The Best Christmas Gifts for 3-Year-Olds

There's absolutely no prescriptive way to play with this set. No stringent directions to follow. No way to do the wrong thing. And that's absolutely perfect. Kids build whatever they want and bring it to life with a working motor. The set is ideal for boosting fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, logical thinking, and task completion.

If you're looking for that wow toy, the one that absolutely blows your kids away, this is it. Because there is nothing more fun than playing outdoors, in the mud, and using said mud to make pies. This wooden kitchen includes shelves for ample storage, as well as planters, metal kitchen utensils, pots and pans.

You don't need a lab to learn about science. Just take your kids outdoors. Talk to them about sun and rain, wind and slush, humidity and cloudiness, and document weather changes on this station. It gives them a stake in what's happening in the natural world around them.

Not only is this funky wood rocking horse a childhood staple that helps kids hone their sense of balance, but it also folds flat for easy storage.

Dress-up is something 3-year-olds absolutely adore, and these butterfly wings with elastic straps are so simple yet so mesmerizing when it comes to fantasy play. Kids run and soar and flap them around.

We can't say enough good things about this market stand. Not only does it make fruits and veggies look utterly delectable. But it encourages kids to engage in total pretend play, as they sell the fruit to their friends, collect payment, and package it up. There's a scale, a register, and shelves, plus a clock to let customers know it's closing time.

It's rare to find something this detailed aimed at the younger set. And while we may not be flying much at the moment, this airport is a reminder that the world is a big, big place. It's compatible with all Brio sets, and this one includes a control tower, a terminal, two travelers, and luggage. And a plane, of course.

Speaking of detailed, this vet clinic has a check-in counter, an exam room, a scale, and cages for the four-legged patients, including a cat, dog, bunny, and guinea pig. It's a great blend of open-ended play coupled with an imaginary workout.

This set helps your child be part of the food prep process, and it's made from 100 percent recycled plastic. This 18-piece meal set inspires young chefs to whip up succulent pretend meals using a cheese stamp, a sauce cutter, dough tubs, and myriad other necessities. Fantasy play at its best.

Scooters are a great way for kids to be active and develop their motor skills. This one is stable, and has an adjustable T-bar accommodates children as they grow.

This ingenious Cubebot is a puzzle, an action figure, a robot and a transformer that really puts kids' problem-solving skills to the test.

These are blocks in name only — a set of 16 beautiful stacking shapes, with complex edges and multiple faces, giving kids a renewable challenge and bringing something beautiful into the playroom. And because every block manufactured is unique, you can rest assured no one will have a set quite like yours.

On their own, flamingoes are unique, glorious creatures. But this game ups the ante. This bird has removable wings, a culbuto base, and comes with 10 small chicks. The goal: Distribute the birds evenly, without anyone taking a tumble. Kids can play solo, or together, as they learn about gravity and balance.

Botley 2.0 teaches kids to code and program — without involving a single screen. Kids can program Botley to do a sequence of up to 150 steps, and are rewarded with 16 complex interactions (as well as lights and music).

The thoughtfully-crafted balance board is a boon for pretend play, as it becomes everything from a see-saw to a boat. Each of these beauties is handmade, but above and beyond that, the balance board help kids find their center of gravity and work their muscles.

Kids use these wooden eggs to express just how they feel. Anything that helps toddlers express their feelings and connect with their emotions is a win-win. This set helps promote emotional maturity as children identify and articulate their feelings.

Using this open-ended magnetic tablet, children draw pictures, shapes, letters and numbers, and lo and behold, the tablet glows in the dark! It's erasable and endlessly reusable.

Dressing up feeds into fantasy play. A gorgeous scarlet cape that's fully washable, and lets kids be a princess, a superhero, or perhaps just an oddball but awesome butterfly.

It's art-fueled imaginary play at its best: Kids color the animals, wash them off, and start all over again.

Yes, this doll is every bit as ridiculous as you would imagine. She's also really fun and totally uncomplicated. Kids feed her and she poops. And thereby, they mimic what they themselves do every single day. Eat and poop.

This beautiful set includes a drum, metallophone (or xylopnone), guiro wooden block, and bell, as well as two mallets for playtime duets. Kids learn the basics of rhythm while honing their motor skills and learning to express themselves through music.