TinyStepper

Activities for 3 Year Olds

Play ideas for toddlers aged 36–47 months — when pretend play, storytelling, and social skills take off. These activities stretch growing minds while keeping things fun and manageable.

Activities for 3 Year Olds
Age:For 3-year-olds (36–47 months)Browse a different age →
Energy:
682activities

Act Out the Book

After reading a favourite story, act it out together — your child becomes the main character and relives the plot.

3y4y20 mins

Category Sorting Chat

Sort a jumbled pile of objects into groups — food, animals, clothes, vehicles — and explain why each one belongs there.

3y4y10 mins

Opposite Hunt

Race around the house finding opposite pairs — big and small, hot and cold, heavy and light — building vocabulary through physical discovery.

3y4y10 mins
No prep

Rhyming Washing Line

Peg picture cards onto a string and match pairs that rhyme — a hands-on way to hear sound patterns in words.

3y4y15 mins

Sound Swap Silliness

Swap the first sound of familiar words to make silly nonsense — 'banana' becomes 'ganana' and giggles follow.

3y4y10 mins
No prep

What Comes First?

Put daily routine steps in the right order — wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed — building the narrative sequencing that underpins reading.

3y4y10 mins

Word Collector Jar

Collect interesting new words on slips of paper throughout the day and drop them in a special jar to revisit at bedtime.

3y4y10 mins

Back-to-Back Drawing

Siblings sit back to back and describe what they're drawing for the other to copy — building listening, communication, and giggly cooperation.

2y4y15 mins

Beanbag Balance

Balance a beanbag on different body parts while moving.

2y4y8 mins

Big Sister Brother Promise Book

Make a tiny home-stitched book together — each page is one thing your toddler can do as a big sister or brother. Builds the proud identity that protects against the regression to come.

2y4y15 mins

Brave Phrases Practice

Teach your toddler three simple sentences they can say to themselves when they wake up scared in the night — short, calm, repeatable phrases that fit in their head when nothing else does.

2y4y5 mins
No prep

Bravery Roll Call

A bedtime ritual where you and your toddler name three brave things they did today — climbing the slide, trying a new food, sleeping in their own bed last night. Builds the felt sense of being brave.

2y4y5 mins
No prep

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