Three is the age of who, what, where and why, and the Christmas season brings a fresh flood of questions about lights, reindeer and chimneys.
A gift that feeds that curiosity, from a story to a first craft set, makes the long wait for the big day feel shorter. Our ideas for her are gathered below.
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Dolls and figures
If the girl you're shopping for copies how grown-ups hold an infant, a La Newborn doll lets her do the holding herself.
She already replays the care she sees at home, and now has someone to give it to. In the waiting room at a checkup, she can sit it on her lap and whisper it won't take long.
Arts and crafts
When the girl you have in mind tapes scribbles to every cupboard, this Hape easel gives her an upright board.
A three-year-old wants each creation seen right away, so a stand-up spot to scribble keeps her work on display. Its magnetic board holds a crayon cat at eye level for whoever walks past the playroom.
Games and puzzles
German brand
Bluey hides face down in this memory game, waiting for a preschool girl who shouts out the show's cast during every episode.
She knows each cartoon face on sight, so every flip lets her call out a favorite from the show. The pile of matches she wins stacks up on the living room rug for Mom to count.
Back from the supermarket, a little girl who handed the cashier every item can take the cashier's side with this Hape register.
The job she watched from the cart turns into hers, with stuffed animals waiting in line to shop. She can hand her brother a paper receipt she scribbled herself.
Building sets
American brand
K'NEX Budding Builders parts turn into a tower for a preschool girl who loves putting things together and taking them apart.
She copies what bigger kids build, and each tower she knocks down becomes the start of the next.
Science and discovery
American brand
A curious girl who points out every tiny difference in her picture books can now hunt for them among toy apples.
She loves saying what matches and what doesn't, so making her own piles lets her set the rules. The neat rows she lays out on the kitchen table stay put until a parent names what each row shares.
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Ages 3+
American brand
This Sticker Wow! stamper presses a dinosaur onto the page each time, letting a beast-loving girl decorate all by herself.
She stomps around roaring and insists on doing things alone, so each push puts her in charge of the herd. In the back seat, she can fill a page and give each beast a name out loud.
American brand
Twistables crayons from Crayola put each color choice in the grip of a preschooler who makes artwork for everyone she loves.
She wants a say in every detail now, and her own set lets her choose a purple sky. The pack waits beside her stocking on Christmas morning, ready for the scribbled notes she hands each relative.
In the bath each evening, a preschooler who covers every scrap of paper with scribbles gets the tub walls as her page.
She wants to draw on everything within reach, and here that urge has a spot where grown-ups say yes. The crayons wait in a cup by the faucet for tomorrow's mural.
American brand
Play-Doh's Peppa Pig ice cream set lets a three-year-old fan of the show shape pretend treats from dough.
She chats along with Peppa on TV, so shaping dough treats carries that cartoon into play. On Christmas afternoon, she can run a pretend ice cream stand and take orders from cousins.
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Gabby's Dollhouse figures make sense for a preschooler who already greets Gabby and her friends by name whenever the show starts.
The cast she knows from TV now sits in her hands, so she picks who talks and who leads. At a playdate, she can hand a friend a character to voice and invent a brand-new episode together.
Ages 3+
American brand
A girl who leaves her tumbling class still bouncing through her moves can hand them over to a Barbie gymnast at home.
She already copies her coach, so now she can be the coach, calling out each stretch and landing. She can tuck it in her bag for the next class and show friends a new pose.
American brand
A preschooler who tucks dish towels around her dolls can give that same care to a GUND monkey of her own.
She mothers anything she can hug right now, so a cuddly friend becomes another baby to feed, dress and rock. At a tea party on the rug, she can seat it in the place of honor and pour its cup.
Ages 1+
American brand
Nobody begs harder for a real puppy than a three-year-old who stops to pat every dog on the walk to the park.
With a cockapoo named Nayla in her arms, she has a puppy to stroke whenever she likes, no leash or waiting required. Its own name gives her a pup to call when the next round of pretend begins.
During a Bluey episode on the couch, a three-year-old who imitates the grannies can roll Janet's car along the cushions.
She replays favorite lines once the credits end, so a character she knows by voice keeps the story going. The little vehicle ends up parked by the TV, its driver waiting for the next round of pretend.
This Pucci Pals plush horse rides in a carrier bag, ready for a horse-crazy three-year-old to take along.
Pucci Pups labels it for ages 3 and up, so she carries and minds the pony herself. On the drive to Grandma's, the horse rides in its bag beside her car seat.
The ponies in this box arrive as a whole gang of pals for a preschooler who gallops through her make-believe.
In a group, she picks a leader to trot ahead and strands another for the rest to rescue. The rescued pal ends up at the front of the line, nose to nose with its leader.
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Ages 3+
American brand
A three-year-old who spots Minnie Mouse on every backpack and lunchbox can pick what that favorite Disney star wears.
At this age she wants a say in everything she wears, and a famous friend's clothes are hers to choose.
American brand
Spike the hedgehog is a hands-on quill toy for a 3-year-old who loves pushing things into holes.
Its quills are pegs she presses in, pulls out and sorts by color. Her tray of quills sits ready beside the hedgehog on the rug.
Ages 3+
German brand
These Ravensburger Bluey jigsaws give a three-year-old fan of the show scenes to fit together on the rug.
Ravensburger labels them for ages 3 and up, and she names each familiar face as it appears. On Christmas afternoon, she can finish a picture on the floor beside a grandparent.
Your search for a preschooler who moos at every barnyard picture book can stop at this Fisher Price Classics toy.
She acts out every creature in her stories, so choosing which barnyard voice comes next fits right into that game. This classic rests on the playroom rug beside the picture book whose noises she copies.
Your preschool girl, eager to beat the grown-ups at something, can challenge the whole family to a round of Hi Ho Cherry-O. She hates watching from the sidelines, so her own turn on the board puts her in the contest beside everyone else.
The box comes out after dessert whenever she calls for a rematch.
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Toddler-sized drama comes with Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems under the tree.
She laughs at the lost-bunny panic while a parent reads it aloud. Then she hugs her own stuffed bunny a little tighter.
Rhyming broomstick fun fills Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson for a little girl this Christmas.
She listens at bedtime as a parent reads the bouncing lines. Soon she joins in with the parts she knows.
Santa-dreaming little girls can unwrap The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert on Christmas morning.
She looks through the pages with a parent by the tree. Then she leaves a note for Santa beside the cookies that night.
Snowy-morning wonder fills The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats for a little girl at Christmas.
She reads it with a parent before heading out to make tracks in the yard. Afterward, she asks to read it again by the window.
Busy December days fit Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney for an excited little girl.
She listens by the tree as a parent reads the rhymes. It helps her wait for Christmas morning.
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Ages 3+
American brand
After each pediatrician visit, the little patient who copied every move from the exam table can switch places with the grown-up in the white coat.
Melissa & Doug labels the set for ages 3 and up, so she runs each exam herself. On Christmas morning, she can line up her stuffed animals by the tree and call the next patient.
A pint-sized shopkeeper who hauls cereal boxes from the pantry to sell to the family needs a Battat checkout of her own.
She imitates each grown-up job she sees, and the cashier is the one she studies longest on errands. The register waits on the coffee table while stuffed animals line up with the cereal boxes they want.
Fresh from hearing The Very Hungry Caterpillar read aloud, a three-year-old can carry that story straight into her splashing.
She asks for that book every night, so cups with its look let her favorite bug join the tub. The wobbly tower she stacks from them ends up toppled with a big grin.
Building setsAges 2+
Danish brand
This LEGO Duplo set gives a three-year-old who loves diggers several trucks from one box of bricks.
She builds a loader, then takes it apart to make a dump truck. The 22 pieces are big enough for small hands to snap together.
Building sets
American brand
MAGNA-TILES suit a girl who builds a wall, knocks it flat and starts again.
The magnets pull the edges together without help. She can carry a glowing house to the window and peek through its walls.
Science and discovery
American brand
Educational Insights GeoSafari Kidnoculars put binoculars in the hands of a three-year-old girl fascinated by backyard birds.
The maker marks them Ages 3+, so she can raise them and pick out squirrels herself. At the park, she can call out each bird she spots to whoever is holding her hand.
Outdoor and sports
American brand
On the back porch, a girl who loves running lentils through her fingers can dig in with scoops of her own.
She copies grown-ups at the counter, so tools of her own let her ladle and fill just like them. She can pack each cup of an egg carton, then tip the lentils back into the tub.
Vehicles
Down the long hallway after breakfast, a preschool girl with places to be can steer her own car between rooms.
She wants to drive wherever grown-ups go, and a seat with a wheel puts her in charge of the route.
VehiclesAges 1 to 5
American brand
Plastic cows on a three-year-old's rug wait for a ride, and this Little People tractor lets her give it.
She narrates her pretend farm out loud, so a vehicle she steers by hand lets her choose each next field. Her lineup of delivered animals ends the day in a neat row beside the bed.
Music
Hape's ukulele fits a three-year-old girl who hums her own made-up songs all day and wants to make the music herself.
Hape labels it for ages 3 and up, so each sound comes from her own fingers rather than a button. Its strings ring out under every made-up melody she sings to her stuffed bunny.
Electronics
The VTech ABC Learning Apple gives a letter-pointing three-year-old an alphabet toy with light-up buttons to press.
Each tap answers back, and a worm game lets her follow the lights. It needs AA batteries, so keep a fresh set handy.
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Yes. The Sticker Wow! stamper set presses a dinosaur onto the page with each push, so a beast-loving girl who insists on doing things alone decorates a scene on her own and names each creature out loud, even from the back seat of the car.
The Barbie gymnast doll rides in a bag to tumbling class, where a girl who copies her coach shows friends a new pose and calls out each stretch and landing, while the La Newborn doll set sits on a girl's lap in a checkup waiting room so she can act out the caregiving she watches at home.
The Crayola Twistables crayon set puts each color choice in the grip of a preschooler who makes artwork for everyone she loves, and the pack sits beside a stocking on Christmas morning ready for scribbled notes to relatives. The bath crayons hand a girl who draws on everything within reach the tub walls as her page, and they live in a cup near the faucet between baths.
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Chosen by our team from store data and what readers pick, not hands-on tests. Nothing is paid to be on this list. Recall notices checked . How we pick
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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