25 Best Montessori Toys for 3-Year-Olds in 2023
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Montessori toys are usually simple, aesthetically pleasing objects and made of natural materials like wood or cotton. Toys for 3-year olds should have a clear purpose and be aimed at the development of one particular skill or focused on a single concept.
Keep reading to see our picks for the best Montessori toys for 3-year old's.
- Best Overall: Animal Figurines Match Game
- Runner Up: Stack it Pegs
- Best Budget: Shape Sorting Cube
Why Should You Trust Us?
We've extensively researched and tested over 50 Montessori toys from a variety of popular brands, taking into account factors such as safety, educational value, durability, and more.
Our team has spent countless hours hands-on testing these products to provide a comprehensive and trustworthy review. Additionally, we consulted with experts in child development to ensure our recommendations align with the principles of Montessori education.
After careful consideration and analysis of our findings, we've narrowed down our selection to the top 25 Montessori toys that we believe will provide your child with the best learning and play experiences.
Best Montessori Toys for 3-Year-Olds
Montessori believes a child is drawn in by purpose, that makes him or her feel competent and significant in their world.
1. Animal Figurines Match Game
Pros:
- Can help children develop dexterity
- Improves cognitive development
- Helps children learn about different animals and their characteristics
Cons:
- Requires ongoing concentration
Animal figurines helps your 3-year-old relate to and understand the world around them and develop meaningful connections. These figurine sets can be made up of farm animals, arctic animals, safari animals, and pets. They are a great learning toy and can be used also in matching the figurines to identical sets or printed cards.
2. Stack it Pegs
Pros:
- Improves fine motor skills
- Enhances hand-eye coordination
- Develops problem-solving skills
Cons:
- Limited replay value
The Stack It Peg Game is meant to encourage fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Your 3-year-old will learn to improve dexterity and hand eye coordination when using this toy as well as improve their ability to visually track and manipulate objects.
3. Wood Fruit Set
Pros:
- Durable and long-lasting
- Improves fine motor skills
- Enhances imaginative play
Cons:
- Once the child has learned how to sort and match the fruit pieces, the game may lose its appeal.
Your 3-year-old will be excited to practice cutting with a knife on wood fruit. It’s great for pretend play and fits nicely on any work shelf. This is not only fun, promotes hand eye coordination but also helps your child transition to safety knives.
3. Play Kitchen
Pros:
- Enhances imaginative play
- Improves social and communication skills
- Develops practical life skills
Cons:
- Play kitchens can be large and take up a lot of space
3-year old's are now able to be left alone for imaginative play time. The cabinets to give your 3-year-old access to dishes and silverware as well as using the stovetop and sink for creative play.5. Musical Instruments
Pros:
- Encourages creativity and self-expression
- Improves cognitive development
- Introduces kids to different rhythms and melodies at a young age
Cons:
- May be loud
- Can be expensive
Musical instruments are a staple for Montessori learning. Your 3-year-old will enjoy the different sounds and realize the powerful impact music can have on emotional and cognitive development.
6. Hammer Toys
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Pros:
- Improves hand-eye coordination
- Helps develop dexterity and control in the fingers
- Great way for children to release pent-up energy
Cons:
- Requires adult supervision to avoid accidents.
Montessori hammer toys are especially designed for little hands and suitable for an easy grip, which is ideal for your 3 year old. These kinds of toys can help promote hand-eye coordination, improve dexterity and exercise their muscles.
7. Wood Blocks
Pros:
- Develops problem-solving skills
- Allows children to express their creativity and imagination
- Great for fine motor skills
Cons:
- Not Cheap
Wood is one that can grow with your 3-year-old for years to come. Blocks encourage your child to build, imagine, develop motor skills and even experiment with math and physics concepts. These sets are made from natural wood and finished with non-toxic paint.
8. Puzzles
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Pros:
- Helps children develop dexterity and control in their fingers
- Improves spatial reasoning
- Requires children to be patient and persistent in their efforts
Cons:
- Can be expensive
Puzzles are a classic Montessori activity and your 3-year-old can use puzzle time for matching, develop eye-hand coordination, fine motor and problem-solving skills.
9. Shape Sorting Cube
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Pros:
- Develops problem-solving skills
- Enhances fine motor skills
- Improves cognitive development by learning to recognize and match different shapes
Cons:
- Safety concerns as small shapes may be a choking hazard for young children
Shape sorting cubes are a classic Montessori childhood staple that will keep your 3-year-old busy for hours. The bright colors and chunky size objects make it easy for little hands to grasp. Your child can drop shapes into the sorting cube by fitting the pieces in the matching holes.
10. Chunky Blocks
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Pros:
- Great for hand-eye coordination
- Enhances creativity and imagination
Cons:
- Takes up a lot of space
Chunky blocks combine the simplicity of wood blocks with a colorful design. These chunky building blocks help your 3 year old develop motor skills, improve hand-eye coordination, and are a great tool for teaching colors and shapes.
11. Rainbow Stacker
Pros:
- Improves problem-solving skills
- Introduces the concepts of size, shape, and pattern recognition.
Cons:
- Takes up a lot of space
3-year-olds starting to “come into their own” when it comes to open-ended play. Having a wooden stacking rainbow on their toy shelf allows for creativity and help develop intelligence. These sets usually come with several colors and is made of a quality wood.
12. Board Books
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Pros:
- Ideal for young children who are still learning to handle books
- Great for early literacy development
Cons:
- Board books may be more expensive than paper books.
The Montessori method recommends choosing children’s books that are based in reality, include interesting details and are appropriate for a child’s age and learning level. Bright, realistic images will help with expanding their vocabulary with lots of new words.
13. Wooden Stacking & Bowls
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Pros:
- Fosters creativity and imagination
- Requires children to use spatial reasoning
Cons:
- Small pieces may get lost around the house
This toy is great for multifunctional stacking, sorting and is especially designed for Montessori teaching. Your three-year-old can stack the bowls up to make a tower and stack them inside each other in order to learn size, weight, or math.
14. Wooden Puzzle Shape Sorter
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Pros:
- Requires children to use critical thinking
- Great for problem-solving skills to fit the pieces together
Cons:
- Limited replay value
This toy will guide your 3-year-old to learn more colors, shapes and numbers when matching blocks. Your child can learn to combine objects in various ways because of the pillar base adopts upgraded design and can be separate break-up.
15. Wooden Tool Box
Pros:
- Enhances imaginative play
- Help children develop their hand-eye coordination.
- Great way for children to release pent-up energy
Cons:
- Wooden tools can pose a choking hazard for young children and should be used under adult supervision
A wooden tool box encourages imaginative play with building and designing. Your 3-year-old will develop color recognition, shape recognition, counting skills, fine motor skills and intellectual abilities. Your little one can also build many different fun shapes out of the chunky, smooth-edge wood blocks.
16. Magna Tiles
Pros:
- allows children to build a wide range of structures and designs
- Designed to encourage creativity
Cons:
- Somewhat expensive
Magna-Tiles make amazing toys for 3-year-olds these are found in Montessori classrooms. Through open-ended and imaginative play, your little one can use these tiles to build structures. This in turn helps develop fine motor skills in preparation for problem-solving skills, and spatial reasoning.
17. Peg Board
Pros:
- Simple and easy to use
- Helps develop visual memory
Cons:
- Not as durable as other toys
Your three-year-old will develop visual memory while also training the muscles of the hand using these pegs. The color matching and placing pegs will help with hand eye coordination and color recognition.
18. Paint Play
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Pros:
- Allows children to explore and experiment with color and textures
- Fosters curiosity and interest in the visual arts
Cons:
- Can be messy
Finger paints inspire creativity and sensory exploration for your 3-year-old. Painting will encourage your little one with sensory development and motor skills. These paints are non-toxic, washable and safe for artists of any age.
19. Housework Helpers Cleaning Tools
Pros:
- Simple to use
- Improves practical life skills
Cons:
- Some kids don't like cleaning
Ask your 3-year-old to help around the using child sized cleaning tools that look just like the real thing. This is an important feature in Montessori classrooms and teaches your child a sense of responsibility and how to help around the house.
20. Play Couch
Pros:
- Encourages imaginative play scenarios
- Improves gross life skills
Cons:
- Not cheap
Foam play couches are extremely popular gross motor items in Montessori homes. Your 3-year-old can stack the for fort making, climbing, relaxing, or pretend play.
21. Wooden Marble Run
Pros:
- Made of a durable materials
- Improves critical thinking in kids
Cons:
- May be complicated for some kids
This toy provides your 3-year-old endless creative building possibilities and encourages spatial thinking and problem solving. This toy comes with different color blocks and each has a different function. The gutters make the marbles go around the outside of blocks.
22. Ramp Racer
Pros:
- Kids loves racing cats
- Develops cognitive and communication skills
Cons:
- May be complicated for some kids
The Junior Ramp Racer helps your 3-year-old with hand-eye coordination and extend their attention span. It also encourages your child to take turns with others when using their own race cars. They will also develop communication skills, dexterity and repetition through playing with this Montessori toy.
23. Stacking Stones
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Pros:
- Great for creativity and self-expression
- Improves fine motor skills
Cons:
- More expensive than other toys on the list
Wooden stacking stones help develop spatial reasoning and problem solving for your 3-year-old. Stacking stones sets are colorful and a lot of fun for young children.
24. Crawling Tunnel
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Pros:
- Light yet durable
- Develops problem-solving skills
Cons:
- More expensive than other toys on the list
The crawling tunnel is a great exercise in gross motor skills and creative play for 3-year-old children. The physical play and imagination can last for hours.
25. Light Box
Pros:
- Affordable
- Improves cognitive development
Cons:
- More expensive than other toys on the list
Lightboxes can be used in so many creative ways with your 3-year-old. Translucent Lego sets and Magna-Tiles are fun to explore colors or they can trace art work.
Also Read:
- 21 Fun Montessori Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers
- The 25 Best Montessori Toys for 2 Year Olds
- 25 Best Montessori Toys for 1 Year Olds
Choosing Safe Montessori toys for 3 Year Old's
Above all we want to make sure that our child is 100% safe, that's why when it comes to Montessori toys for 3-year-olds, you should be following safety concerns as follows:
-
Choking hazard - small parts or toys with removable parts can pose a choking hazard to young children.
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Sharp edges - toys with sharp edges can cause cuts or injuries.
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Toxic materials - toys made with toxic materials or chemicals can be harmful to a child's health.
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Stability and balance - toys that are unstable or prone to tipping over can pose a risk of injury.
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Durability - toys should be durable enough to withstand rough play and not break easily.
It is recommended to always supervise young children when they play with toys and to ensure that the toys meet relevant safety standards and regulations.
Final Thoughts
Montessori toys for 3-year old's are fantastic for your child’s imagination, development and physical play. Montessori toys come in all different styles, shapes and sizes, ranging from the traditional wooden toys, to make believe kitchen sets and toddler sized tool kits.