3 Year Old Birthday Gift Ideas

I always struggle with birthday gifts for kids!  I find myself scouring Pinterest and Amazon recommendations trying to find some ideas, both for my own son and for his friends' birthdays.  Here are some of our favorite gifts for 3 year olds, both to give and receive!

1.  Golf Set

My in-laws gifted C this Little Tikes TotSports Golf Set, and he loves it! It comes with 3 golf balls, a hole, 2 golf clubs, and a wheeled golf "bag".  He loves playing golf, and I love that it is developing his coordination!  There is a pink version of the golf set too, if that's your thing.

2.  Magformers

Magformers are my go-to birthday gift for all of C's friends (both boys and girls).  They make a classic (primary color) set, as well as a neon set and a girly (pink/purple) set.  This is a great starter set!

3.  Magnet Shape Board

C received this Mindware Imagination Magnet Board from my college roommate's parents, and it is so fun!  It would be great for travel (road trips?) too, since the pieces are magnetic and contained within the carrying case.  The case opens up to reveal 2 magnet boards; included are different magnetic shapes and cards that depict various puzzles for your kiddo to create.  This is another one that falls into the "educational but fun" category!

4.  Play Place Gift Card

C is really into activities these days, especially play places!  National chains like Gymboree or The Little Gym, as well as local places like Play Street Museum and The Play Date Co., all provide fun imaginative play for preschoolers.  This is a great gift that doesn't take up room in your house!!

5.  Books

We can never have enough books!  Some of C's current favorites are Dragons Love Tacos (and the sequel, Dragons Love Tacos 2) and The Day the Crayons Quit (and the sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home).  On his wish list are Adam Rubin's other books (author of Dragons Love Tacos), Those Darn Squirrels, Secret Pizza Party, and Robo-Sauce.

Although these books are all gender-neutral, there are a few I especially love to gift to girls!  Rosie Revere, Engineer, What Do You Do With an Idea?, and The Most Magnificent Thing.

6.  Dress-Up / Pretend Play

Dress up isn't just for girls!  I love the Melissa & Doug dress-up sets - they come with adorable costumes and props, including several that little boys will love!  The fireman, police officer, construction worker, doctor, race car driver, pilot, and pirate costumes are great for pretend play!

7.  Play Tools

This Black & Decker tool box and this play drill get tons of play from C when we are at our local play place, so I had to get him some to play with at home, too.  He loves to "fix" things around the house.

8.  Doodle Pro

This one is a throwback to my own childhood, except I think they were called MagnaDoodles back then.  C loves his Doodle Pro - mostly the ability to draw something and erase it, over and over and over.  I like that the magnetic "pen" is attached, and the 4 magnet shapes all have designated storage spots, so we never lose the components.

9.  Dot Art

These dot art markers are really fun and provide a different art format for preschoolers!  While we usually use our dot markers on plain paper, there is also a line of coloring books especially made for use with dot markers - plenty of themes for boys and girls, including rainbows, mermaids, farm animals, princesses, ocean, zoo animals, and dinosaurs.

10.  Mini Trampoline

We got C this Little Tikes 3' Trampoline for his 3rd birthday - with a summer birthday, it is a great way to run off some energy indoors!  It was easy to assemble and doesn't take up TOO much room.  I like that the handlebar provides added stability.

Toddler Stocking Stuffers

I had a hard time coming up with stocking stuffers for C this year, since at 2.5 he is still too young for candy but I also don't want a bunch of tiny junky toys coming into my house!  Maybe I'm lame, but I am all about the practical / useful stocking stuffers, even for toddlers.  Here's what C is getting in his stocking this year:

Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo - we'd been using Aveeno baby shampoo, but I wanted a bottle with a pump and Burt's Bees is rated slightly higher on the EWG scale.

Finding Nemo underwear - because potty training is happening soon.  Eek.

Crayola Bath Dropz - C demands a "color bath" every night.  He loves picking out the color tablet, throwing it into the water, and watching it dissolve.  I'm not sure he even remembers that taking a bath in clear water is a thing.

Christmas socks - I got these in the dollar section at Target.  

Busy Day sticker book - A friend gave C the ABC version of this sticker book for his birthday, and he loved it!  They're super cheap on Amazon (like $3) and provided several hours of entertainment while he matched all the stickers to their designated spots.  The stickers are technically reusable, although he has some trouble getting them off the page, so I have to help with that part.  Still, for $3, even if you only use it once, this is cheap entertainment!  It is a thin book so perfect for your purse for a doctor's appointment or airplane ride.

Safari Water Wow! Book - this is another great doctor's office or car activity, since it is mess-free (paint with water) and the 4 cardboard paintable pages are reusable after they dry.  C has the vehicles version of this and I thought a second version would mix it up some, since the first book gets so much use!  Again, cheap ($5) fun.

Christmas Play Pack - I got this in the Target dollar section; it has a little coloring book, crayons, and Christmas stickers.  A friend got C a Finding Dory version of this play pack for our summer trip to Maine, and it was great on the airplane (and we still keep it in his backpack for entertainment while waiting at restaurants, etc.)  You can't beat it for $1!

Christmas stickers - These were also from the Target dollar section.  "More stickers please" was the only thing C asked Santa for......done x 500!



I'll add in a small bag of Goldfish and some mandarin oranges (am I the only one who grew up always getting oranges in your stocking?!) and call it a day!  I know these items will all get used and were pretty budget-friendly!

2 Year Old Birthday Gift Ideas

I can't believe C is already 2!  We have spent every Saturday for the last month at one his friends' 2nd birthday parties, so I have been researching, buying, and wrapping lots of gifts!  Here are some ideas (for every budget!) of things we've given as gifts or that C received for his own 2nd birthday!

Step2 Crab Sandbox

C LOVES playing in his sandbox in the backyard! This one had better reviews than the infamous turtle sandbox, both for having a good spot to sit (on the crab pinchers) and for the lid staying on tight (nothing worse than cat poop in the sandbox!)

Table and Chairs Set

Now that C constantly wants to draw/color, I feel like I am constantly putting him in and out of his high chair so he can reach the kitchen table.  My in-laws got him this little Kidcraft table and chair set, which is perfect because he can color whenever he wants!  I love that the white finish is wipeable and easy to clean, and isn't too "kid"-ish so it blends in well with our other furniture.


Melissa & Doug Easel

This is what we gave C for his 2nd birthday, along with some rolls of easel paper and some spill-proof paint cups.  This easel has a chalkboard on one side and a dry-erase board on the other side, with a spot in the middle to hold the roll of easel paper.  I love watching our little artist at work!

Fisher Price Doctor Kit

Apparently around age 2 is when kids really get into "pretend" play.  This is the gift that C gave most of his friends (boy and girl!) for their 2nd birthdays.  Who doesn't remember playing doctor when they were kids?!

No Spill Bubble Bucket

This is another great, inexpensive gift for kiddos with a spring or summer birthday!  After way, WAY too many bottles of bubbles wasted when C wanted to "do it myself", I finally got smart and bought one of these things!  Genius! The bubbles do not spill, even when the bucket is tipped over, and C gets to feel a sense of independence about his bubble blowing.  Win win!

Soccer Ball

C is really into kicking balls, which usually means he's kicking the little basketball that came with his basketball goal.  I hope he gets a toddler-sized soccer ball for his birthday!

Little Tikes T-ball Set

C is really into throwing and kicking balls lately; this T-ball set has been a blast, and will help with his hand-eye coordination.  


Daniel Tiger Book Set

My college roommate gave these to C for his 2nd birthday, and we basically have all 12 books memorized already - they are on non-stop rotation!  C LOVES Daniel Tiger, and I like that he gets his Daniel Tiger fix without resorting to watching TV :) He received 2 sets of 6 books; this set is shorter and better for a younger audience, and this set is longer and better for slightly older kids.


Sticker Books

C is finally to the age where he has the coordination and the patience to appreciate a good sticker book!  He received this ABC sticker book for his birthday and loves it!  The stickers are removable so in theory you can use it more than once!

Random Happy - Gift a Redbox Movie Night

Gifts are definitely one of my love languages!  Not in that I'm a great gift giver at birthdays or Christmas...I love giving people little surprises just because!  I try to bring C's daycare teachers little treats every few weeks to show our appreciation for them, mostly as a fun surprise on Friday.

He has 4 teachers that care for him on a daily basis, so I have to keep it to something small in order to be able to do it regularly.  I love popcorn and a movie, but now that movies are $12-15, a gift card to a movie theater would be too pricey for a random treat.  Did you know that you can purchase promo codes to Redbox that are good for a free night's rental?  A free Redbox would make my Friday!

The promo codes have to be purchased in multiples of 5.  As of June 2015, a bundle of 5 DVD rental codes is $7.50, a bundle of 5 Blu-Ray rental codes is $10, and a bundle of 5 game rental codes is $15.  I went with the Blu-Ray codes, since a lot of people have Blu-Ray players; the Blu-Ray codes are still good on DVDs too since those are less expensive.  You can purchase Redbox codes here and they'll send the codes right to your email.

I made a little card to write the promo code on.  You can download it in PDF format, if you want, and just write in the promo code in the blank.

Click here to download

I packaged mine up in a colorful paper bag with a bag of M&M's and some popcorn from a specialty popcorn store nearby.  These mini bags of popcorn are only $1.25 and the popcorn is DELICIOUS!  If you're local to DFW, I got them from Popcorn Shack.

You could substitute a bag of microwave popcorn if you prefer.

The colorful paper lunch sacks were $0.33 at Walmart, and I downloaded the printable "thank you" tags from this blog.