allow feeling of real movement
  • Teaching feature for letters, numbers, shapes, and spelling
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 to 6 years
  • Batteries Required: 3 AA batteries included
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: Yes
  • Number of Pieces: 1
Pros
  • Controller vibrates for realism
  • Nine different courses to race
  • Contains volume control feature for parent comfort
  • Ideal car travel toy
Cons
  • Screen is in gray tones and could benefit from graphics updates

One of the best toys for three-year-old boys is the GIKPAL Aqua Magic Doodle Mat. This colorfully bordered drawing mat offers endless hours of creative drawing, doodling, and coloring, and is large enough to accommodate several artists at a time. Mat can be used on the floor, or may be hung up with included suction cups for easel-style vertical drawing.

This doodle mat is completely mess-free, making this craft toy a winner for adults as well. The four included pens work simply by filling with water. Drawing on the doodle mat with a water pen brings out colors in the specially formulated water-reactive craft mat. The drawings slowly disappear on their own when the water dries, allowing for reuse over and over without having to erase or clean. Not only does this save on mess and cleanup, but the reusable mat also saves paper usage while it fosters creativity in budding young artists.

Because the mat and pens work only with water, there is never any mess, and no risk factors such as toxic paints, markers, or messy crayons.

The GIKPAL Aqua Magic Doodle Mat also comes with a drawing instruction booklet that offers easy instruction on simple drawing techniques to get kids’ creativity flowing. Also included are eight shapes for tracing, and both number and letter templates for tracing, giving children an early start on number, letter, and shape recognition. Stamps are also included to be dipped in water to stamp pictures on the water-reactive doodle map.

The GIKPAL Aqua Magic Doodle Mat is one of the best toys for three-year-old boys and girls who wish to explore and develop their artistic creativity without mess or cleanup. The nylon-backed mat folds for easy storage.

Key Features
  • Large drawing mat with four water pens and stencils
  • Mat is self-erasing for infinite uses
  • Comes with easy-drawing instruction booklet
  • Includes four templates for letters, numbers, and shapes and four seals
Specifications
  • For Ages: 13 months and up
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 22 pieces
Pros
  • No ink, chemicals, or mess
  • Drawing instruction booklet included
  • Comes with suction cups for wall mounting option
  • Saves paper
Cons
  • Water pens need frequent refilling

One of the best toys for three-year-old boys who love construction vehicles is the iPlay, iLearn Construction Vehicle Play Set. This large set comes with 76 total pieces, including five construction vehicle bodies including a large, working crane, trailer, steamroller, bulldozer, and truck. The truck has accessories to convert it to a snowplow, forklift, and digger with scoop.

This construction vehicle playset comes in a durable plastic box that converts into a snap-together playmat or truck parking area/construction site.

Also included in the iPlay, iLearn Construction Vehicle Play Set are many accessories such as construction barricades, barriers, traffic cones, stoplight, and street signs. The number of trucks and accessories makes this the perfect toy for a child to share with friends for group play that encourages social skills and sharing.

The iPlay, iLearn Construction Vehicle Play Set not only offers hours of fun, creative play, but also fosters learning about the function of various construction vehicles and road sign recognition. Fine motor skills are promoted as young children can change the truck accessories to convert the function of the vehicle to a snowplow or digger. Critical thinking skills are encouraged, and so is imaginative play. Children can also take the playset outside in environments such as sandboxes and gravely areas to enjoy using dump trucks, plows, digger, bulldozer, and crane to plow through sand, dig, scoop, and lift items with the crane in a realistic outdoor environment for hours of fun.

The iPlay, iLearn Construction Vehicle Play Set is one of the best toys for three-year-old boys to enjoy playing with versatile construction vehicles with plentiful accessories for hours of creative fun.

Key Features
  • Large, 76 piece construction set with five vehicles and accessories to convert to seven vehicle types
  • Includes traffic cones, barricades, and road signs
  • Storage box converts to playmat
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 to 10 years
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 76
Pros
  • No batteries required
  • Excellent opportunity for learning the meaning of basic road signs
  • Allows for hours of creative and open-ended play
Cons
  • Crane tips easily

One of the best toys for three-year-old boys is the TEMI Dinosaur Activity Play Mat with Trees and nine dinosaur figures. This is a great toy to inspire creativity and keep kids away from screens and electronics. It allows for hours of open-ended play, as kids can make up imaginative games and act out stories with the nine dinosaur action figures.

The playmat is large enough for two or three children to play together, encouraging socializing skills. The dinosaurs are hand-painted and realistic and include Tyrannosaurus Rex, Giganotosaurus, Therizinosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Acrocanthosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Dimetrodon. All are single-piece units so there is no fear of small parts or choking hazards for toddlers and baby siblings.

The activity playmat is soft and brightly colored with paths to follow and depicted buildings and park attractions. This playset comes with five trees that can be placed upright for three-dimensional play as kids immerse themselves into a pretend Jurassic world for hours of imaginative, open-ended playtime either independently or with friends or parents.

The TEMI Dinosaur Activity Play Mat comes with a handy and sturdy storage box with a handle for easy clean-up, transportability, and storage.

All pieces are made of safe, non-toxic materials and the colors are bright, engaging, and contain entertaining map-like activity areas for endless imaginative play.

The TEMI Dinosaur Activity Playmat is one of the best toys for three-year-old boys who love dinosaurs. And girls can join in the fun as well!

Key Features
  • Set of 9 dinosaur figures
  • Activity dinosaur park playmat with trees
  • Realistic hand-painted figures
Specifications
  • For Ages: 3 to 6
  • Batteries Required: No
  • Assembly Required: No
  • Interactive: No
  • Number of Pieces: 16
Pros
  • Large playmat allows several players
  • Carrying case with handle included
  • No small pieces so no choking hazard
  • Non-toxic PVC
Cons
  • Trees are easily knocked over
  • Mat is smaller than it appears in the photos

By the time a child has their third birthday, they are beginning to leave the terrible twos behind and are entering a new phase of early childhood where improvements in their language skills, abilities to function more independently, and improved coordination and muscle control, mean that most of the frustration that put the “terrible” into the twos has begun to resolve. Typically, this means a 3-year-old is bright, inquisitive, and anxious to use their improved skills to explore the world around them. That’s why this is the time to provide them with the best toys for 3-year-old boys—or girls—to inspire that desire to learn, create, and most of all—to play.

What are the Best Toys for 3-Year-Old Boys to Lure Them Away From Screens?

Today’s children are able to find instant entertainment at the touch of a screen. This makes it more important now than ever to find toys that inspire young children to use their hands to manipulate toys. The best toys for achieving this are building blocks, magnetic tiles, Legos, Duplo blocks, Lincoln Logs, and other attachable or stackable building pieces. These allow for hours of exploring creative abilities to construct buildings and toys in which to act out imaginative stories and games while enhancing a child’s fine motor skills.

Toys such as puzzles can introduce young children to the world of problem-solving and reasoning, as well as color-matching, and are fun and absorbing.

Toy tools can teach cause and effect, problem-solving, and build motor skills.

Craft toys are essential for children to explore their creative side and to develop a sense of pride in accomplishment as they produce works of art. Toys such as drawing mats and boards, crayons, markers, stamps, stickers, glitter, glue, construction paper, and child-safe scissors bring out the budding Picasso in any child and are a crucial part of early childhood development.

The Best Toys For 3-Year-Old Boys for Enhancing Motor Skills

While building toys and crafts items can foster creativity and develop critical fine motor skills, toys for gross motor skill development are also great for 3-year-olds. Balls for kicking and throwing, and tricycles for pedaling are ideal for gross motor development in young children.

Toys such as play construction vehicles allow young children to crawl around on the floor, pushing vehicles and manipulating such things as scoops, plows, and cranes to offer hours of entertainment for little boys, and often girls as well.

Interactive toys are fantastic for entertaining young minds, and can introduce them to critical skills such as vocabulary and number and shape recognition with positive feedback.

With a whole world of toy options available both in the store aisles and online, parents are faced with a multitude of choices. While it’s easy to say that young children are happy with any bright plastic toy, the fact remains that they are also happy to play with the empty boxes such toys come in. Empty boxes offer children the joy of creation and imagination—and toys that offer the same are always the best toys for 3-year-old boys. And girls as well!

Resources— Parents.com, naeyc.com

Share this Buyers Guide About The Author