This articles discusses some of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds.
Setting your child up for success in life begins with early development. Developing hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and critical thinking is essential, and educational STEM toys can aid in this development.
Many STEM toys are available, and deciding on one can be difficult. Consider this article a starting point in your quest for an age-appropriate STEM toy for your child. Look below at some of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds.
Comparison Chart
Magna-Tiles Builder Set, The Original Magnetic Building Tiles for Creative Open-Ended Play, Educational Toys for Children Ages 3 Years + (32 Pieces)
SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy,Learning Educational Toy For 3 4 5 6 Years Old Boys And Girls,Preschool Learning Activities,Shape & Color Recognition Game,Cvc Word Builders For Kids,80Pcs
CENOVE Girls Toys Age 3-6 Year Old Toddler Toys for Girls Boys Gifts Flower Garden Building Toy Educational Activity Stem Toys(130 PCS)
Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy: Take Apart Dinosaur Toys for kids 3-5| Learning Educational Building construction Sets with Electric Drill| Birthday Gifts for Toddlers Boys Girls Age 3 4 5 6 7 8 Year Old
Toys for 3-7 Year Old Boys Girls, Fronor Dinosaur Building Wooden Blocks STEM Montessori Educational Stacking Toys Birthday Toys Gifts for 3 4 5 6 7 Year Old Girls Gifts
Best STEM Toys for 3-Year-Olds: Reviews
Magna-Tiles Builder Set
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is the Magna-Tiles Builder Set. At the intersection of match, science, and creativity, it is no wonder the STEM toy has over 1,200 Amazon reviews and averages 5 stars.
The Magna-Tiles Builder Set is said to be the original magnetic building set and is perfect for creative and meaningful play.
Review of best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
The Magna-Tiles Builder Set promotes critical thinking and STEM skills through open-ended play where children build interactive construction scenes.
The Magna-Tiles Builder Set comes with 32 pieces, including 2 magnetic cranes, 16 small squares, 8 small rectangles, 1 spinner, 4 quarter circles, and a wheeled chassis. The set also includes black, red and yellow colors, printed roads, bricks and caution signs to enhance play potential.
Children build cools things with the pieces and the interact with what they build.
The two included cranes come with telescoping arms that raise and lower tiles and even magnetic vehicles. You can attach the crane to the classic wheeled chassis for an interactive vehicle on-the-go or combine it with your existing tiles for more expansive playgrounds.
This is one of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds because it leads to hours of open-ended, creative, and meaningful play. Also, the Magna-Tiles Builder Set does not require a screen. Therefore, children are entertained for hours with screen-free fun using their hands and their minds.
Plus, children practice math concepts, develop critical thinking skills, and work on problem solving. This is one of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds looking to express their creativity in a safe, open-ended, and fun way.
Magna-Tiles are engineered with children’ safety as a top priority. The durable magnetic tiles are made from non-toxic and high-quality materials. The pieces are bpa-free, phthalates-free and latex-free. The Magna-Tiles Builder Set comes with stainless steel rivets and reinforced internal structure adding to the durability.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Promotes creativity and is open-ended play
- Safe materials
- Screen-free
- Teaches critical thinking and problem solving
- Ideal for learning building skills
- Easy to store
- Can build many different scenes
- Amazing reviews and good price
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
Could use even more parts
SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is the SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy.
If you are looking for an educational STEM toy for multiple aspects of your child’s development, this might just be it. It seems very simple, but it’s highly beneficial for learning letters, words, and colors.
Review of best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
The SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy is for children ages three and up. There are 28 double-sided flashcards featuring important consonant-vowel-consonant words. These words may contain up to four letters, and each flashcard has a visual depiction of the word.
Therefore, not only does this help with spelling but also with word recognition and vocabulary. Children must match one of the 52 letters to the letters shown on the flashcard. Moreover, all letters are colored, so kids will learn letters, short words, and colors.
This is beneficial in several aspects. Not only does it teach letters, words, and colors, but also sorting skills and critical thinking. It’s a simple toy but highly beneficial for developing various skills at a young age. In addition, it can help prepare your child for school at an early age.
In addition, the he SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy flashcards are made with very thick card stock and are fully laminated. This means they should withstand heavy use; the same can be said for the wooden block letters. Moreover, everything is child-safe, with no sharp corners or dangerous elements.
The SpringFlower See & Spell Matching Letter Toy comes with a convenient storage bag to keep everything in one place; it also helps portability.
Overall, this is an excellent STEM toy for letter recognition, vocabulary building, and early critical thinking skills. It is also durable and safe for children.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Basic but provides a good start
- Durable components
- Childs-friendly
- Teaches letters, objects, words, and colors
- Ideal for learning sorting skills
- Comes with a carrying case
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
Paint on the letters eventually wears off
CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy.
If you have a child who loves flowers, the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy is an excellent STEM toy for developing building skills and overall creativity. In addition, you might appreciate the reasonable price.
Review of best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
The CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy is an educational toy teaches children the various parts of a flower. It comes with various flower bases, stems, heads, a flower basket, and more. Children can build their own little flower garden using the included components, however they want.
The flower components of the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy come in various colors and shapes, so it is ideal for teaching kids the basics about flowers and plants. Kids can mix and match these components to build custom flowers.
CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy is ideal for teaching building and construction skills. Kids have to attach the parts to one another, so it helps develop manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and decision-making skills.
In addition, all components of the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy are child safe. The flowers are made with BPA-free eco-friendly plastic; they’re nontoxic and too large to swallow or choke on as well. Moreover, there are no sharp edges.
The components of the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy are pretty durable and can handle a good deal of abuse. Moreover, the parts are bound to get dirty, but they can easily be washed with water. You can even pop them in the dishwasher.
The components of the CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy are light enough for your kids to handle with ease. Finally, everything fits in a neat little carrying case to keep everything organized and portable.
Overall, CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy is an excellent STEM toy for teaching children about flowers and plants. Girls and boys can also learn about construction and coordination skills. The toy is durable, safe, and easy to clean. CENOVE Flower Garden Building Educational Stem Toy is a good value for the price as well.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Durable pieces
- Machine washable
- Teaches many important skills
- Fun and colorful
- Ideal for many age levels
- Totally child safe
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Connecters will start to wear down over time
- Pretty easy to lose some of the smaller pieces
Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is the Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy.
The Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy STEM toy is ideal for children ages 3-8. Although the dinosaur theme seems to be more oriented toward boys, it’s excellent for girls. It is a fun and colorful toy that also helps with early development.
Review
The Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy primarily helps develop your child’s building and construction skills. This is a set of three different dinosaurs – a triceratops, a raptor, and a T-rex. Each dinosaur is a different bright color, making it attractive for children.
The dinosaurs are held together by various child-safe plastic screws. There’s a small child-friendly battery-operated drill your child will use on the screws to assemble the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs come in many pieces that need to be assembled correctly.
Your child will need to correctly identify the same colors and sort the components to use the right ones to form the three dinosaurs. Therefore, this toy is ideal for developing critical thinking and sorting skills.
Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy is ideal for teaching basic assembly and construction skills. This also helps develop manual dexterity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and hand-eye coordination.
Moreover, the Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy is made with nontoxic ABS plastic, which is child-safe. In addition, there are no sharp components, but the Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy does have small parts, so your child needs to be old enough to know not to try to eat them.
All plastic components of the Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy are very durable and built to last. In addition, the plastic construction makes them easy to clean if they get dirty. The Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy is not so much designed with portability in mind.
Overall, the Kids Toys Stem Dinosaur Toy is an excellent choice for parents who want to encourage their child’s development. It’s also a great gift idea for birthdays or holidays.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Durable design
- Ideal for teaching building skills and manual dexterity
- Ideal for training hand-eye coordination, sorting skills, and problem-solving
- Easy to clean components
- Colorful and exciting for kids
- Teaches about power tool basics
- Fairly child safe
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Has some tiny parts that may be lost
- Power drill needs batteries
Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is the Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy.
The Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is an excellent option if you want a toy that develops fine motor skills, coordination, and construction skills. It comes at a reasonable price and is ideal for children 3-7.
Review of best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
The Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is a set of 10 dinosaur blocks of various types and colors, which makes it is ideal for teaching your child various colors. It uses sorting skills between different shapes, dinosaur types, and colors.
The objective of the Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is to stack the dinosaurs on top of each other without causing them to tumble. This is ideal for balance and construction skills, as your child has to put some effort into balancing those dinosaurs.
Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy has a rounded base that wobbles back and forth to increase the difficulty level, making it challenging to balance the stacked dinosaurs stacked. It may seem simple, but it’s pretty difficult.
Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is one of the best toys for developing hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, and fine motor skills. However, it also requires a lot of logical thought and critical thinking.
The blocks are made of high-quality and durable wood, which can handle the abuse a child may put them through. In addition, the dinosaurs are brightly painted, which should be visually appealing for kids.
In addition, none of the components of the Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy have any sharp edges, and they are not small enough to pose a choking hazard. All pieces here are child safe and environmentally friendly. All that said, the Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy does not have a carrying case or bag for easy storage and portability.
Overall, the Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is an educational and fun toy that develops fine motor skills, coordination, construction skills, and more. The Fronor Dinosaur Stacking STEM Toy is also well-made and safe for kids to play with.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Totally child-safe
- Durable wooden blocks
- Teaches colors and sorting skills
- Teaches balance, coordination, and fine motor skills
- Great for kids of many ages
- Very affordable
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
Paint starts to wear off over time
Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy
On our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds is Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy.
The Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy is an educational toy that is perfect for developing critical thought, construction, and motor skills in both boys and girls.
Review of best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
The Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy is a magnetic 30-piece construction toy. The pieces come in squares and triangles; with the magnets, all parts adhere to each other, so it’s easy to build something and then disassemble it.
The components of the Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy can be used to build anything your child can imagine. In this sense, it’s a toy that encourages imagination and creativity; your child has to use their mind to come up with their own constructions.
You can buy multiple Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy sets for more magnets and construction options. These magnetic blocks are compatible with other major brands of magnetic blocks.
Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy develops logical thinking skills, manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and more. It is a hands-on toy that will provide hours of educational fun. Although it is a simple concept, Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy works well in several child-developmental aspects.
The Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy components are child safe. Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy does not contain sharp edges and everything is made out of child-friendly materials, too. Thanks to the plastic housing, Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy is also easy to clean.
In addition, Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy is made of metal, plastic, and magnets. The components are built with durability; after all, kids are not always known for being careful with their belongings.
Overall, Coodoo Magnetic Blocks Building Tiles STEM Toy is an excellent STEM toy for toddlers and young children. It is also very reasonably priced, especially considering how many developmental benefits it offers.
Pros for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- Great for many ages
- For boys and girls
- Brightly colored and visually appealing
- Fairly durable overall
- Easy to clean
- Expandable with more sets
- Ideal for many aspects of development
Cons for best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
- The basic pack doesn’t have many parts to them
- The magnets may come loose from the housings
Best STEM Toys for 3-Year-Olds Buyer’s Guide
Consider these essential factors before you buy a STEM toy for your three-year-old child.
Developmental Aspect
One important consideration is what kind of STEM toy you buy. Some toys are designed for sorting skills, some teach colors and numbers, some help develop manual dexterity, problem-solving, hand-eye coordination, and more. Determine which developmental aspects the toy addresses. They’re certainly not all the same.
Durability
Kids can be really rough on their belongings, so you want toys made of durable materials. They should be able to take a beating without breaking. This is especially the case when getting STEM toys for boys. Boys are rarely careful with their belongings.
Safety
Perhaps the most important aspect is safety. All components should be made of child-safe materials. Ideally, anything plastic should be BPA-free, and there should be no sharp edges or corners that pose a risk. In addition, ensure that nothing is small enough to choke on.
Ease of Cleaning
Toys will eventually get dirty, and you should look for toys that are easy to clean. Things that can be easily wiped down are excellent, and being washable is even better.
Age Range
Ensure the age range is appropriate for the child. For example, you don’t want a STEM toy designed for one-year-olds for your three-year-old, as it will be too easy.
On the other hand, a STEM toy designed for a five-year-old may be complicated for a three-year-old. Therefore, these toys are designed for particular ages.
Visual Appearance
Kids are attracted to bright and colorful things. Bright colors and shapes make these educational toys more attractive. However, kids must first want to play with these STEM toys before learning from them.
Best STEM Toys for 3-Year-Olds FAQ
What Makes a Toy Educational?
An educational toy is expected to stimulate learning, develop a particular skill, or encourage creativity.
Do Kids Like Best STEM Toys for 3-Year-Olds?
Generally speaking, STEM toys are bright, engaging, and provide hours of fun. Of course, all kids are different, but if you have a young scientist, engineer, or designer, they will love their STEM toys.
Is LEGO one of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds?
Absolutely! Lego is one of the most popular and best STEM toys for 3-year-olds. Lego involves building, color sorting, shape sorting, hand-eye coordination, and more. Legos are also some of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds.
What Are the Benefits of STEM Toys?
There are many benefits to playing with best STEM toys for 3-year-olds. These toys help develop problem-solving skills, manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and more. They also help kids learn about colors, shapes, and numbers. And, they’re just plain fun!
Conclusion – Best STEM toys for 3-year-olds
We recommend the Magna-Tiles Building Set or the Kids Toys STEM Dinosaur Toy if you are looking for the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds. They both come with everything your child needs to develop various aspects of your child’s motor and cognitive skills.
The Magna-Tiles building set has over 1,200 Amazon reviews and averages 5 stars. The Kids Toys STEM Dinosaur Toy as over 4,600 Amazon review and averages just below 5 starts.
Regardless of your choice, you can’t lose. Both the Magna-Tiles Building Set and the Kids Toys STEM Dinosaur Toy are among the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds.
Check out our articles for the best STEM for for kids of other ages, too. If you have multiple children or work with children at a school, STEM toys are oftentimes a good investment in part because you can recycle them so that your younger kids or the next classroom of students can also use the same STEM toys.
In some cases, the same child can even get years of learning and fun out of the same STEM toy you gave them years ago. When you child outgrows the toys, you can find families to donate the toys to, schools that need toy donations for their classroom, or maybe a friend or cousin who wants to trade toys. You could even try selling your used toys online.
If you are looking for STEM toys for other ages, here is our list of STEM toy reviews for kids of different ages.
- Best STEM toys for 1-year-olds
- Best STEM toys for 2-year-olds
- Best STEM toys for 4-year-olds
- Best STEM toys for 5-year-olds
- Best STEM toys for 6-year-olds
- Best STEM toys for 7-year-olds
Thanks for reviewing our list of the best STEM toys for 3-year-olds. We also list STEM toys for adults on our homepage. Adults can have fun too!