Best Board Games for 3 Year Olds
There are some fantastic board games for 3 year olds that are fun for both kids and adults to play.
Some benefits of playing board games with 3 year olds include introducing them to concepts such as taking turns, winning and losing. Playing board games can also help improve concentration, focus, and social and language skills.
Depending on the board game, kids can learn about counting, numbers, math, colors, letters and spelling.
Some board games have also tasks that improve fine motor skills.
Read on for 15 board games that are fun and educational for 3 year olds.
Pop up Pirate
Pop up pirate is a fantastic first game for 3 year olds.
Take turns to put the swords into the barrel. If the pirate pops up you’re out. Kids love it when the pirate pops up and it’s a great way to teach kids to take turns.
Play it solo or with 2 to 4 players.
Little Treasures Matching Letter Game
If you're looking for an educational game to help teach letters and first words, this is a great choice.
It's a game for two players or more. Kids can play with parents. It's also fun to play alone.
Players match pictures to the word and take turns to do so. The game helps develop word recognition, hand and eye coordination, strategical thinking, sociability, concentration and increases memory.
Don't Break the Ice Game
Players have to tap out the ice blocks one by one without letting Phillip the Penguin fall.
Super fun!
Pete The Cat The Missing Cupcakes Game
Pete the cat is a game of luck, memory, and cooperation for kids.
Players don't compete against each other but work together to get the missing cupcakes back from Grumpy Toad.
Part of the game involves singing songs, acting out physical activities, and identifying favorite animals, food, and words.
Don't Spill the Beans
Players take turns placing one of their beans in the wobbly plastic jar. Don't make the beans spill. The first players to get rid of all their beans wins!
Disney Matching Game
The Disney Classic Matching Game comes with 72 tiles and instructions. Turn all the cards over and find matching pairs! It helps 3 year olds practice their focus, memory, and matching skills.
Learn to play in less than five minutes!
Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game
This perfect first board game teaches matching, sorting, counting, and simple math skills. Plus it's fun and easy to learn how to play.
Spin the spinner, squeeze the matching colored acorn with your Squirrel Squeezers, and place it into your log.
The first to fill their log with acorns wins.
Turns can involve picking an acorn, stealing an acorn, or losing an acorn.
The use of tweezers (or squeezers) is great for developing fine motor skills.
It's a quick game that completes in a short amount of time. It keeps the kid's attention, but also doesn't get too boring for adults.
Superhero Chutes and Ladders
The chutes and ladders set will appeal to superhero loving 3 year olds.
Which character will you choose to move around the board? You can be spider-man,white tiger, iron spider, power man, venom black cat, the green goblin or rhino.
It's a great game to play to learn and practice all the numbers up to 100.
Chutes and Ladders: Peppa Pig Edition
Another option for themed chutes and ladders for 3 year olds is Peppa Pig.
Kids can choose to be Peppa Pig, Gerald Giraffe, Suzy Sheep, or Danny Dog to move around the board.
Bluey Scavenger Hunt Game
The Bluey Scavenger Hunt is all about finding, playing and collecting.
Players have to work together as a team to find 12 toy tokens.
It's a fun game that is full of activities to perform, fun things to find and fun questions about Bluey to answer.
Candyland - The World of Sweets Game
This version of Candyland, the classic beginner game is the perfect first game for 3 year olds.
The game features colored cards and fun illustrations that kids love, with different destinations like Cupcake Commons and the chunky Chocolate Mountains.
Choose your cards, move your pawn and let your imagination soar as you make your way to the castle to win!
Richard Scarry's Busytown
Richard Scarry's Busy Town is a cooperative game for preschoolers where you race across Busytown along a game board that's more than 6 feet long. It's a fun "eye found it game" where you search for hidden objects. It promotes teamwork and builds confidence when a 3 year old says "I found it".
Hi Ho Cherry-O
Kids aged 3 and up can have a blast picking pretend fruit from the trees on the game board, and filling their buckets. The spinner lets them know the number of pieces to pick - or put back.
It's a simple first board game that is ideal for teaching kids how to take turns. As kids pick fruit to fill their baskets, they also practice math skills, such as counting, addition and subtraction
Elefun
Elefun is so much fun for young kids. Music plays while butterflies come out of the elephant's 3 ft trunk. Kids can chase the butterflies and try to catch them. Whoever catches the most butterflies wins!