The Best Board Games for 3-Year-Olds
Family board games continue to be a major way that we spend quality time together in our family. We often spend time near each other, but there’s a big difference between being near each other and being entirely engaged together on the same task.
Our children are currently 7 and 3, and our board game collection has continued to grow through the years. Both of our kids have lived through gaming with the family as a 2-year-old, so we’ve already collected the best board games for 2-year-olds into a list. And now our family is well-prepared to continue this series and tackle the best games for 3-year-olds.
There are many great games in our house that we’ve been playing since our 7-year-old was 3, and we’ve also been rediscovering many of them with our 3-year-old daughter throughout this year. We’ve had the benefit of observing how both of our kids can handle many different board games at that young age. The boxes might suggest that 4 or 5 years old is better, but if both of our 3-year-olds can happily play along, then we’re convinced it makes for a good recommendation for others.
Board games for toddlers often focus on learning mechanics - like taking turns, rolling dice, and drawing cards. They also very often include some sort of educational aspect - such as working on shapes or colors. I definitely appreciate the learning opportunity the games provide, but it’s pretty important to us that the learning that’s taking place takes a back seat to a well-designed, engaging, and fun game.
Another very popular thing that we look for in games for 3-year-olds is the opportunity to cooperate. There are lots of cooperative games on this list. We absolutely love cooperative board games at all ages, but especially for young players. On top of the obvious benefits of practicing teamwork, we find that it also helps put the focus on the primary goal of family game night - having fun.
The games on this list are special to us. They’ve all been favorites of either our son or our daughter, and oftentimes both. There are some that have been capturing our imagination for years, and a few that have come on the scene very recently and have blown us away with their quality. Hopefully you’ll find something new for the young board gamer in your family!
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10. Unicorn Glitterluck: Cloud Crystals
Designed by Kristen Mückel and Published by HABA
Unicorn Glitterluck is actually now a series of board games from HABA, and our daughter is a huge fan of every single one of them. A big part of that is because of the theme that seems to define everything our little girl is interested in these days: glitter, unicorns, and the color pink. Even HABA’s traditionally yellow board game box has turned pink for these games.
Cloud Crystals was the first Unicorn Glitterluck game and it’s definitely the simplest. The mechanics involve rolling and moving and collecting crystals along the way. There are rainbow shortcuts, beautiful components, and your kids will be happy to know all of the unicorns even have names. It’s a great introduction to board games if your kids jive with the theme - and definitely be on the lookout for the next Unicorn Glitterluck on our future list of the best board games for 4-year-olds.
9. Hoot Owl Hoot!
Designed by Susan McKinley Ross and Published by Peaceable Kingdom
Hoot Owl Hoot! is one of the games we’ve been playing for a very long time. In fact, it was one of the very first board games we ever bought after having our son. It’s also the first game on this list from one of our favorite publishers, Peaceable Kingdom, although it certainly won’t be the last.
I like to call Hoot Owl Hoot! a cooperative version of Candy Land on steroids. Similar to Candy Land, you play a color card and move your piece to the next spot on the board with that color. But there are actually several little owls you’re trying to get to their nest, and you can move any of them. And you also have three cards in front of you to choose from.
When you combine those mechanics with the fact that it’s a cooperative game, you’ll quickly see that there is some very interesting strategy to work on with your little ones. We also really appreciate that it’s easy to make the game harder or easier by adding or removing owls. That way we’ve been able to enjoy this one for a long time.
8. Sequence for Kids
Designed by Garrett J. Donner & Michael S. Steer and Published by Jax
Sequence for Kids is a race to be the first to connect 4 tokens on the game board. On your turn you can play one animal card and place your token on a matching animal on the board. There are some free spaces, as well as cards that allow you to remove the tokens of other players, and a wild card that lets you place your token anywhere.
The highlight of this game for many young players is very likely the adorable animals on the cards and the game board, along with the fact that they all have names - which our daughter absolutely loves. Our 3-year-old obviously hasn’t mastered the strategy of this game, but that certainly doesn’t stop her from enjoying it. It’s still a very easy to explain game that provides opportunity for creative planning - as well as preventing the plans of others.
7. Feed the Woozle
Designed by Gina Manola and Published by Peaceable Kingdom
Feed the Woozle is a dexterity game from Peaceable Kingdom that was an instant hit with our kids - especially our youngest. The general idea is that there is a monster named the Woozle that you need to feed with hilariously gross-sounding snacks. Think booger chili and hairy pickles.
On your turn you roll the dice to see how many snacks you have to carry on your spoon. Then you have to spin a spinner which will tell you how you have to feed the Woozle. Perhaps you will have to hop to him like a bunny, or spin around in circles. If any of the snacks fall off of your spoon while walking across the room to the Woozle, you don’t get to feed them to him.
The highlights of Feed the Woozle are the funny sounding foods, the fine and gross motor skill practice for little ones, and the chance for them to see their parents and older siblings acting really silly. It’s hard to argue with all of those benefits.
6. Pick Me Up, Piggy!
Designed by Kim Vandenbroucke and Published by Peaceable Kingdom
Pick Me Up, Piggy! is another cooperative game by Peaceable Kingdom, and this one focuses on memory and a little bit of storytelling. Before the game starts, you’re supposed to drop off all of your friends into four different stores and tell a little story about each one to help you remember where they are. It’s supposed to be a small part of the game, but the stories we come up with is one of my favorite parts.
After that you take turns drawing cards and driving the very cool little wooden car around the game board. If you draw one of your animal friends, you have to remember which store you left them at before you can pick them up - and you have to pick up all of your friends before you run out of gas.
The stores and the awesome wooden car probably make Pick Me Up, Piggy! the Peaceable Kingdom game with our very favorite components in it, and it’s easily an all time favorite of our daughter.
You can also find Pick Me Up, Piggy! on our list of the best cooperative games for 3-year-olds.
5. Dragon’s Breath
Designed by Günter and Lena Burkhardt and Published by HABA
Dragon’s Breath is another spectacular children’s game from HABA. In fact, it won the award for the best children’s game of the year last year. We think the title was well-deserved. We put it under our Christmas tree last year and it’s grown into one of our daughter’s favorite games. She grabs it to play with us constantly.
Dragon’s Breath is a dexterity game where everyone takes turns picking up the beautiful wooden dragon and pretending to melt the layers of ice that are holding colorful crystals inside. You then remove the top ring of ice and see which crystals come tumbling down. All of the other players have chosen a color for the round, and gather the corresponding crystals that fall into their personal caves.
Skills you’re actually working on include prediction - because you have to look and guess which crystals are going to fall next. It’s also adorable to watch little hands be as careful as possible when the remove the top layer of ice, because it benefits the player melting the ice to make as few crystals as possible fall down.
4. Race to the Treasure!
Designed by Gina Manola and Published by Peaceable Kingdom
Race to the Treasure! is easily the children’s board game that will always be filled with the most nostalgia for me. It will forever be the game I remember sharing with our son first. And it’s definitely the first game where I realized we were strategizing together and really, honestly playing a game as a team.
I also have extremely fond memories of him being terrified of the Ogre. He would peek under the cards and try to draw a different one if there was an Ogre underneath. Sometimes he would ask us to draw for him because of how scared he was. It’s just so adorable to think of. And now our daughter gets to join in on that fear!
When you draw cards, you either get a path card or an Ogre card. And you can use the path cards to build a path that connects to three keys and, at the end, a treasure chest. But you have to get to the treasure chest before you draw too many Ogre cards and he beats you to it. It’s really just a perfectly executed children’s game that’s equally engaging for us adults.
For a closer look at Race to the Treasure!, make sure to check out our featured article.
3. Animal Upon Animal Junior
Designed by Klaus Miltenberger and Published by HABA
Animal Upon Animal Junior is a spectacular new addition to the My Very First Games series from HABA - those masters of games for little ones known for their wonderful wooden pieces.
It’s also another fantastic junior version of an already-well-known board game - Animal Upon Animal. And it would make a natural addition to our article of our favorite junior games as well!
Like Animal Upon Animal, this is a dexterity game where you are trying to stack a tower of wooden animals. But it’s obviously simplified and designed to offer more to the target audience of little ones. Perhaps my favorite addition is cooperative game mode, because that’s still our favorite way to play board games with kids.
For a closer look at why we love this game so much, make sure to check out our featured article from when it won Game of the Month.
2. Monsieur Carrousel
Designed by Sara Zarian and Published by LOKI
Monsieur Carrousel is made by the relatively new publisher LOKI, which specializes in games for kids and has quickly become a family favorite and one to keep a sharp eye on. Generally I’d say their games are a good fit for ages 5+, but on the easiest mode this cooperative game is great for little ones too.
Like HABA has in the past, LOKI is making a name for itself with spectacular components in their family games - and Monsieur Carrousel is the very best example of that. You actually construct a beautiful, wooden, spinning carrousel to play this game, and it completely entrances our kids. And, don’t worry, set up is very, very quick. I don’t know about you, but our kids are always mesmerized by carrousels they spot in the wild - and we definitely can’t leave without riding.
The entire presentation of this game is outstanding - the art and the components are top notch. And the gameplay is a lot of fun for the entire family. Like many good games are doing these days, Monsieur Carrousel also offers the ability to increase the difficulty of the game. The first difficulty level is perfect for our 3-year-old, and the increasing difficulty levels might very well make Monsieur Carrousel one of the best board games for 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, and higher.
Monsieur Carrousel also has quite a lot going on, but it’s all very manageable - even for the youngest players. At heart it’s a game of memory, because you need to remember which children are riding which seat on the carrousel - an alligator, a plane, a lion? And the game also includes a clever test of spatial reasoning and estimation when you have to guess which length of sun ray you need to complete a sun beam. If all of the children make it onto the carrousel before it begins to rain, everybody wins.
Our 3-year-old caught onto the rules of this game very quickly, and I have no doubt in my mind it will be a cherished family favorite for many years. You have the option to make the game significantly more difficult to memorize all of the characters - which opens up the doors for the importance of creative teamwork. And, of course, it’s simply gorgeous.
1. My First Castle Panic
Designed by Justin De Witt and Published by Fireside Games
When I heard that Castle Panic was getting a children’s adaptation, I was ecstatic. I love the tower defense concept of Castle Panic, and I was very excited to share it with the whole family this way. Our 7-year-old is able to play the original Castle Panic with us, but My First Castle Panic is actually just as fun for him, and our 3-year-old loves it too.
This one is a cooperative game where goblins are making their way down a path to your castle. On your turn, you have a couple of cards in front of you to choose from that might help you take out the goblins - assuming they match the color and shape of the space the goblin is standing on.
There are also a few other wrinkles thrown in - such as the ability to borrow cards from others, goblins with special abilities, and a card that lets you rebuild your castle wall. It’s a very well-designed game, and it’s a great example of a game that the entire family can truly enjoy together. And now we can only sit back and hope for a My Second Castle Panic to give us another stepping stone to the original, because we can’t get enough of this tower defense.
For a closer look at My First Castle Panic, make sure to check out our featured article.
Bonus Board Games for 3-year-olds to Track Down!
The following game is a family favorite that used to be very high on this list, but is sadly out of print and more difficult to track down.
Karuba Junior
Designed by Rüdiger Dorn & Tim Rogasch and Published by HABA
Karuba Junior is similar in a lot of ways to Race to the Treasure!, and of course that’s a very good thing. Just like that game, you draw a tile on your turn, and it might be a path card or it might be bad news. The bad news in this case comes in the form of pirates racing to the beach.
What truly sets Karuba Junior apart is the absolutely amazing components. It comes with an awesome little pirate ship that’s fit for playing with all by itself, and there are also three very adorable wooden treasure hunters. I love the art of the characters, and the wooden pieces have always made this game feel very special. It certainly helps get the imagination flowing for the kids.
There’s a good amount of spatial reasoning taking place as you lay down your path tiles - trying not to block all of your options. And it definitely feels very well balanced, because we seem to win just as often as those pesky pirates do.
Karuba Junior can also be found on our lists of the best cooperative games for 5-year-olds, and the best junior versions of board games.
For more of the best family board games for each age, make sure to read:
The Best Board Games for 2-Year-Olds
The Best Board Games for 4-Year-Olds
The Best Board Games for 5-Year-Olds
The Best Board Games for 6-Year-Olds
The Best Board Games for 7-Year-Olds
The Best Board Games for 8-Year-Olds
Have you tried any of these board games with your family? What’s your 3-year-old’s favorite board game? Let us know in the comments!
