Best Games for 3 Year Olds in 2021 – Indoor and Outdoor

Having a child is such a blessing, isn`t it? Everybody would say “Yes!” but only a parent with a toddler really understands all the struggles and difficulties that you might have when your child is bored. In this article, we decided to help all parents out there looking for games ideas for three year olds.

We have chosen games for indoor, outdoor, board games for 3 year olds and some ideas on how to help your kid entertain itself when you are busy. Let`s directly dive in!

Reading plan:

• Cooperative board games for 3 year old toddlers
• Games for 3 year olds that your child can play alone or with your help
• 5 Games and workbooks for letter and number learning
• How to have fun without equipment or using cheap materials

*Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, we will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Cooperative board games for 3 year old toddlers

Hi Ho! Cherry-O Board Game

Many of the games that we have chosen are top rated and with many, many reviews. We wanted to make sure that our recommendations have been tested and other people like them, too.

The first game that we have chosen can be played by minimum 2 and maximum 4 players. You can play against each other or as a team. It can be beneficial for number and color recognition and also counting. Why not have fun and teach your children how to use numbers?

The game is straightforward (it takes 2 minutes to learn it), and your children will have so much fun with it. You can use it to teach your toddlers a few facts about cherries, fruits, and plants, too. One thing to keep in mind – there are many small parts, so you have to keep an eye on them while they play, especially if there are younger brothers and sisters watching.

• Skills required and practiced: Counting and number recognition
• Level: Easy
• Price is: $11.99 Buy at Amazon!

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

With more than 10000 reviews, this game is the second one we recommend. By recommending it as second, does not mean that it is lower quality than number one. Only you can define which is better for your family.

As in the first game, 2-4 players are needed. The minimum age required to play it is 3 years old. The game is funny, again beneficial if you want to teach your preschoolers counting, number recognition, and something about squirrels.

• Skills required and practiced: Counting and number recognition
• Level: Easy
• Price: $11.61 Buy at Amazon!

Zobmondo!! The Ladybug Game

This game has much fewer reviews but is still close to 2000. It is two times more expensive but is more complex. The players needed are between 2 and 4. The game itself has been created by a girl when she was 6 years old.

With this game, you get much more accessories for the play. You get a big gameboard, 61 chips, 4 central pawns with stands, and 46 other cards for the gameplay. The game might increase the likelihood that your toddler will love bugs.

• Skills required and practiced: Reading, counting, Math and Learning basic science facts
• Level: Intermediate
• Price: $24.99 Buy at Amazon!

Candy Land Kingdom of Sweet Adventures

Here`s another game that has crushed it on Amazon with more than 18000 reviews. The game requires between 2 and 4 players and has a low level of complexity. The goal is to reach the kingdom “Kandy`s Castle”. You go there by walking on a colorful path. Your movement depends on the cards that you take out of the deck.

This game can be played very quickly. It is great for 3-5 years old kids but older might find it boring. Of course, this depends on the child
.

• Skills required and practiced: Color-recognition and counting
• Level: Easy
• Price: $12.99 Buy at Amazon!

Chutes and Ladders Game

With almost 8000, 90% of which are 5-star reviews, we have chosen Chutes and Ladders Game. The chance that you have not played or seen this game is not very high. Maybe you know it as “Ladders and Snakes. The principle is the same. Either you go up with the ladder, or you go down by the slide.

• Skills required and practiced: Color-recognition, Number-recognition and counting
• Level: Easy
• Price: $24.99 Buy at Amazon!

  

Games for 3 year olds that your child can play alone or with your help

Interactive Whack A Frog Game

The first game that we have chosen for this category is the Interactive Whack A Frog. This game is great for rainy weather. It can be played both inside or outside. It can be played with 1 or 2 players because there are two soft hammers in the package.

The game is like the old “Hit the rabbit” game when the rabbit shows from the hole, and you have to hit him. In this game, the frog you have to hit starts to shine, then its light goes off, and another frog starts to shine. There are 38 levels, and that is why the level is Intermediate to hard. It can be played by a 3 year olds and by a 10 year olds

• Skills required and practiced: Concentration, Coordination, Memory, Fine motor skills, Cognitive development, Team work
• Level: Intermediate to hard
• Price: $29.99 Buy at Amazon!

Disney Classic Matching Cards Game

This is a classic matching cards game. We have chosen this one because of the reviews – almost 23000.
And the main reason people like it is that the characters on the cards are your children's most favorite Disney heroes

• Skills required and practiced: Memory, focus, and matching skills
• Level: Easy
• Price: $29.99 Buy at Amazon!

Haktoys Fishing Game

If there is a big chance that you have played some of those games, this most probably would be the winner. If you love fishing and want to give your toddler its first fishing lesson, there is no easier way than this game.

The game can be played by one kid or a maximum of 4 players. The goal is to catch your fish faster. The fishes are different colors which helps with color recognition. And the best thing about it is that your child can play with it alone. Be careful when you leave your children alone with the game because there are many small parts.

• Skills required and practiced: Focus, fine motor-skills and color-recognition
• Level: Easy to Intermediate
• Price: $16.95 Buy at Amazon!

Elefun and Friends - Elefun Game

Although that this is a type of board game, this is a very active one. The idea here is to catch as many butterflies an elephant will blow out of his long trunk.

The game can be played with one or maximum 3 players, all minimum three years old.

• Skills required and practiced: Focus, fine motor-skills and color-recognition
• Level: Easy to Intermediate
• Price: $26.99 Buy at Amazon!

Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards

Have you heard or played Scavenger Hunt? Well, if you have – this is the same, but you look for objects in the house. If you have not tried this game, do not worry, it is elementary. Your child looks for different items in your house.

The game is active, can be cooperative (all children play together), teamwork (all children are split into 2 or 3 teams), or competitive (every child is a new team). It can be played by a single child or an entire group with 20 toddlers. An example task can be “Find a book”. This means that all children have to look for a book and the first who finds one wins.

• Skills required and practiced: Focus, concentration, quick reaction and reading
• Level: Intermediate (will need parents help)
• Price: $12.99 Buy at Amazon!

5 Games and workbooks for letter and number learning

BIG Letter Tracing for Preschoolers and Toddlers ages 2-4

An excellent paperback book with exercises for letter and number tracing. Reviews are almost 4800.

• Skills practiced: Letter and number recognition and writing
• Price: $5.19 Buy at Amazon!

*Related: Things that start with G – G words for kids

My First Learn to Write Workbook

A fantastic 84 pages paperback book with exercises for letter and number tracing. Reviews are more than 56000. Great for children 3-5 years old.

• Skills practiced: Letter and number recognition and writing
• Price: $5.51 Buy at Amazon!

*Related: Things that start with R – R words for kids

If you are interested in those kind of workbooks, letter tracing games and easier ways to learn how to write and read, you can check our free resources in our Printables category!

Matching Letter Game

If you are looking for a game that combines fun and learning, this can be the best thing for you. This game helps children learn first words and spelling.

• Skills practiced: Letter writing and English
• Price: $14.99 Buy at Amazon!

Big Preschool Workbook

This is one extremely well-established workbook on Amazon that millions of people have bought. The product has almost 53000 reviews, 86% of which 5 stars. In 320 pages, you can find all kinds of games that will help for the development of your child in so many different ways.

• Skills practiced: Color-recognition, counting, reading and focus
• Price: $7.48 Buy at Amazon!

Interactive Learning Poster

Another great product that has over 20000 reviews. This time not a workbook but an interactive toy game. There are six different modes like “Enjoy fun songs”, “Learning to Spell”, and “Follow along”.

This product has another great benefit. You can hang it on a wall, door, or refrigerator, and your child will be able to use it very often and easily remember some new words.

• Skills practiced: Letters learning, word association, numbers, shapes, colors and spelling
• Price: $22.99 Buy at Amazon!

How to have fun without equipment or using cheap materials

Balloon time!

You can play more than 10 games just by using a balloon. Games like baseball and basketball, pass the balloon, keep the balloon moving, and balloon tennis are only the tip of the iceberg. You can be very creative with balloons, and they are very cheap.
If you have more than two children you have to take care of, and it is hot or rainy outside, then a balloon can be your life jacket. What can be more fun than balloons filled with water? If you have played this game at least once, you probably know how funny it is.

Old school games

Here we are just going to mention old school games that you must have tried. Unfortunately, nowadays many children know what is TikTok but have never played Hide and seek.

So…let`s start – Hide and seek; Catch me if you can; Scavenger Hunt; Hangman; House of cards; Yo-yo; Marbles; String game; Skip-it; Jump the rope; Hopscotch

Mixed relay race

Have you watched the Olympics lately? This game is just like a team running where one person starts only after the previous one who started reaches some point. A mixed relay race is hilarious because every child performs a different action. For example, player one must jump with two legs; player two must use one leg only; player three must use legs and hands together, and so on.

If you have only 1 child, you can make a game like American ninja, where the child has to perform different physical tasks.

Nature scavenger hunt

I know that I have mentioned this one, but I wanted to give you an idea. I promised games that require zero or cheap accessories.

The nature scavenger hunt is elementary. You can play it in the park, garden, beach or mountain. Just make a list (can be on your phone) of things in the environment around you. If this is the mountain, you can write things like a cone, flower, rock and so on.

*Related: 7 Creative Kids Activities At Home – Survival Mode

Mama says…

This is the parents' version of “Simon says…”. If you have not played it, the winner in this game is the person who does all orders from Simon. You can say things like “Mama says…imitate a cow”, “Mama says…make 5 pushups” and so on.

America`s got talent (Home edition)

Tell your child that you are the jury and he/she has to prepare some routine to show their skill. You can ask them to make a gymnastic routine, a dance and sing a song. The more the children are, the funnier the game is. If you have the chance, invite more children to take part and have fun with you.

If you do not like physical activities, you might be interested to read why Not to skip toddler gymnastics and include some in your schedule.

I spy

This is another hilarious and famous game. You need at least two players for this game. Player one chooses an item from the environment around the two players but does not say it to player two.

After that, player two starts asking questions. The main rule is that player two can ask questions that can be answered only with “Yes” or “No”. If the answer is no, then you can make the game a little bit more confusing by adding a physical exercise for every mistake. For example – for every No you hear, your child must do 3 push ups.

 

We really hope that some of those games will be useful to you and your family. If you try some of them, you can send us photos via Instagram and we will feature you in our profile.

We will try to update this blog post every few months. If you have some interesting game ideas, contact us and will be able to include them in our future updates!

Blessings!