Best toys/gifts for 3 year old?

[bugglemom]

My DS is turning 3. Any favorite gift suggestions?

[thomma]

Ds and dd turned 3 last month so I can tell which gifts were hits in my house:

-Duplo legos: they both love them; get played with all the time
-Thomas the train water tower figure 8 set-I wanted to start small to see if there was any interest; ds enjoys it but dd LOVES it!
-Pop up tent and tunnel
-sprinkler attachment for the hose
-markers (washable): ds' favorite
-Boggle Jr.: ds' 2nd favorite

good luck-
Kim
t&e 5/03

[brittone2]

I'm curious what the responses will be as I'm thinking ahead to my DS's 3rd bday (I'm pg, due in early December, we have tons of other Dec. bdays in the family plus the holidays, and then DS's bday is in February, so I really want to shop ahead if I can, or at least plan our gifts in advance as I know I'll be swamped come Christmas and his bday with a newborn!).

I have NO idea what we're getting ds. I've thought about a big wooden dollhouse and furniture, although we have 2 big bookcases for storage and they are the kind that form lots of "cubes." I'm wondering if I just buy the furniture, if DS would just play with it in the cubes like a house (someone mentioned this a while back in a thread and it got me thinking about it...). We are going to make him a treehouse style dollhouse (have the components) but I'm not sure if we're doing that for his bday or giving it to him beforehand.

DS is 2 and a few months old, and is already starting to enjoy simple board games (Hi HO Cherry O which we learned about here!), memory-style games (with about 10-12 cards), and Don't Spill the Beans. We may buy Zingo soon for him.

We have a lot of the "big" stuff already so we don't have a ton of options. Some random ideas for you though are trains, play kitchen, dollhouse or treehouse style dollhouse, wooden castle or barn, playstands, easel and art supplies, trike or small bike w/ training wheels, or something like a Like-A-Bike, dress up clothes in a trunk, playsets like Little People or wooden sets that are similar, big set of unit blocks, membership to a museum or sign him up for some sort of class...

HTH. I'm curious what other people will suggest :)

[teachermommy]

For my three year old son's birthday we got him a Rubbermaid container filled with boy themed dress up clothes. He loved it! It also helped that his birthday is in Dec. so I was able to pick up some Halloween costumes 50% off to add to the box. There was a Superman costume, a Woody costume, a couple of different types of hats/helmets, a cape, a sword and knight's armor, etc.

He also received a bike with training wheels. This was a big hit. He had been cruising around on the cement in from of the garage until last week. Then he got on his sister's bike without the training wheels and informed us that he wanted to learn to ride it. Sure enough he did. So now we have a 3 1/2 yo that can ride a bike!

He also loved the Thomas the Train Duplo Legos as well as some new Thomas trains to add to his ever growing collection. Hope this helps.

[marie]

i can't say that this is a "best toy/gift" because i don't have it but i saw that FP is coming out with a digital camera for 3+. DD turns 3 in september and this is what has been suggested to grandma. DD loves to pretend to take pictures with one of our old cameras and always looks at the back to see the picture!

http://www.fisher-price.com/preschoolelectronics/

(although i'm annoyed that the camera comes in obvious boy and girl versions - grrrr.)

i'm also thinking:
-book and tape/CD sets - DD is just getting into those and they are a sanity saver for me
-wooden dollhouse and/or figures
-baby doll

i look forward to hearing others' suggestions.