30 Fun Gifts Any 3-Year-Old Girl Will Just Love

As girls turn 3-years-old, they go from being ‘toddlers’ to being ‘pre-schoolers’ this may coincide with beginning pre-school or moving into a pre-school class within their usual childcare setting. The transition from toddler to pre-schooler isn’t always smooth, leading to behavior more often associated with teenagers. Emotions run high at age 3, and 3-year-olds are quick to express their thoughts, feeling and opinions. Whilst this can be a little difficult to navigate it’s a great sign that they are developing as they should be.

Along with this expressive nature comes lots of creativity and a burgeoning imagination. 3-year-olds, like most young children, still need plenty of time outdoors and lots of physical activity; allowing children the freedom to run, climb, and jump is essential. Pre-schoolers need to practice their physical skills to develop strength, balance and coordination. If you are searching for a gift for a 3-year-old girl there are plenty of toys and gifts to choose from, but we’ve brought together 30 of the best, that will help to support their development.

1. Hape Wooden Guitar

If the 3-year-old girl you’re buying for is a budding musician then the Hape Wooden Guitar may make the ideal gift for her. Made from wood, this is a real instrument not just a toy, which will help her to feel much more grown-up and taken seriously (very important for a 3-year-old!).

As well as encouraging musical skills the Hape Wooden Guitar is a brilliant resource for promoting creativity as the child learns to make up their own songs and tunes, or simply role-play and imitate other musicians they know. Music is fantastic for helping to hone listening skills too as children begin to experiment with and notice differences in pitch, volume and tone, these more advanced listening skills translate well to literacy learning as children can listen carefully for letters and sounds.

2. Lego Duplo Big Fair

Lego Duplo is a great toy for younger children as it is built with little hands in mind, and is sturdy enough to stand up to the rigors they will put it through whilst being easy enough for them to connect and build independently. The Lego Duplo Big Fair set is a set of Duplo that allows a child to build a fun fair and experience all the fun of the fair with the five Lego Duplo figures included in the set.

As well as improving construction skills, children will learn to follow instructions to build the fair but are also able to use the blocks to build as they please, boosting their creativity and early engineering skills. The Lego Duplo Big Fair is compatible with other Lego Duplo sets too, so play can be endlessly expanded.

3. Bayer Design Stroller Doll Combi Pram

Many 3-year-old girls love imaginative role-play based on real-life scenarios and their own life experiences. One of the more popular scenarios for children’s play at this age is home, mums and babies, and as such many 3-year-old girls enjoy playing with and taking care of dolls.

If the 3-year-old girl you’re buying for enjoys this kind of play then the Bayer Design Stroller Doll Combi Pram could make a great gift for her. This pram is child-sized and built with younger children in mind so it is easy to push and steer. It is also foldable to make storage a little bit easier. A 3-year-old girl will have plenty of fun pushing her babies around the block in this pram.

4. Barbie Malibu House Playset

Playhouses and dolls houses are a popular choice of gift for 3-year-old girls and with good reason! They promote all sorts of imaginative, creative role-play and allow children to develop their speech and language skills as they tell and narrate stories, and give characters speech within their play.

The Barbie Malibu House Playset can be used with other Barbie products and is perfectly sized for Barbie dolls. The 2-story house features 6 rooms and comes with 25 accessories to enhance play. This is a gift that is sure to keep a little girl very busy.

5. KidKraft Princess Table & Stool

3-year-old girls often enjoy imaginative, princess-themed role-play. This kind of creative play is great for developing important social skills as well as improving speech and language, as speech is used to explain or narrate what is going on in the play. This furniture set could make an ideal gift for a little girl who’s interested in princesses and dressing up.

KidKraft Princess Table & Stool is sure to make a great addition to a girl’s bedroom which will last many years and is very easy to assemble. This is a great gift for improving self-care skills as a 3-year-old girl will love sitting at her mirror brushing her hair or pretending to put on her make-up!

6. Melissa & Doug Wooden Scoop & Serve Ice Cream

Melissa & Doug are a great brand offering an alternative to the heaps of plastic toys available so if you’re looking to be more eco-friendly in your purchases or simply prefer the sensory properties of wood then this is a great place to start; the Melissa & Doug Wooden Scoop & Serve Ice Cream set is a lovely toy allowing children to pretend to make and sell ice creams.

This encourages a whole host of imaginative play scenarios which, in turn, boost social skills as children experiment with different situations and interactions. Paying for ice-cream also introduces the opportunity for early maths skills as children begin to understand the concept of value and number. All round, this gift presents many learning opportunities and is made to last.

7. Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set

It’s great to encourage an interest in sports and physical play as these early habits will be taken forward into children’s lives as they grow and get older and hopefully stand them in good stead for remaining active and healthy throughout their life.

The Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set is a kid-friendly basketball hoop and a junior-sized ball that is also height-adjustable so can grow with a child, or be made more challenging as a child’s skills develop. This set helps to develop specific basketball skills but also hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness too, important all-round skills.

8. My Little Pony Magical School of Friendship Playset

Many 3-year-old girls are entranced by the popular My Little Pony characters, with plenty of tv shows, movies and toys forming part of the brand there is plenty to choose from but the My Little Pony Magical School of Friendship Playset is ideal for 3-year-olds as it has plenty of features to add interest to play. For example, there are light up features and mechanical features requiring pushing buttons and turning knobs to operate. These features increase children’s understanding of technology as well as adding interest to play.

The My Little Pony Magical School of Friendship Playset is ideal for a 3-year-old’s growing interest in imaginative, social play allowing her to act out scenes from the My Little Pony Movies or TV Shows or imagine her own.

9. Geospace The Original Deluxe Bungee Boing

3-year-olds have plenty of energy that needs burning off during the day and it’s not always practical to get out for a walk, bike ride or trip to the park so sometimes that energy has to be burnt off at home. The Geospace Original Deluxe Bungee Boing is an ideal way to do this, it is a beginner’s pogo stick allowing children to bounce.

The Geospace Original Deluxe Bungee Boing is safe for younger children as it has a stable, flat bottom to allow children to work on their balance and coordination safely. The flat bottom also means that the Bungee Boing can be used indoors without risking damage to the flooring.

10. L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Miss Candylicious Fashion Doll with 20 Surprises

L.O.L dolls are incredibly popular with little girls as they combine the elements of dolls, accessories and having a surprise, all of which are things that 3-year-old girls love. The L.O.L Surprise! O.M.G Miss Candylicious Fashion Doll with 20 surprises is a cute, pastel, candy-colored doll which is part of the popular toys range and comes with 20 surprises and accessories. Unwrapping the doll and the surprises increase fine motor skills and dexterity in the fingers as the wrapping is complex and the accessories are small.

Playing with small doll figures and accessories is a great way for improving imaginative play and social skills as little girls begin to act out a range of different social situations and make sense of their own experiences.

11. Calico Critters Hopscotch Rabbit Family

Calico Critters is a range of toys for imaginative, small world play. There are plenty of different playsets, accessories and characters available, and they are all interchangeable and compatible so each set expands the play world further.

The Calico Critters Hopscotch Rabbit Family is a set of 4 characters for the Calico Critters world, complete with clothing items and outfits. The soft, sensory finish on the characters is sure to appeal to 3-year-olds who still need plenty of sensory input and encourage their imaginative role-play. As Calico Critters Characters come in family sets this also encourages role-play based on children’s experience of living in a family unit.

12. Barbie Estate Dreamhouse

The Barbie Estate Dreamhouse has been the toy of dreams for a few generations now; though its design has evolved along the way! The Barbie Dreamhouse now features a working lift, a terrace complete with swimming pool and water slide, and all kinds of lights and sounds. The Barbie Estate Dreamhouse is a gift that has a real wow factor and certainly represents a significant investment piece.

The Barbie Estate Dreamhouse is compatible with other Barbie sets, and comes with over 60 different accessories so there are endless ways to play. Gifting this to a 3-year-old girl would mean that it would last for years to come and she would get plenty of use out of this toy.

13. Aquaplay Mountain Lake

Water play forms a popular part of many preschool settings and for good reason! The learning opportunities when playing in water are very rich and playing in water is a sensory play opportunity in and of itself. The Aquaplay Mountain Lake is a water canal system for children to experiment and play with.

This helps to build early engineering and scientific skills as children begin to experiment with and gain an understanding of dams and water wheels. Early maths skills are developed through water play too as children begin to play around with concepts like full and empty. This is an ideal gift for children who love to play outdoors with water.

14. Melissa & Doug Giant Giraffe

Even very young children love to nurture others, and they can display kindness and caring behavior towards animals and younger children. Soft, plush toys are a great way to encourage nurturing behavior. The Melissa & Doug Giant Giraffe is a massive giraffe toy that little girls will love. Standing taller than most little girls, the giraffe is sure to form a real feature in any bedroom or playroom.

With a detailed design and life-like details, this toy is perfect for a 3-year-old girl who loves to pet animals. The Melissa & Doug Giant Giraffe is also made using durable materials and has a washable surface so it should stand up to many years of love!

15. Disney Frozen 2 Elsa Deluxe Dress

Dressing up is a popular feature of imaginative role-play and this dress based on the popular Disney Frozen films is sure to enhance the role-play of any 3-year-old girl. The Disney Frozen 2 Elsa Deluxe Dress is a fully licensed product that has been tested to EU and UK standards so you can rest assured that the product is high-quality.

As well as enhancing a 3-year-olds role-play dressing up is also valuable as it allows for plenty of self-care skills to develop as children master putting on and taking off clothes and contending with various types of fastening. If the 3-year-old girl you’re buying for is into the Frozen movies then this is sure to make a welcome addition to her toy collection.

16. KidKraft Kayla Wooden Dolls House

Dolls houses are a popular and timeless gift for a 3-year-old girl offering many years of play for the little girl herself and often others that the dolls house is passed down to. The KidKraft Kayla Wooden Dolls House is an eco-friendlier alternative to modern, plastic dolls houses, and has 3 stories and plenty of room to play.

The KidKraft Kayla Wooden Dolls house comes with furniture and accessories so it is ready to play with straight away. This dolls house is an ideal way to improve social skills as children can play based on their experience of living in a home with a family before branching out into exploring different kinds of social situations in play.

17. Paw Patrol Skye’s Ultimate Rescue Helicopter

Children love to play based on what they know and are familiar with and many 3-year-olds are big fans of the popular Paw Patrol cartoon so this playset is ideal for them. The Paw Patrol Skye’s Ultimate Rescue Helicopter is a playset including two paw patrol character figures as well as a rescue vehicle allowing children to play out a range of scenarios.

Playing in this way develops children’s story-telling skills as they begin to narrate the storyline of their play and give the characters speech and voices. Perfect for a 3-year-old Paw Patrol fan!

18. Hape Easel with Whiteboard and Chalkboard

An easel is a great way to encourage artistic skill as well as important pre-writing skills. Before children learn to write it is important that they have good motor skills, both gross motor skills which are large scale movements and fine motor skills which are small scale movements. Drawing on a vertical surface such as an easel works both gross motor skills and fine motor skills.

The Hape Easel with Whiteboard and Chalkboard is a double-sided easel with a magnetic whiteboard on one side and a chalkboard on the other, it even comes with paint pots and a roll of paper so there are plenty of ways to play and experiment with mark-making with this gift.

19. Lego Duplo Disney Junior Minnie’s Birthday Party

Minnie Mouse is an extremely popular children’s character which will be instantly recognizable for 3-year-old girls and encourage her to have a go at constructing with the Lego Duplo Disney Junior Minnie’s Birthday Party. Made especially for younger children this construction set has easy to follow instructions and clicks together firmly.

The Lego Duplo Disney Junior Minnie’s Birthday Party set is a great way to encourage creative play based on what children know. It is especially ideal for children who have just had a birthday or attended lots of birthday parties as this is the theme of the set.

20. KidKraft Lil’ Doll Armoire Wooden Closet

For girls that love to play with dolls the outfits and accessories can get overwhelming and difficult to store. The KidKraft Lil’ Doll Armoire Wooden Closet is a real wooden closet, perfectly sized for dolls clothes to be stored.

The KidKraft Lil’ Doll Armoire Wooden Closet has a sturdy, stable design so that it can stand up to constant use and is a great way to keep dolls’ clothes organized. With clothes hangers included in the set, a 3-year-old can get straight down to playing with and organizing her dolls special outfits.

21. Kid K’Nex Budding Builders Set

Open-ended resources are important for improving children’s creativity and engineering skills. The Kid K’Nex Budding Builder Set is a great resource to support the emergence of these skills and is a ton of fun for 3-year-olds who enjoy being creative and making their own structures.

Whilst some suggestions are included in the Kid K’Nex Budding Builder Set there is plenty of space for open-ended play and construction. The pieces are made with younger children and smaller hands in mind but still represent a challenge and a chance to improve fine motor skills, fitting the pieces together. The set is compatible with other Kid K’Nex sets which means that play and construction can be expanded and comes with a storage box to keep everything together.

22. Orchard Toys Shopping List Game

Playing games together can be a great element of family life and around about age 3 board games become more of a possibility. Orchard toys make plenty of board games for younger children and the Orchard Toys Shopping List Game is an extremely popular game for younger children.

The Orchard Toys Shopping List Game is an ideal way to build pre-maths skills such as matching pairs as players must match cards to what is on their shopping list. Suitable for 2 to 4 players this game also develops memory skills as players must try to remember where the cards they need have been placed. Playing board games helps to develop social skills such as turn-taking, sharing and emotional regulation.

23. KidKraft Princess Toddler Wooden Side Table

Some 3-year-olds are extremely conscious of their environment and many like to make their spaces, such as their bedroom or playroom, a reflection of their interests and personality. If the 3-year-old girl you are buying for is like this then the KidKraft Princess Wooden Side Table could be an ideal gift.

The KidKraft Princess Wooden Side Table may match the bedroom décor of a 3-year-old girl who is into princesses and is built to last. Appropriately sized for younger children, and with a storage drawer for any bedside necessities, it is an extremely practical piece of furniture, which will help a 3-year-old feel a sense of ownership over her space.

24. Melissa & Doug Bug Jug Fill & Spill

A sensory toy produced by eco-friendly toy manufacturer Melissa & Doug the Bug Jug Fill & Spill is a collection of soft insect toys with sensory properties such as crinkle effects and rattle sounds. The bugs can be placed into and poured out of a transparent, soft, jug toy. With no sharp edges or hard parts, this toy is extremely safe.

The Melissa & Doug Bug Jug Fill & Spill set can be used to improve fine motor skills as children put the bugs into, and then pour them out of the jug. The bugs themselves can be used for imaginative play, increasing vocabulary as children narrate their stories in play, and also for counting as they count the bugs into and out of the jug.

25. L.O.L. Surprise! 2-in-1 Glamper Fashion Camper with 55 Surprises

Another toy from the L.O.L range, the L.O.L Surprise! 2-in-1 Glamper Fashion Camper with 55 Surprises is a glamourous camper van compatible with all other L.O.L. products so it can be used with L.O.L dolls for all kinds of imaginative play.

Including 55 surprises and tons of accessories, 3-year-old girls will love playing creatively with all her L.O.L dolls and taking them on exciting ‘glamping’ trips. This will also allow her to explore a range of different social situations and interactions through her play. An ideal gift for a 3-year-old girl who enjoys small world play with dolls.

26. Galt Toys Folding Trampoline

Keeping children active is really important for their overall health, impacting on their cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength and even bone density. 3-year-olds need plenty of physical activity in the day and finding different ways to achieve this is critical; the more varied you can make a child’s exercise the better.

The Galt Toys Folding Trampoline introduces a different kind of movement to a child’s daily activity and improves their core and leg strength and coordination. It can also be folded down for storing away making it slightly more practical to have at home. An ideal gift for a 3-year-old girl with heaps of energy!

27. Peppa Pig Family Home Playset

Peppa Pig is an extremely popular children’s TV character and this playset based on the TV series is sure to be well received by most 3-year-old girls. As children begin to develop the ability to play imaginatively many of them prefer to role-play based on their own experience which this playset will allow them to do as it is based around the house, home and family life.

Including plenty of accessories, there are lots of opportunities for creative play and the development of vocabulary. Perfect for a 3-year-old who is a fan of Peppa Pig.

28. Brio World Farm Railway Set

Train tracks are a timeless toy which don’t date or go out of fashion easily. Brio is an especially timeless brand, having made train track toys for many years. Brio’s sets are compatible with other train track sets so that play can be expanded as a child is given more sets and pieces.

The Brio World-Farm Railways set is an ideal starter train set with plenty of different pieces and a farm theme to add interest to play. Building train tracks supports construction and early engineering skills as well as encouraging imaginative play.

29. Melissa & Doug Take-Along Show-Horse Stable

This is a toy that is designed to be taken-along on all sorts of adventures. With a built-in carry handle the Melissa & Doug Take-Along Show-Horse Stable set is extremely portable and can move from room to room inside the house or taken along on playdates very easily. Made of wood, this stable represents an eco-friendlier alternative to all-plastic toys.

The Melissa & Doug Take-Along Show-Horse Stable encourages imaginative play and can be personalized with labels included to go over the horses’ stalls. Perfect for a little girl who likes small -world play or horses and horse-riding.

30. Baby Born Bath Toothcare Spa

As playing with dolls is very popular with 3-year-old girls you may look for something to complement this interest and extend her play. The Baby Born Bath Toothcare Spa is ideal for this. A washbasin and mirror with plenty of accessories for brushing and looking after teeth, this is a great way to expand the usual types of play with dolls and promote nurturing behavior.

The Baby Born Bath Toothcare Spa features lights and sounds to add interest to a 3-year-old girl’s play. It also encourages self-care skills and increases understanding of the importance of brushing teeth.

Final words

Imaginative play and the accompanying vocabulary required for storytelling, narration and giving speech to characters is one that is a heavy focus for many little girls around this age, hence their affinity for dolls, small figures and playsets.

However, you can see from the huge variety of toys and gifts included in this list that at 3-years-old most little girls are still relatively open to playing with a lot of different kinds of toys. All of the toys or gifts included here help to promote different kinds of development and encourage different skills. We hope that this list has been helpful as you look to choose a gift that suits the 3-year-old girl you are buying for.

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