Bedroom Ideas For 12 Year Olds
At age 3, the gift-giving game changes. Many kids are more likely to know what they want. Lots of them will have more opinions, interests, and language to express their excitement than they had in the past. But that doesn't negate the thrill of a good surprise. "Often the idea of receiving a gift is what's exciting for them, not necessarily what the gift is," said Heather Singh, associate director of school and gallery education at the Thinkery, a children's museum in Austin, Texas.
Three-year-olds are ready for toys that foster lots of imaginative play, Singh says. So, open-ended playthings that inspire storytelling and creative engagement are better than one-trick ponies. Toys and costumes that allow for role-playing and board games that encourage group interaction nurture 3-year-olds' developing social skills. And many kids at this age are ready for speedier, sleeker movement toys—like scooters and trikes—that reward their growing physical confidence.
We included toy suggestions from Singh and other educators below; members of our staff added the kind of memory-making gifts that have gone over best with the 3-year-olds in their lives. If you're looking for more kids gift ideas, check out our guides to the best gifts for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and 10-year-olds, as well as wonderful stocking stuffers for kids. (We also have guides to gifts for tweens and teens.) Since kids vary widely in their personalities, interests, and development, we advise that you take these age recommendations with a grain of salt. And please share your own best ideas in the comments below.
Under $20
Cooperative counting games
Cooperative board games, during which players work toward a common goal instead of competing against each other, are ideal for 3-year-olds who are learning to follow directions, take turns, and work as a group. Count Your Chickens is a hit with preschoolers and parents at Toybrary Austin, our local toy-lending library in Texas. Players team up to bring a mother hen's chicks back to the coop. It's simple and, just as importantly, fast—perfect for a 3-year-old's attention span. (Once you've mastered the art of chicken reunions, check out The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, another great cooperative board game for beginners, or Go Away Monster, a goofy tactile game we recommend in our guide to the best board games for kids.)
Dotty art supplies
It's hard to go wrong with a gift of novel art supplies. My son got a set of these dot-making markers when he was 3 (and just embarking on a now-years-long obsession with rainbows). The sticks are easy for little hands to grip, and the colors are vibrant enough to look bright on cardboard boxes as well as regular paper. I like that they have the special feel of paints but with less mess and effort. You may want to pair them with a ream of paper or some add-on art supplies, like scissors and a glue stick.
A sturdy puzzle
During the long, early days of sheltering in place, one of the toys that kept my preschooler reasonably occupied was Melissa and Doug's 100-piece Safari Floor Puzzle. Even after the world began to open back up, it remained in heavy rotation. The large, durable pieces were easy for him to manipulate on his own (plus hard to lose). And because there were 100 pieces, this puzzle challenged him and held his attention for longer than five minutes. My son loves wild animals, so this particular theme, with giraffes, an elephant, and a rhinoceros in the savannah, appealed to him. Melissa and Doug also offers a 100-piece under the sea floor puzzle with a similarly large array of underwater creatures. If 100 pieces feels too intimidating, start with one of Melissa and Doug's 48-piece floor puzzles instead (dinosaurs and the solar system are two options).
Clever cupcakes
Toys that pull double duty are my favorite for my two kids, and these eight colorful cupcakes deliver learning and fun in equal measure. Each confection pulls apart to reveal a different shape, with the tops matching the bottoms and the bottoms matching corresponding divots in the pan. My younger son enjoys the challenge of sorting shapes and identifying colors together; my preschooler works these pastries into pretend baking games, picnic scenarios, imaginative shopping trips, and more. The set is nearly indestructible, and I find myself retrieving it during room cleanup every night—a surefire sign that it's in the rotation for good.
$20 to $50
Pattern play
Bugzzle is essentially a tangram—a puzzle comprised of geometric pieces that can be arranged in different shapes—for toddlers. An early STEM toy that provides a soft, visual introduction to fractions, Bugzzle includes one sturdy bug frame, 18 semicircular plastic puzzle pieces, and 40 cards with increasingly difficult patterns to recreate inside the bug. My 2½-year-old is a little young to match the cards; she mostly just enjoys inventing her own designs or coordinating the pieces into one solid color. A friend's 3-year-old, however, is adept at remaking the patterns using the problem-solving skills and spatial reasoning Bugzzle is designed to foster. For a more traditional format, Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards encourages the same critical-thinking skills as Bugzzle using colorful wooden shapes.
A tower of buggy blocks
My 3-year-old loves every part of this Jenga-style stacking game for kids: the die-rolling and calling out of the color rolled, the cautious removal of each block, and the dramatic collapse that signals triumph or defeat. She even loves to exhaustively rebuild the tower setup, which is objectively the worst part of actual Jenga. Admittedly, it can be difficult to play according to the exact instructions—you're supposed to dislodge each bug-faced block one-handed, no easy feat. But after you develop some loose and forgiving house rules, the game is fun, fast-paced, and engaging for all ages.
A musical book
I can do without children's books that blare sounds, but I make an exception for Welcome to Jazz by Carolyn Sloan. My 2-year-old (who I initially thought might be a tad young for a jazz primer) took to this book immediately—from the vivid illustrations featuring a trio of cats learning the genesis of jazz to the 12 buttons that, when pressed, play the different musical parts of "When the Saints Go Marching In." (A 3-year-old might be in an even better position to enjoy it.) My son loves hearing the deep double bass, the jangly rhythm section, the free-spirited scatting—and he's learning the names of jazz legends like Billie Holiday and King Oliver. It's a musical introduction we can all get behind.
Magnetic letters
At age 3, some kids begin showing interest in gripping a pencil and trying to form letters or numbers. This magnetic writing board is an early-handwriting tool that's fun, tactile, and even semi-addictive. Kids use the thick magnetic stylus to trace letters, pulling the tiny metal beads into place. The beads are encased, so they can't fall out or get lost. Directional arrows help budding writers visualize where to start and end each letter. Kid O also makes a Magnatab for practicing numbers; for free-form magnetic drawing and writing, it offers this simple slate. (Kid O sells replacement styluses, too, in case yours goes missing.) We also like the Boogie Board Scribble n' Play, which has an LCD surface that fosters colorful, mess-free doodling you can erase with the push of a button.
Creative crafts
Kids will love opening up this box, which is jam-packed with an enormous variety of crafting supplies and instructions to make 16 projects. They can turn the included tissue paper, crayons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, dough, stickers, and more into critters, puppets, collages, and pictures, or use the materials and ideas as a starting point for their own creations. I like that the creature shapes are sturdy enough to use as templates for tracing and cutting out paper versions—to make the fun last even longer.
A little big top
IKEA's colorful polyester play tents offer long-lasting fun for a low price. The littlest kids may enjoy playing hide-and-seek inside, or peekaboo from behind the curtains. Three-year-olds might like loading them up with mounds of stuffed animals, using them as a private place to play or rest, or turning them into rocket ships. I can attest to their durability: We had one that lasted for at least five years, and there were many catastrophic rocket crashes during that time. IKEA's Busa Play Tunnel, which we recommend in our guide to the best gifts for 2-year-olds, pairs nicely with the circus tent and was another hit with my kids.
Costume kits
My child's peer group absolutely loves dramatic play and dress-up. One minute they're doctors, the next firefighters, and at some point they all splinter off into different versions of Spider-Man on a group mission to destroy the house. Although these costume sets from Melissa & Doug don't offer any caped-superhero options, they do let kids take on lots of heroic, real-world career roles, like veterinarian or pediatric nurse. Each costume comes with accessories—hard hat, hammer, and saw for the construction worker; fedora, pair of sunglasses, and decoder lens for the spy—that help set the scene for freewheeling imaginative play. If your kid is, in fact, particularly obsessed with playing superhero, they might also love a set of silky capes with Velcro closures and matching felt masks; if they're more inclined toward royalty, try these sumptuous velour ones.
A creativity station
This sturdy wooden Melissa & Doug tabletop easel gives toddlers dozens of creative options for when they're seated at the table or on the floor. On one side there's a chalkboard; flip the whole thing over and you'll find a magnetic dry-erase board. The set includes a 50-foot roll of paper for painting and drawing, five sticks of colored chalk, a dry-erase marker and felt eraser, and 36 letter and number magnets that can be stored in the wooden base tray. It all packs down easily, so you can stow it anywhere or take it on a trip. (My toddler loves to sit outside on the ground with it and paint.) If you're looking for a full-sized easel, we like the KidKraft Storage Easel or the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Standing Art Easel, both of which we recommend in our guide to the best gifts for 4-year-olds.
Plush puppets
Puppets can be a great outlet for preschoolers to explore storytelling. My kids have a dedicated puppet basket, as well as this puppet theater, though I find that the individual puppets get way more use than the theater itself—they're more interested in private, imaginative play than performing for an audience. Folkmanis makes a range of plush animal puppets: We've been gifted the tiny praying mantis and a scaly three-headed dragon, but I think this snowy owl is the most special puppet in our bin. It's extra-soft and structured, with a head you can rotate using a plastic knob inside. After my older son got dive-bombed by a nesting owl last winter—for real, and he was fine—we were able to embark on some extra-dramatic play with this thing.
Instructive instruments
Liza Wilson, owner of the Toybrary Austin lending library in Texas, said that playing musical instruments—or even just playing with them—helps preschoolers explore sensory input in a way that's creative and self-directed. The resulting sounds may be chaotic, but 3-year-olds can learn much more from real instruments than from simply pushing buttons or tapping screens to play prerecorded songs. For 3-year-olds, small pianos and drums might be good choices. But Wilson said Toybrary's little accordion gets the most play. Kids love pulling on the bellows and pushing the vocal keys and buttons for harmony and bass. It's a toy that can grow with a child as they progress from making creative sounds to learning actual songs—and heck, even adults can have some fun fiddling with it.
We scream for ice cream
According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the average American devours 23 pounds of ice cream a year. The love of the stuff starts early, as illustrated by this ice-cream cone playset. Kids can spoon and serve with two magnetized scoopers, which have a satisfyingly realistic feel when doling out one of the four scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip) to top off the two wooden cones. The flavors may be well edited, but the playful possibilities are nearly endless.
Bathtime builders
Move over, Rubber Ducky. These sturdy foam Design & Build Water Blocks cling together and float in water, so kids can build imaginative cityscapes in the tub, pool, or water table. The 30-piece set comes with a 7½-inch square floating platform that provides a stable base for play. (Also included: a drawstring bag for storage between uses.) My 3½-year-old loves to create a town out of the blocks, position her favorite plastic figurines atop the foam towers, and then introduce a storm surge to the bathtub to see who and what can survive her relentless tsunami. She'll stay in there constructing and reconstructing this scenario until the water grows cold—not too shabby for a kid who claims to hate bathing.
Creepy-crawly competition
This cooperative board game is my 3½-year-old's current favorite, thanks to its pairing of her two most beloved elements of play—matching and talking about stinky things. The object of the game is always the same: Help an assortment of bright, friendly faced bugs get tucked safely beneath the rug (the game board) before they're encroached upon by three invading stink bugs. Snug as a Bug in a Rug! has three levels of play to choose from, with escalating degrees of difficulty (we usually play the middle version), so it can grow with the player. The whole game takes only about 15 minutes to complete, unless (like we do) you feel compelled to lovingly tuck each bug in with gentle words of reassurance about how safe and protected they'll now be under the rug. We also like to feign outsize horror in response to the stink bugs' hideousness and odor ... which takes some of the sting out of the fact that we lose to them so often.
A robo-bug brigade
These thumb-sized, multi-legged robots are equal parts endearing and frenetic. Propelled by the sheer force of their (amusing) vibrations, they skitter around corners, scale small obstacles, and right themselves. They move surprisingly quickly, so if—like us—you live somewhere with actual big bugs that race across your floor (hello from Texas!), you might want to warn your family before you let a Hexbug loose. Once they're in play, they're a blast. For cats, the challenge is to chase them around. (Just use caution around pets that aren't discriminating about what they swallow.) For kids, the fun is in creating obstacle courses and elaborate containment chambers out of anything you can find, like train tracks, shoes, and boxes. (Adults get to just sit back and watch the cats and kids entertain each other.) The only downside is that each critter in this Hexbug Nano Nitro 5 Pack requires an AG13/LR44 button cell battery. The first one is included, but it will need to be replaced fairly quickly if your household enjoys robot bugs as much as mine does.
Piece out
It may seem like most puzzles are created equal, but a couple of them stand out from the rest. Petit Collage's 24-Piece Ocean Life Puzzle has thicker-than-normal pieces that are easy for small fingers to grasp; the pieces also provide a bit of tactile feedback (click!) once pressed into place. Then, when it's destruction time, they come apart cleanly, without sticking together. Perhaps best of all, every Petit Collage puzzle comes in a vibrant and sturdy box complete with a rope handle for carrying (other 24-piece designs include a world map and wild rainforest). Crocodile Creek makes similar high-quality puzzles in stackable boxes that won't rip or flatten; they were the hottest picks (and the first to disappear) during our neighborhood puzzle swaps.
Over $50
Tools for toddlers
Play kitchens are all the rage for their encouragement of imaginative play and social-development skills. (See our guide to the best gifts for 2-year-olds for our no-holds-barred favorite.) But play workbenches deserve the same amount of love. A friend has the Black+Decker Junior Power Tool Workshop, and my toddler can't get enough. She collects all the small accessories, such as nuts, screws, and bolts, and loads them into the toolbox. But the attention to detail on the power tools is the coolest part: In addition to a working vise, the Junior Power Tool Workshop comes with a miter saw and a drill, which function realistically and emit battery-powered sounds. The entire thing has more than 50 parts, including a flashlight, a phone, and everything else a kid needs to fall in love with home repair.
A modern dollhouse
Hape's three-story All Seasons House is bright, gender neutral, and open on all sides. My daughter loved that she could reach into any room from almost any spot to adjust the furniture and play with the wooden people (sold separately). I liked the extra furniture sets and accessories we could buy (like these pets). This was a staple toy during her toddler and preschool years—until we got a puppy who eventually devoured everything in the dollhouse, including the two families who lived there. (Note: The price of this item recently jumped from $155 to $200; you may want to consider checking to see if anyone in your area is selling a lightly used, pre-owned dollhouse on Facebook Marketplace or in a local online parents' group.)
The swiftest scooter
When she was 3, my second daughter received a Micro Kickboard Mini Deluxe scooter for Hanukkah. It's Wirecutter's pick for the best scooter for kids under 5, and any doubts I had about the value of such a pricey scooter for a preschooler were blown away once I saw how my daughter handled the Micro Mini compared with the cheaper scooters she'd borrowed from friends at the park. Other models were wobbly, clanky, difficult to steer, and laborious to propel. She zips and glides around on the Micro Mini with ease, deftly navigating turns by shifting her weight, and using the foot brake on the back wheel to slow down and stop. She still has lots of room to grow with this super-durable scooter; thanks to the easily adjustable handlebar, the Micro Mini can comfortably fit kids up to age 5, which also means multiple kids can use it. (Tip: Extending the scooter's handlebar to full height makes it convenient for an adult to tow a tuckered-out kid home.) When the time does come to graduate to the next size up, we recommend the Micro Maxi Deluxe, as described in this ode.
A classic red trike
The Schwinn Roadster, Wirecutter's recommendation for the best low-rider tricycle, is built for confident pedalers who are ready to tear up some ground. Unlike other trikes that have plastic or foam tires, the Schwinn's are air-filled like a bicycle's, making it a grippier and faster ride. The trike's heftier build and low center of gravity (it's a riff on the classic Big Wheel) give it the stability needed to handle faster, tighter turns, making it a thrilling ride for a 3-year-old. And with its shiny red-and-silver metal body, black tassels on the handlebars, a bell, and a wooden deck in back (a platform where a friend can hitch a ride), you can't beat the Schwinn for style.
Adoptable animals
Like many kids, my second daughter developed a full-blown fascination with animals at around age 3. In her case, it was monkeys, monkeys, and more monkeys. After amassing a sizable collection of monkey stuffed animals, a monkey necklace, and other monkey swag, she informed me she was ready for a real, live one. Instead, for a $50 sponsorship we "adopted" a squirrel monkey named Chestnut at our local zoo in Philadelphia. We printed and framed the accompanying adoption certificate that states my daughter is now Chestnut's "zoo parent," and paired it with a stuffed squirrel monkey from Wild Republic (which offers dozens of stuffed creatures in both small and extra-large sizes, as well as these beautiful birds that make authentic bird calls and were produced in partnership with the National Audubon Society). If you don't have a similar program at your local zoo, the World Wildlife Fund offers adoptions for more than a hundred species, so it's likely you'll find whatever animal your kid adores, whether it's a three-toed sloth or a pangolin. Each adoption comes with a stuffed animal, an adoption certificate, a photo, an information card about the species, and a reusable WWF tote bag.
Pedal bike perfection
After mastering the art of gliding on a Woom 1 balance bike (the upgrade pick in our guide to the best balance bikes, and a recommendation in our gift guide for 1-year-olds), my 3½-year-old has leveled up to this model: a real bike with pedals! So far it's been the perfect entryway. Like all of the Austin-based company's bikes, the Woom 2 Pedal Bike is thoughtfully designed for the needs of the youngest riders. With a low standover height and a weight of just over 12 pounds, it's easy for a small human to mount and operate. The BMX-style riser handlebar puts kids in a comfortable upright position, so they can look around while cruising the neighborhood streets. Two hand brakes are suitably sized for little fingers. When my daughter was first getting started on the Woom 2, we removed the pedals and let her continue to push off with her feet and glide on the bike until she got used to steering and braking. Then we raised the quick-release adjustable saddle an inch or so and added the pedals. She's still trying to build past a dozen or so wobbly rotations, but the basics are there. It's cool to see what kids can do when they have a bike that's designed for them.
—Additional reporting by Julie Kim
About your guides
Caitlin Giddings is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared in Bicycling, Runner's World, Lonely Planet, Outside magazine, and more.
Bedroom Ideas For 12 Year Olds
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-toys-gifts-for-3-year-olds/
