Things my 3.5 year old loved
Here are some of the toys and activities that my 3.5 year old son absolutely loves right now.
Activity/Science/Sensory Play
Kits, Activities and Crafts
The kinetic sand treasure hunt kit is a major winner for him. They have smaller size treasure chests as well, but I like the larger one because it's big enough that I can hide some of his small cars or animals in there for new treasure.
We got really into making baking soda and vinegar volcanoes for a while. I saw this set and thought it would be an easy and fun alternative. It does take some adult help as it's for older kids but he finds collecting the creatures and matching them w...
Extra Beaker Creature Pods
The excitement from watching the little leaves sprout up in the container was enough to turn my little into a green thumb. He's now grown and started planting potted fruits and veggies but still talks about his caterpillar grass.
Books
This classic is #1 in our house right now - comes on every car ride and outing as well.
We're big fans of the Pout Pout Fish series
We love this book, it's a lot of fun, tons of colours and a great entertaining read for the kids.
Can't forget the classics, of course there needs to be some Seuss on the list.
This was his first ever favourite and he still loves it
I like to buy the boys a book for each holiday or special occasion when possible. We got this one for Valentines day this year and it hasn't fallen out of the rotation yet.
We love the Hungry Caterpillar so this workbook is perfect for pre-school practice.
This is a fantastic interactive book that teaches about primary and secondary colours. It's a lot of fun.
I can recite this book by heart because of how many times my children have asked me to read it to them. Dino Dance is a must.
Toys
Toys that our son is particularly excited about right now.
Extra characters for your Mario Kart races
Our whole family loves Magnatiles. The building possibilities are endless. We like making car tracks or ball runs and seeing how tall our rainbow towers can go.
There are so many different expansion kits for the Magnatiles, but we like the ones with the car and window inclusions. This way our buildings and rocket ships have windows and we can make cars or trains too.
Playing grocery store is a big hit at our house right now. This Learning Resources set is great. We love the colour sorting baskets for the fruit and veggies.
Our son saw the Super Mario Bros movie and instantly fell in love with the characters and stories. This track has boosters and shells and imitates the classic Mario Kart video game.
We went to Disney this year and after riding Midway Mania as many times as possible, our son came home with a major affinity for Buzz and Woody everything.
The authentic Woody to go with Buzz
This Magnatiles expansion set allows you to turn your builds into a fully magnetic race track. So much fun and the possibilities are endless.
Outdoor Play
Our son loves his “oculators”. We pack them in his backpack when we go on adventures. He also loves when we plan scavenger hunts for him to find things to bring back on our walks.
Parent Approved Apps
We try to make sure that his screen time is as educational as possible, here are some apps that we like.
As a parent I really like SpeechBlubs and their approach to language learning. Our son liked the short YouTube videos about animals so we downloaded the app and he still loves it. The app tailors the activities to your Childs skill level and progress...
This app has helped with his interest in tracing letters and is a fun way to expand on sight words and phonics.
Bath Time
Our boys and nieces love Bubble Whoosh bubble bath. It safely turns the water a vibrant colour and smells lovely.
Our boys and nieces love Bubble Whoosh bubble bath. It safely turns the water a vibrant colour and smells lovely.
Similar to the Bubble Whoosh but bath bomb style. They also get a fun shaped sponge when the bath bomb is done.
Lego
We've officially entered the Lego era. Here are some of the sets that he's picked out that have required minimal help from adults and keep him entertained for the longest.
He loves the Lego City police set(s). We have a few of the smaller expansion sets as well to add to his city.
When my husband first brought this home I was not impressed about the almost 1,000 piece set. But there are so many options to build and it's currently on sale!
I pre-ordered this one for Christmas as soon as the Lego obsession started. I can't wait for him to build another one of his own decorations to display around then ouse at Christmas.
I thought this set was too cute and expected my kids to like the car and camper more than anything. To my surprise the biggest hit in the set is the little campfire with a hot dog, bone for Pluto and marshmallows for roasting. They're too cute!
We'll pull the Duplo out when the little brother is still awake because there are less choke-able pieces. Buzz Lightyear is a big hit in this house so this set was a must have for our littles.