My son has definite preferences when it comes to toys. He tends to play with the same favourites over and over. If I do a toy rotation and introduce something new, he will of course be interested in it, but he always goes back to the tried-and-true. Here are his 6 favourites.
6. Play Food
Both my kids love play food. They love to get my husband and I a “coffee” in the morning with some treats on the side. The food is used in picnics, birthday parties, pretend shop play and so much more. I don’t think brand matters much to them; they play happily with all of it. I do try to vary the material of the food – felt, wood, plastic, resin, etc. – to give a little extra sensory experience.
5. Trains
Our trains and wooden tracks are out all the time. My son has a favourite steam engine that he will drive endlessly around the tracks. He also likes to see how many trains he can connect in one strand and how far he can pull it without breaking. We have a few varieties of tracks that all work great – Brio, Hape, Ikea, Bigjigs – but when it comes to the trains, Brio is the clear favourite.
4. Large Trucks
My son loves vehicles, especially large trucks. He will lay down flat on the floor and move the truck so he can watch the wheels turn. He finds it fascinating and will spend long periods repeating this over and over. When he is working on the rotational schema, this is one of his favourite activities. Again, we have a variety of brands, but the Fagus trucks are probably out the most. They are beautifully made, sturdy (he will sometimes ride them), and easy to manouver. To me, they are well worth the investment.
3. Play Couch and Foam
I can’t have a favourites list without including the play couch. We have a Nugget that has been a house, a slide, a monster, a table, and so much more. We also have slippery wedges from Arches Magoo that my son can’t get enough of sliding down. The play foam is such a great way to for kids to burn off excess energy. If we had the space in our house, I would invest in more.
2. Animals
Now we get into the farm play. My son has had a love for farms and farm animals since he was about 18 months. He loves his Schleich animals. He will set them up in little scenes around his barn (see below) and make up all kinds of fun stories for them. It is his preferred small world play.
1. Barn
My son’s number 1 favourite toy has to be his Fisher-Price barn. When we go away for a few days – he misses it and talks about when he will see it again. This barn was passed down to us from friends before my daughter was born, so it’s probably about 10 years old. My daughter used to love it too. It’s still going strong and gets used pretty much everyday in our house. Many times I have thought about buying my son a fancier barn, but this one is just so loved, it doesn’t really make sense to replace it. It’s red and his favourite colour is red. It has swinging stall doors, a grain silo he can drop things down, and it’s light-weight so he can easily take it out and carry it where he wants it. I’m not sure what other features we could really ask for.
So that’s my son’s top 6. What are some of your 3 year olds’ favourite toys?