33 Best Toys for 3-Year-Old Girls That Are Educational and Endlessly Fun
These popular gift ideas are a hit with our Lab experts and kid testers.
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When kids turn 3, their minds take a big leap, and getting gifts for kids this age is all about sparking their imaginations. "Dress-up accessories can add some zing to their pretend play," says Rebecca Parlakian, M.A., E.D., a parenting expert from Zero to Three. "Think of a construction worker helmet and set of toy tools, and how they give children a chance not just to take on this role but also explore how these objects work."
Immersive toys that foster this kind of pretend play also help nurture their motor, problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adds Gayle Kligman, M.Ed., the executive chairman of Family of Kidz. Many toys for 3-year-olds will help them develop skills across a wide range of categories, from science and math to hand-eye coordination and strategy.
With these criteria in mind, the Good Housekeeping Institute toy experts have selected these as the best toys and gifts for 3-year-old girls in 2025. We include a mix of toys that were tested by Lab experts and were highly rated by their kid testers, best-selling items and editor's picks.
Ruby's Gem Quest Game
In this game, kids play as Ruby the Dragon, who has to fly across the kingdom and collect gems of different colors. To pick them up, players use a dragon-shaped scooper that works the same way a scissor does, getting them ready to learn scissor skills in a safe way. "She loved the scissor tool!" a parent of a toy tester told us. Ages 3+
Talk about a feast for the senses — these plush aren't just fun to squeeze, they're each scented with a different fragrance. In addition to the cinnamon roll snail, you can collect a strawberry ladybug, a green apple caterpillar or a lemon meringue pie bumble bee. Good Housekeeping Institute testers loved the way they smelled. Ages 3+
Get her role-playing as her favorite Disney princesses with this one-stop royal wardrobe. It comes with four full outfits, plus necklaces, headbands, stickers and even a soft tiara. This trunk features outfits themed to Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle, but there's a second version with outfits for Tiana, Ariel, Jasmine and Rapunzel. The clothes fit sizes 4 to 6x, so they'll be a little big on your 3-year-old, but she'll grown into them. Ages 3+
Frances Lincoln Children's Books 'My First Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker' Book
Six musical buttons provide 10-second clips of the famous score from The Nutcracker, which gives kids another dimension in which to enjoy to the story. It's perfect for people who want to gear up to go see the famous ballet. “I want to take my son to see The Nutcracker this year, since he enjoyed the book so much,” said one parent. Ages 3+
LeapFrog My Own Leaptop
For kids who want their own "device," this lets kids type in a letter and hear the sound and see a little animation of an animal whose name begins with that letter — a great pre-reading toy. In addition, it plays songs, does guessing games and gives animal facts. Ages 3+
Magna-Tiles Castle Set
There are some kids who, when you give them Magna-Tiles, will always build a castle no matter what. Give them more of what they want with this set, which comes with a drawbridge, spiral staircases, balconies, windows and even a dragon so they can build the palaces of their dreams. Toy testers say they loved the special pieces, including sparkling ones, and used them for both castle-building and open-ended construction. We recently named it the best overall magnetic toy for kids. Ages 3+
You get two puzzles in one with this set, with a beautiful illustration of a splash park on one side and a counting grid on the reverse. At 24 pieces, it's the perfect amount of challenge for this age, and the pieces are the right size and sturdiness for preschoolers. Ages 3+
Melissa & Doug Slice and Bake Wooden Cookie Set
You can almost smell these cookies baking in the pretend oven. Kids really get to play out lots of parts to the cookie-baking process: They can "slice" the dough with the pretend spatula, arrange them on the cookie sheet (with velcro), put them in the oven (wearing the oven mitt, of course) and then decorate with toppings and sprinkles (which also attach with velcro). When they're done, the cookies can be stored in a tube. Ages 3+
Just Play Disney Junior Ariel Groove & Glow Doll
Fans of Ariel on Disney Junior will love to hear songs and phrases from the show when they press this doll's shell necklace. She has long, thick hair and hair beads to play with, but the best part is when you take her into the water she spouts a water skirt. A tester family took this doll to the beach and said it held up to a week of vigorous play! Ages 3+
Melissa & Doug PAW Patrol Mighty Skye Role Play Pack
Looking for a great gift for a 3-year-old girl? For this mission you'll need ... Skye! This set lets her become her favorite Mighty Pup with a backpack with fold-out wings, a mask, cuffs, a pup pad and patches. It's great for sparking imaginative adventures, and Good Housekeeping Institute testers said their kids love putting on all the gear and pretending to fly. Ages 3+
The stems, pistils, petals, stamens and leaves of these flowers are all interlocking and interchangeable, so kids can build the garden they've always imagined. Snapping them together will help work on their fine motor coordination. Ages 3+
Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets Arctic Snow Explorer
Good Housekeeping Lab pros and kid testers alike have long been wowed by Crayola's Scribble Scrubbie pets, which lets kids color designs onto the flocked fur, wash them off and color again. These arctic friends add an extra dimension of fun: They have color-changing effects, turning white in warm water, and blue in cold water. The set comes with three pets, markers, two tubs and an arctic vehicle that doubles as storage. Ages 3+
They can dress up their drawings, glam up those projects and decorate their lunch boxes and other supplies with this four-page book featuring sticker gems in all sorts of shapes and sizes. For kids who love to collect stickers, this gives them something a little 3D to play with. Ages 3+
Battat Two n' One Wooden Kitchen Café
Wow, is this a great price for the play value! Kids can pretend this wooden playset is either a kitchen or a restaurant, where they can write the day's specials on a chalkboard. The oven opens and closes, the knobs turn, it is comes with 30 toys, including pretend food and plastic dishware. Ages 2+
Kisd will love mixing up the pieces of this LEGO set's various plants (a carrot, a watermelon and a tomato) and animals (bee, snail and ladybug). Along the way, they might learn a thing or two about how plants grow, because it also has pieces related to water and sunshine. Toy testers liked how this wasn't too challenging for the little builders to use on their own. Ages 18 months+
Melissa & Doug Wooden Get Well Doctor Activity Center
The best part about buying this toy for your kids? By pretending to be a doctor, you can hope that they'll be less afraid of the real doctor's office. This wooden play set comes with a waiting room, exam room and a check-in area so your kid can familiarize themselves with all aspects of going to a doctor's appointment. With this gift, kids can pretend to fill out your patient file and take your blood pressure. For a smaller and more affordable option, you can go with the Melissa & Doug's vet set, which encourages empathy when kids practice giving care to their stuffed animals. Ages 3+
Positively Perfect Dreamers Willow Doll
This doll is unique because while the size is big — it's 18 inches — the body is still soft and huggable. Good Housekeeping Institute testers also appreciated the range of skin tones and hair textures. "This doll has some of the nicest doll hair ever," one parent tester said. "It's smooth and soft and you can style it. My daughter has been putting bows, hair ties and clips in it. It has a soft body so she likes to bring it to bed with her at night." Ages 3+
Gabby's Dollhouse Celebration Dollhouse
The Gabby doll can ride the Cat-A-Vator to get around this 25-inch-tall dollhouse, complete with six rooms and a hidden attic up top. A button sets off 10 sounds and phrases from the show. It comes with 10 accessories to unbox, plus the doll. Sold separately: many inexpensive room sets to fully furnish the dollhouse, like the Primp and Pamper Bathroom with Mercat and the Bakey with Cakey Kitchen featuring a cat-shaped fridge. Ages 3+
Cry Babies Bella's Morning Routine
Kids who dawdle through their own morning might love to impose a.m. routines on this interactive doll — Bella needs to get her teeth brushed, needs to eat breakfast and needs to have her hair combed, ideally without crying. Maybe after enough times of seeing Bella clap and dance when finished with a routine, your girl will be inspired to cheerfully move through her own day! Ages 3+
Jada Toys Disney Princess Carriage RC
This remote-control vehicle for princess fans is easy for a little girl to send forward, backward or turn around. Their favorite small dolls can even ride inside. “My daughter loved the remote control and creating imaginary scenes with the carriage and her dolls,” a parent told us. Ages 3+
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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