I love everything about babies – well maybe not the sleepless nights or countless diaper changes. There are so many things to cherish: the cuddles, the first smile, the belly laughs …. the list can go on and on. But my favorite age is 3 (but I think I say that about every age – yes, even teenagers!)
Some might ask, “Why, oh why, do you love 3-year-olds?” Well, they are adventurous , confident, know what they want, funny, observant, loving, quick to forgive, they actually like to be with you, inquisitive . . . just to name a few. It is just so much fun to watch them learn and grow. To be a part of that just for a moment is magical (ok – most of the time).
Age 3 is a great time to begin to introduce board games. With board games teach about rules, winning and losing, taking turns, and sharing. But besides these “life lessons” that board games offer, they also teach academic skills like matching, colors, shapes, and counting.
But most of all, it is priceless time to spend with your kids, even those who are older. Board games let us laugh and learn with each other and they strengthen relationships, probably because we put away our phones and to do lists and give attention to those that are most important to us.
There are a lot of games aimed at 3-year-olds and sometimes it’s hard to know which one your child will like. First of all, remember that what he doesn’t like today he might very well love tomorrow.? So if a particular game isn’t a hit the first time you play it, give it a few days and try again.
What to Look For in a Game for 3-year-olds
Time to play. A 3 year-old has about a 15 minute attention span so make sure her first games aren’t so long that she will get bored and restless. If the game is too long it just sets both of you up for failure.
Skills taught. Choose a variety of games that challenge dexterity and memory skills along with ones that teach the basics like counting, colors, and shapes. Don’t forget to include ones that have rules, require taking turns and sharing, such valuable skills.
Simplicity. Remember this simple rule: the simpler the game, the better chance your child will enjoy it. If it is too complicated your little one will lose interest pretty quickly.
Features. Games that have moving pieces, a spinner, or dice will hold the attention of a 3 year-old and is a perfect introduction to board games.
With all that said, your 3-year-old is unique and has a mind of his own. So have fun, choose games that you remember from your childhood, and throw in some ones you’ve never heard of – you’ll be surprised at how fun they are! Here are some of our favorite ones.
| Product | Features |
|---|---|
Candy Land | |
Eric Carle Matching Game | |
The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game | |
Whack a Frog | |
Hi Ho! Cherry-O | |
Don't Break the Ice | |
Chutes and Ladders | |
Sequence for Kids | |
Cootie | |
Count Your Chickens |
Candy Land
Who doesn’t remember playing this classic game when they were young? In case you don’t remember, it is a race to the castle as players come across all kinds of “delicious” surprises like cookies and ice cream. This is a great game for 3-year-olds. It moves quickly, teaches independent play (every player picks his own card to move their gingerbread man), has bright colors, and includes sweet treats and shortcuts to look for along the path to the castle. You can’t go wrong with this game. Parental tip: this game is much more enjoyable as a parent when you take out the gum drop and candy cane before the game begins!
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: colors, matching, taking turns
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment:☆☆☆☆☆
Eric Carle Matching Game
Eric Carle’s memorable characters from his books make this matching game entertaining. It comes with 72 tiles and anyone, young or old, will love looking at the beautiful pictures. What is great about this game is you can totally modified it to fit your child’s ability. For example, if it’s too hard for her to play with turning over 2 tiles, have her turn over 4. Or instead of using all 72 tiles, just use half of them (just make sure the tiles you have tiles that match ?).
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: matching, memory
Players: 1+
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆
The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
This is a fairly new game on the market, but is an extremely popular one and you’ll can see why. The goal is to get 5 acorns before your opponents. This is accomplished by spinning the spinner and collecting the color of the acorn it lands on. Of course there is more to it than that: a wind storm can blow your acorns away and another squirrel can steal them.
The spinner also determines if you can steal an acorn from another player (those pesky little rodents!). It has this cute little squirrel that is used to grab the acorn (great to develop fine motor skills) that kids love to play with. Very cute game!
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: colors, fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, sharing
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆☆
Whack A Frog
This is a unique game that not only your 3-year-old but also older kids will love. It has lights, it has music, and it has soft mallets – what’s not to love? The goal is to hit the frog that lights up before the light disappears. It has 2 different game modes: solo and multi player.
And while your 3-year-old will like to play it by himself, it is really beneficial to play it with him because it helps with communication skills. You will definitely want extra batteries for this game. My favorite thing about this game is when you don’t do well it says, “What a pity” – makes me smile every time.
Time to play: however long you want!
Skills: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, communication, sharing
Players: 1-2
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆
Hi Ho! Cherry-O
Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a game that your 3-year-old (and yes, even older kids) will love. In fact, they will love it so much you might find yourself playing it over again and again and again.
Your little guy can choose between cherries, blueberries, orange,s or apples. I love the different colors! On his turn, he spins the spinner. He will either pick the number of fruit to put in his basket or if he is unlucky enough to land on one of the pesky animals, put fruit from his basket back on the tree.
It’s such a fun way to practice addition and subtraction. I loved this game as a kid, but I love it even more now because now you can play as a team by putting together a puzzle as the fruit gets picked. Either way you play this game, kids love it.
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: counting, addition, subtraction, taking turns
Players: 2-3
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆
Don’t Break the Ice
Don’t Break the Ice is a fun game that kids love. I mean, what’s not to love? You get to knock pieces of ice off until the penguin falls into the “water”! It’s a very simple game. In fact, the hardest part is getting all the blocks of ice to fit in the form. And even that doesn’t take too long and it’s not too hard.
The gist of the game is you take turns hammering on the ice, knocking off one block at a time, until the penguin falls in. It’s a great game to help kids look ahead for problems and to not just destroy the ice as fast as they can, unless they want to. Don’t Break the Ice is great for 3-year-olds, but it’s also entertaining for younger kids and is a fun game for older kids. I bought this game when my oldest was 3 . . . he still plays it at 10.
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: strategy, sharing, coordination, cause and effect
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆☆
Chutes and Ladders
Chutes and Ladders is a classic children’s game. The concept is incredibly simple, which is perfect for young kids. Each player spins the spinner (kids love these), moves his marker that number (great practice at counting), climbs the ladders (excitement!), or slides down the chutes (good practice at losing . . . and then maybe still winning!). This is a fast moving game so you can play it over and over and over again – your preschooler will love it!
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: number recognition, counting
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆☆
Sequence for Kids
Once your preschooler has mastered following rules in other games, Sequence for Kids is a nice follow up game. The game has a board with 42 squares with cute animals in each square. Each player is given either red or blue chips and when she either plays a card from her hand or draws a card so she can put a chip on the matching animal.
The goal is to get 4 chips in a row; the first one to do so wins. The wild cards (cute unicorns) are a fun twist to the game, and so are the dragon cards (they can take an opponent’s chip off a box). It’s very simple and fairly easy to play. Once your 3-year-old understands the 4 in a row concept, she will love thinking ahead and winning. I love that you can play as teams because it is so helpful for little ones to grasp the concept of the game.
Time to play: 10- 15 minutes
Skills: strategy, logical thinking
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆
Cootie
How many of us remember playing Cootie as kids? Super fun and it’s even more fun now. There are so many different colors and choices you never know how the Cooties will turn out!
Three-year-olds will love this game. It is colorful, has a spinner, and makes fun and crazy critters. Each player spins the spinner and gets the a part for their cootie–just hope you land on a part you need! The first player to create their bug wins. Players build their bug piece by piece, and the first one to create a complete bug wins!
It includes colorful and fun plastic bug bodies, heads, and other parts for creating crazy critters. Get ready for lots of giggles as kids get creative while mixing and matching the pieces to make their bugs.
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: matching, creativity, sharing, taking turns
Players: 1-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆☆
Count Your Chickens
Count Your Chickens is unique in that it is a “cooperative” game, which is basically where all the players work together against the game. The premise of the game is simple and cute. There are 30 chicks that are scattered around the board, and they need to be back in the chicken coop before the Mama Chicken gets there.
Each player spins the spinner and moves that many spaces. For each space she moves she gets to put 1 chicken in the coop (3 spaces, 3 chicks). But if the spinner lands on the fox then she needs to take one chick out of the coop. This is a really cute game and one that 3-year-olds will enjoy because it’s simple enough that they can play independently.
Time to play: 15 minutes
Skills: counting, working with others
Players: 2-4
Mom’s Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Child’s Enjoyment: ☆☆☆☆☆
FAQs
What makes a good game for a 3-year-old?
Make sure it is age appropriate because if it needs skills that’s too advance it will be a struggle for both of you. And make sure you like the game because you will be playing it a lot! Choosing games that have something that interests YOUR 3 year-old will go a long way in ensuring she will want to play it.
How can a game help a preschooler learn to read?
Playing games can help preschoolers gain skills they will need to read. Some of these are looking for patterns, understanding rhyming, and recognizing letter shapes.
What skills can a 3-year-old learn from playing board games?
There are all kinds of skills that a 3 year-old (and even adults) can learn from playing board games. All of the educational skills like counting, matching, logical thinking, hand-eye coordination. But games are also a great way to teach social skills like patience, how to be a graceful loser, following rules, taking turns . . . just to name a few.
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