Best Activities for 3-Year-Olds

At 3, your little one is leaving the toddler world behind as she morphs into a sweet, independent preschooler. Her increasing attention span and ever-growing list of developmental skills means that she can really dig into a wider range of activities — and stay occupied for longer.

So what can you do to engage her and help her to keep on learning, learning, learning? These enriching ideas give your 3-year-old — and you — a chance to explore her world while practicing the skills she'll need to help her thrive in the preschool years and beyond. 

What skills is your child developing at 3 years?

Developmental milestones refer to the new physical, cognitive and social skills that your 3-year-old is mastering. From asking endless "why" questions to putting on her own pants or coat, these markers are a way to gauge how your child is developing. They can also clue you in to how she compares to her peers.

Keep in mind that it's not a competition, though. Every child develops at her own pace, and milestones are meant to be guidelines, not deadlines. No kid can master every skill at the same time!

That said, here's what most 3-year-old children can do by this age: Trusted SourceCenters for Disease Control and PreventionImportant Milestones: Your Child by Three YearsSee All Sources ^[1]

Social and emotional skills

• Calms down within ten minutes after you leave, like at a child care drop-off
• Notices other children and joins them to play

Language and communication skills

• Has conversations with you that include at least two back-and-forth exchanges
• Asks "who," "what," "where" and "why," questions, like "What is for breakfast?"
• Names the action happening in a book when asked, like running, eating or playing
• Says her name when you ask
• Can be understood by others most of the time

Cognitive skills

• Draws a circle when you show her how
• Avoids touching hot objects, like the stove, when you warn her

Gross and fine motor skills 

• Strings items together, like large beads or pasta
• Puts on some clothing herself, like loose pants or a jacket
• Uses a fork to eat

Best activities for 3-year-olds

As your child's skill set continues to grow, so too will the kinds of activities the two of you can do together. Here are some to try that are big on fun and enrichment at the same time. 

String together pasta necklaces

What you'll need: Dried pasta in large shapes (like wagon wheels or rigatoni) placed in a small bowl, twine or thick string, and a piece of tape.

How to do it: Cut the twine or string into a long piece. Tape one end firmly to the table. 

Give your toddler the bowl of pasta pieces, and invite her to string them onto the twine to make a necklace. (The tape will keep the pasta from falling off the other end of the twine while she works.) 

When she's finished, remove the taped end from the table, and knot both ends of twine to make a necklace. Invite her to tell you about her creation. 

Why it's helpful: Stringing items together to make a necklace is a fun way to practice fine motor skills. Trusted SourceGabrielle Felman, M.S. Ed., L.C.S.W.Felman Early Childhood ConsultingSee All Sources ^[2] Cognitively, it engages your child's creativity and encourages her to follow through with an idea on her own terms.

Asking about the finished product gives your toddler a chance to show off her hard work and feel proud of her accomplishments while working on her expressive language skills. ("I made this!")

Rescue the toys

What you'll need: Plastic container, small trucks or other toys, and a small spray bottle filled with warm salt water. 

How to do it: With your toddler, place a few small trucks or toys in the plastic container and fill it with water. Put the container in the freezer until solid. 

Remove the toy-filled ice block from the freezer. (Dipping the bottom of the container in warm water will help the ice release.) Then invite your child to spray the block with the warm salt water to rescue the toys from the ice as it melts. This can get messy, so plan on doing it outside or somewhere where the water will stay contained, like in the bathtub. 

Why it's helpful: Watching the water freeze into ice and then melt introduces basic science concepts and also gives your toddler a chance to practice her self-regulation skills as she learns to wait patiently during the water’s transformation from liquid to solid and back again. Trusted SourceKeely Benson, Ph.D. and Alice Cady, Ed.M.Early Childhood Research Center, University of BuffaloSee All Sources ^[3]

Spritzing the spray bottle is a great way to strengthen her fingers and sharpen her fine motor skills, too.  

Take care of the baby

What you'll need: A baby doll and some basic care-taking tools, like a bottle, play food, an outfit, a blanket and a place for the baby to sleep. (A cardboard box lined with a cozy blanket does the trick.) 

How to do it: Ask your child to help you care for the baby. You can start off by saying things like, "Let's feed the baby," or, "Let's put the baby in for a nap," if your little one needs some prompting. After that, follow your toddler's lead! 

Why it's helpful: Acting out real-life experiences forms the foundation for imaginative play, which your toddler is just starting to engage in. Caring for the baby engages social emotional skills, while talking about what you're doing ("The baby needs her diaper changed") supports language and communication development. 

Plus, narrating play gives your child a chance to feel in control — something every toddler loves. 

Introduce a board game

What you'll need: A simple board game designed for kids as young as 3, like Snail's Pace Race or The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel.

How to do it: Sit down with your child and play the game together according to the directions, or follow them as closely as you can. It may take several tries for your child to get the hang of it. 

Emphasize taking turns by saying "Now it's my turn," or "Now It's your turn."

Why it's helpful: Early board games are a fun, low-pressure way for your child to learn about following directions and rules. They're also a chance to work on essential social-emotional skills like waiting, taking turns and being flexible when the game's outcome doesn't go according to plan.  

Mix the colors

What you'll need: A piece of paper, two colors of washable, nontoxic paint, a paint brush and an old shirt or smock.

How to do it: Help your toddler put on the old shirt or smock. Set her up at the table with the paper, paints and paintbrush, and invite her to move the brush in big strokes to create different shapes. 

Encourage her to mix the two colors together and talk about what happens.    

Why it's helpful: Swirling the paintbrush across the page encourages your child's creativity while sharpening her fine motor skills. Talking about the shapes and what happens when the colors mix supports her vocabulary development and serves as an early introduction to science.      

Build with blocks

What you'll need: A set of blocks. These can be basic wooden blocks, connectable blocks like Duplo or MegaBlocks, or 3-D puzzle-style blocks like Wedgit blocks. 

How to do it: Set up the blocks in a comfy space and build with your child, letting her direct you on what to build and how to achieve it. How tall of a tower can she make? Can she make a big building or a bridge for toy cars to drive around? 

Why it's helpful: Working with building materials allows your toddler to be creative and work on her fine motor skills. Talking about what you're building supports language development, too. 

Figuring out how to make her vision come to life requires problem solving, and handling the disappointment when the blocks fall down helps her work on self-regulation and builds her tolerance for frustration.