With so many different board games for 3 year olds available, it can be tough trying to select the one that you think they’ll enjoy the most. We’ve put together a review of the top games that kids can have a lot of fun with, while also experiencing some awesome benefits.
The top options in our review have been chosen based on the age recommendations, educational, social, developmental benefits, and of course, how fun they are.
In our review below, you’ll be able to have an easier time narrowing the search down to find the best games that are right for your child.
Considerations When Choosing Board Games for 3 Year Olds
Prior to deciding on a game for your little one, you should keep an eye out for some considerations. Below, you can learn more about what factors to keep in mind to pick a game your little boy or girl will love.
Is It Age Appropriate?
At age 3, you’ll want to find preschool games that strike a balance between being easy to play, while also ensuring that they provide some challenge at the same time. It’s best to stick with the games that are recommended for their age. Having said that, if you find a game that’s for a four year old, and you think your child could have fun playing with it, don’t let it hold you back. Getting something like this could allow your child to grow into the game and get more years of use out of it.
Replayability Factor
If you’re looking for games that your child can play over and over again, you’ll want to seek the ones that have expansion packs. For example, if there are a limited number of question cards in a game, your child will learn them all pretty quickly. Expansion packs can help to keep the game fresh. Furthermore, options that don’t rely on cards may have more re-playable value. Games that involve dice and player pieces let kids play multiple times and experience different outcomes to prevent things getting stale.
Game Time
The length of the game is also a big aspect to consider. We recommend finding games that are in the range of 10 to 20 minutes long at the most. This ensures that the game keeps your child’s attention. They’re also still long enough to make sure preschool age children can improve their ability to focus.
Top Board Games for 3 Year Olds
1. First Orchard HABA Game
HABA’s First Orchard game is great for kids who are 2 years and older. Each of the games lasts for around 10 minutes, which will keep your child engaged without the game dragging on too much. It’s one of the great games for young children as it lets them work on their teamwork skills. Therefore, it can be a fun game for your child to play in groups with friends and family. Your child can strengthen their counting abilities and enhance their color recognition due to the design of the game. They’ve also included fruit toy pieces that are made out of wood. It’s a good opportunity for toddlers to use the pieces in their pretend play games to be more creative.
2. Eye Found It by Wonder Forge
This game comes with a game board, sand timer, and a wide range of pieces that include food tiles, magnifying glasses, player pieces, and more. It’s a group game that can be played by 2 to 4 people. This makes it a more exciting cooperative game for kids to play with friends and family. The instructions that are available make the game very easy to follow to ensure that your kids can start playing without delay. The game is a fun way to improve your child’s matching skills by looking out for specific objects. People have also liked how the game has plenty of replay value to keep children entertained for a while.
3. Feed the Woozle Coop Game
There are 3 levels available with this game that enable 3 year old’s to be challenged continuously as they grow older. It can be played by groups of 2 to 5 people which makes it an enjoyable group experience. This is superb for developing their social skills as well. Each game lasts for 15 minutes, which is good for keeping the attention span of your child. The game also involves children using their hands a lot. This is great for developing their gross motor skills and dexterity. Kids can also learn more about numbers due to the counting aspects that are involved in the game. Your child may also use their problem solving skills to try and win the game by feeding the woozle all the different snacks.
4. Wooden TOP BRIGHT Board Game
TOP BRIGHT’s board game has 2 sides that you can use to play chess with a goose or traffic design. The design of the traffic side is exciting for kids as it includes rescue vehicles and more for children to be stimulated by. When you flip the board over, you can detach the dice roll turntable and connect it back to the other side. It’s an easy way to roll the dice and never lose it. Having 2 sides available is great for keeping your child’s attention for longer. Playing chess on either side of the board can enable children to use their cognitive thinking abilities more. Not to mention, moving the pieces around the board and pressing the dice turntable can develop their gross motor skills and coordination.
5. Diggin’ Doggies Game
Toddlers can have a ton of fun playing this game by helping the doggies find their bones that have gone missing. Whoever’s the first one to retrieve all of their dog’s bones back to their house wins. The rules of the game are easy to understand. So, kids won’t get frustrated and can focus on enjoying the game. It’s an exciting game that can be played by 2 to 4 people, making it a fun group activity. Children are able to work on their teamwork skills, as well as their counting abilities, and hand eye coordination while playing this game. The design of the board game is bright and the dog pieces have been made with different colors for each player.
6. Disney Matching Game
Kids who love Disney could have a lot of fun with this game due to how it has been made with many popular Disney character designs. There are 72 tiles included which provides children with lots to play with in games that last for 15 minutes. The instructions available are easy to follow to make sure that kids can start playing within minutes. While playing the game, children can work on their matching skills, as well as their ability to remember things. Your child’s concentration skills can be put to the test as well. In addition to this, the game can be played with one player or multiple. So, it’s fun when kids are with friends and family or when they’re on their own.
7. Ladybug Educational Game
This game is a lot of fun for kids who are three years and older to play in groups of 2 to 4 people. They can have a blast playing in groups and improving their social skills and teamwork abilities. Each game lasts for around 20 minutes. Therefore, it’s a slightly longer game that can be an effective way to improve your child’s focus. They’ve also made sure to use exciting and bright designs to make the board game so that kids stay engaged. While playing, you can expect your children’s counting and reading skills to improve. Furthermore, there are various symbols that can enable your child’s pattern and shape recognition abilities to develop.
8. Educational Insights Squirrel Game
3 year olds can understand the rules for this game in no time to ensure that they’re able to start playing without any delay. The entire set is simple to set up and pack away because of how the box available can be used to store all of the pieces. While playing, children are able to develop their color recognition abilities due to how colorful the design of the acorn pieces and spinner are. Furthermore, you can be sure that your child’s matching skills will be put to the test. It’s a game that involves people taking it in turns, while also being strategic in order to try and win. The group aspect makes it awesome for helping kids improve their ability to work together in teams.
9. Hi Ho! Cherry-O by Hasbro
This game can be played by kids in groups of 2 to 4, which makes it an exciting way for them to enhance their teamwork abilities. The game includes a range of pretend fruit pieces, a board, and spinner. The object of the game is simple to understand so that children can start playing right away. Kids take it in turns to make a spin and pick the pretend fruit from the board. Whoever is first to fill their basket up wins. However, it lets kids learn more about math without feeling like they’re being educated. Instead, they’re able to improve their math knowledge as a byproduct of having fun with the game.
10. Peaceable Kingdom’s Chicken Counting Game
2 to 4 people can play this game and work together in order to win. Therefore, it’s a more cooperative game that’s fantastic for helping 3 year olds develop their social skills and ability to work in teams. The game involves players teaming up to enable the mother hen to collect all of the chicks. It’s a fun way to encourage children to work on their counting skills. They’ve also created the game board design with a fun farm animal design that can help children recognize different animals. The board design also keeps kids more interested in the game.
11. Caterpillar Counting Game
This caterpillar game can be played by between 2 and 4 people which makes it a lot of fun for kids to play in groups with family and friends. The game involves kids moving various pieces around to collect them. During the process, children are able to improve their counting skills, without feeling like they’re learning. It also very easy to play so, kids are able to get involved and understand the rules and avoid becoming frustrated. The board and pieces have been made with bright colors to keep things exciting too.
12. Fishing Game by Haktoys
3 year olds can have a blast with the Fishing Game due to how it comes with a range of LED flashing lights and music. (Parents have been liking how the music can be easily turned off). It’s highly interactive and keeps children engaged for longer. In addition to this, the game board has a spinning feature that’s motorized. It’s exciting for kids to watch and use the fishing poles to try and catch the fish from the moving board. As a result, children are able to develop their hand eye coordination and motor skills. The game has a fast pace which keeps children focused and on their toes to catch as many fish as possible.
13. Seek-a-Boo
Seek-a-Boo comes with 36 Find Me cards and 36 Seek Me cards which ensures that kids have plenty to play with. It can be fun for them to play in groups with other kids. A parental guide is also included that you can use to learn the different ways that the game can be played. While playing the game, children are able to work on their vocabulary by saying the items on the cards out loud. They can also have a great chance to develop their memory recall while playing. The game involves matching up the different cards which is awesome for their visual recognition abilities. You can also expect them to learn about a range of things as there are 6 categories available with the cards.
14. Candy Land
Candy Land, by Hasbro Gaming, has an updated design that kids can have a ton of fun playing with in groups of 2 to 4 people. It’s an exciting group game that develops social skills. Each game lasts for approximately 15 minutes. This is a good amount of time to ensure that kids don’t get bored and stay engaged in the game. Furthermore, Candy Land is an easy game to understand to prevent children getting bored of complicated rules. The board has been made with incredibly bright colors and a fun caste-themed design that’s super fun for kids to play with. While rolling the dice and moving their pieces around, children are able to improve their counting abilities as well.
15. Alphabet Bingo
Peaceable Kingdom’s Alphabet Bingo features 6 games, 72 chips, and 26 letter pieces. It can also be played by 2 to 6 people which makes it a fun game for slightly larger groups. Kids can work on their social skills while having a blast. We liked how the letter tokens come with upper case letters to help children learn about the differences. They’re able to develop their alphabet recognition while enjoying the process. The game also encourages children to focus in order to keep up. We liked how there are also a range of ways that the game can be played. You can choose to play the traditional game of Bingo, or try out the Cooperative, Letter Sound, or Picture Bingo games.
16. Hoot Owl Hoot Coop Game
2 to 4 players can play this game which enables a 3 yr old to have a fun group play experience. The cooperative nature of the game is awesome for developing their ability to work well in teams. The rules of the game are easy to follow to ensure that children don’t get too confused. However, there are 2 levels available to provide kids with more of a challenge as they grow older. While playing the game, your kids will be able to enhance their strategic thinking abilities in order to help each other to win the game. There’s a lot of cooperation involved to decide on what the next best move is, which makes it very social.
17. Cooperative Animal Rescue Game
Kids in groups of 2 to 4 can have a blast working together in order to get all of the animals on the boat in time. It’s an excellent game for improving your child’s communication and teamwork skills. All players work together and discuss how to move forward. There’s strategic thinking involved to try and get all of the animals on board. The set comes with animal tokens, a board, and a range of cards. The animal designs are cute and bright colors have been used to make the game board and cards. This keeps the game engaging for children.
18. PlayMonster’s OranguTwang Game
OrganguTwang is a unique game that involves a monkey piece hanging on the line with each player taking it in turns to put hang toy fruit pieces onto the monkey. It’s a game that involves a lot of suspense and can be super exciting for kids. If there’s too much pretend fruit weighing the monkey down, it springs upwards and sends the pretend fruit flying. Kids can have a blast being strategic about where they hang their fruit piece when it’s their turn.
19. Fridas Fruits by Educational Insights
This game involves spinning the spinners and matching up the letters with the frida squeezer that you have. Whoever is first to have 4 letters wins the game. It’s a fun way for children to improve their matching skills. In addition to this, it gets them more familiar with the alphabet. Kids can play in small groups and learn to take it in turns as well as enhance their social skills. The game board that’s included can be folded up for all of the pieces to go inside. This makes it super easy for you to pack the game up and keep it in storage until your kids are ready to play with it again.
20. 2 in 1 Snakes & Ladders with Ludo Game
This game board has snakes and ladders on one side and ludo on the other. Kids can have fun playing these games in small groups where they’re able to have experience with more traditional games. The snakes and ladders side has been designed with various ladders and snakes that kids can have fun landing on. There are pieces included that you can use for both the snakes and ladders and ludo game. Children are able to improve their counting skills by rolling the dice and moving their piece the correct number of spaces. The rules of the games are also simple so that children can play without hassle.
What are the Benefits of Board Games?
With the right kinds of games, little kids can experience some of the following benefits:
- Social skills & teamwork abilities
- Counting & reading skills
- Motor skills & coordination
- Color recognition & matching abilities
- Strategic thinking
- Improved concentration
- Better memory
However, these benefits are experienced much more so with the right types of board games. You can use the review above to pick the preschool board games that you think will challenge your child and enable them to have fun at the same time.
More Board Games for Children by age: