Do you need to buy a birthday present for a special little 3 year old? It is so easy to go out and buy toys that are equipped with the latest bells, whistles and buttons. Here are some great ideas of simple, but longstanding loved toys that you will hopefully find very helpful.

Puzzles (Boy or Girl)

Children love puzzles and at this age can really start to enjoy them. Some popular puzzles for your three old may included wooden peg puzzles, wooden alphabet and number puzzles and simple tray puzzles. The types of puzzles under these categories are endless. There are animal puzzles, vehicle puzzles and character puzzles, to name a few. Ebay can be a great resource to get this shopping completed:

• Wooden Alphabet Puzzles
• Wooden Number Puzzles
• Farm Animal Puzzles
• Vehicle Puzzles
•  Dora the Explorer Tray Puzzles
• Sesame Street Puzzles

Games

3+. This is the age range on many simple preschool games. Here is a list of games appropriate for a three year old that can be found on ebay. These games don't require and reading, but many teach basic skills such as counting and colors:

• Hi-Ho Cherry-O - in this game, children must empty their cherry tree of cherries, by spinning a wheel and either pulling cherries off their tree and putting them in their bucket, or taking cherries out of their bucket and putting them back on the tree. Children learn up to the number 4 with this fun and simple game.
• Candyland - children learn their colors as they move through the Candyland board and try to make it to the end
• Hungry Hungry Hippos - each child picks a hippo and when the marbles are let loose into the center of the playing field, the hippos start eating the marbles until they are all gone.
• Dora the Explorer Memory - this game comes with 72 cards, but you can use as few as you need to in the beginning to teach the game. It is so much fun to see them improve over time using more and more cards.

Crafts

Just about every 3 year old I know loves crafts and you can't go wrong with this gift. Here are some crafting ideas, some very simple and some not so much:

• Crayons and Coloring Books
• Play Doh - this is a traditional favorite and there is so much to choose from. Here are some great Play Doh ideas that can be found on eBay:
• Farm Play Doh
• Bob the Builder Play Doh
• Food Play Doh
• Bucket Sets of Play Doh
• Color Wonder - this is a fairly new "invention" and it involves markers and paint that only show up on special paper. There are many different variations of this and here are a few favorites:
• Finger Paints
• Cinderella Color Wonder
• Batman Color Wonder
• Various Color Wonder Sets

Little People

If the child you have in mind is good at playing independently, or even if that is what you want to encourage, than Little People make a great toy. You can buy all sorts of Little People sets and characters and they can be played with separately or make one big town. Here are some of the more popular Little People sets, at least according to my children:

• Animal Sounds Farm
• Fun Sounds Playground
• Fun Park Carnival
• Kingdom Castle

Outdoor Toys

Little boys and girls love playing outside and outdoor toys are the best, especially around my house:

• Sidewalk Chalk
• Bounce On Hop Balls - you know, those things you sit on with a handle and bounce around on
• Scooter - I didn't give you a link to this b/c I strongly suggest you buy one that is specifically aged for children as young as 3. They do make them; my 3 year old has one, but they are nowhere near as dangerous as the scooters for older children
• Sit N Spins
• T-Ball Set
• Play Tent

Independent Play

There are just some times when we (or the parents) just want the children to play by themselves. That is very much easier said than done. Here are some toys that should entertain most 3 year olds, at least for a little while.

• Magna Doodle
• Aquadoodle - This is the new version of the Magnadoodle (my kids love both), where you lay out a big mat and use pens filled with water to write on it. When the water dries, the "ink" disappears. This is great fun and can be time consuming
• View Finders - These have been around since I was a little girl and still seem to maintain their popularity. My 3 year old can look at one reel after another and is so surprised at each new picture

Books

This is a tried and true idea and here are some good books for ages 3+:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You see?
• Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear?
• The Going To Bed Book
• Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Guess How Much I Love You

I will be adding to this guide as I can find time (around my 3 and 4 year old), so please be sure to come back if you would like more ideas. Thanks so much and I really hope you found this helpful