Nine Awesome Toys & Activities For 3-4 Year Olds

Favourites lists are becoming a bit of a tradition on this blog and you can find links to mine and Caterpillar’s favourite toys and products up to age three below.  Today I wanted to summarise everything my four year old has been loving during the last year.  Since most of these are very affordable they also make wonderful gifts too.

Orchard Toys Games

Board games were already becoming a big hit with Caterpillar when I wrote his 2-3 years list and this has only grown.  What’s brilliant for me is that now he’s that little bit older the games are becoming a little more fun from an adult perspective too. Firm favourites from his last Christmas and birthday are Gooey Louie and Pop The Pig – both are based on a pretty disgusting concept but Caterpillar adores them.

By far and away our most played with games though are the range from Orchard Toys – I love the price point and quality of the Orchard Toys range and they are always really educational as well as fun.  Find out more about our current favourites below:

Cheeky Monkeys

Cheeky Monkeys2

Crazy Chefs

crazy chefs

Follow That Car!

Orchard Toys 4

 

Dressing Up

From superheroes to The Gruffalo if there’s a costume around Caterpillar will try it on – again feeding his imagination, with the added bonus of teaching him how to dress and undress himself.

Lego

Lego has been a slow burner for Caterpillar.  We first bought him some Lego Juniors sets for Christmas 2015 and his interest is finally developing.  At this age he still needs help to follow the directions but he’s becoming a lot more interested in going off box and making his own creations.

lego1

Role Play Toys

When I ask Caterpillar what he did at preschool he almost always mentions playing mummies & daddies, teachers or some other kind of role play game.  There’s nothing he enjoys more than making ‘dinner’ and ‘cups of tea’ for us at home, and our visitors, so any toys that revolve around this kind of imaginative activity are a hit.

Theme Park Annual Pass

Legoland2

We’ve bought Caterpillar an annual pass to our local theme park in Southend – Adventure Island – for the last three years and we never regret it.  As is the case with most annual passes, you only have to go two or three times to get your money’s worth and it’s really worth the investment in my opinion.  Not only is a fab day out with friends and family but when Caterpillar and I are at a loose end and can’t face the park or softplay one more time I know I have that option up my sleeve for the two of us.  And just like with the board games, now that Caterpillar is a tall-for-his-age four-year-old we can go on the bigger roller-coasters – making a fun day out for me too!

Following our recent trips and holidays – in particular our two days in Legoland – I would recommend taking a look at the annual passes for any theme parks, zoos or activity centres in your area as they are usually really good value.

Kinetic Sand

I can’t actually believe this didn’t make it onto a previous list but maybe he was a little young.  We have two kinds at home – regular and Kinetic Sand Float and both are regularly played with. Caterpillar has already told me he wants the Kinetic Rock for Christmas.  If you haven’t played with it before I highly recommend – the texture is indescribable and so therapeutic to handle. I simply had to include this photo of Caterpillar’s first ever moment with the stuff – his face says it all!

kinetic1

Anything water-related!

Caterpillar is quite happy with just a big bowl of water and a cup and has been since a really young age.  In addition he loves water pistols, water tables, paddling pools, water balloons & even this ice excavating activity.  H2O = happy in our house.

Pic1

Kids’ magazines

We don’t go on holiday without stacking up on kids magazines with CBeebies and Fun To Learn Favourites being most popular for us.  Caterpillar loves all the stories and activities and they keep him occupied for a long time.

Blind bags & other random small stuff!

I blame You Tube videos for this phenomenon but I found out recently we’re not alone in this obsession.  It seems small toys, surprise eggs and blind bags are hits with toddlers & preschoolers across the land. Also, they’re great item for bribing…


Related posts:

10 Best Baby Products For The First Year

Best Toddler Buys For 1 To 2 Year Olds

8 Essentials for 2-3 Year Olds

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

CommentLuv badge