Make-believe Party for 3 Year Old and Gift Ideas

Updated on July 17, 2010
B.C. asks from Arlington, TX
6 answers

Like lots of toddlers, my almost 3 year old (DB 10/24) is into pretend play and has a huge imagination! She has 2 pretend friends who are a lion and a spider and is always pretending to be a doctor, swiper the fox, Dora, a princess, a witch, etc. She loves dress up, babies, barbies, dollhouses, etc.
I'd love to have a make-believe type of party for her since she's so into it. My ideas for my gifts are a broom, dress-up clothes, a new doctor set and jacket, and maybe for Christmas a new play kitchen. Other ideas are welcomed. I'd love some thoughts on ideas for the party and other gift suggestions for pretend play. She has a Dora dollhouse and a baby doll changing station already.
My mom is a cake decorator, and can make the cake, I just have to give her the idea for it. is 3 too young for a costume party? It's so close to halloween that's why I ask given the theme and all...

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K.A.

answers from Dallas on

I don't three is too young at all for a costume party! My kids have been dressing up for Halloween since they were born, and always dress up for all the different Halloween/Fall activities we go to in October. You could choose a specific theme (such as Disney characters or animals), or just let Halloween be the theme.

As far as gift ideas, my kids loved Little People at that age - the zoo, the stable, the school, Noah's Ark, etc. The toys last forever.

Have fun!

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Costume party sounds cute esp. since the kids (and their parents) would probably love an opportunity for the kids to wear their costumes more than once before they outgrow them!

when my daughters were 3, one of their preschool classmates had a "Dora" party where they hired one of the preschool teachers to dress up as Dora and pass maps to all the guests, who followed her out to the backyard where they had some games, and the teacher's fiance was Swiper the fox - it was really cute!

N.P.

answers from San Francisco on

Our daughters would probably be great friends. Mine also has two imaginary friends, one she calls "the man" and the other is "the spider". She also spent all day as baby swiper and told me I had to be mama swiper. I spent a lot of time today yelling, "OH MAN!" when she told me to stop swiping...

There's one thing she LOVES a whole bunch and that's tents. She'd probably go ape over a wooden playhouse but we don't have the cash yet to buy one of those prebuilt playhouses for the backyard so she has two mini tents that she plays house in. They fold up which is great. One is a disny princess tent with windows and roll up doors and the other is a little bug tent with a skylight and she brings her toys in there and plays and the cats get in there and she plays with them.

She adores little boxes that have latches that she can put things in. She has a bunch of little plastic animals she calls her "puppies" that she organizes into little $3 wooden boxes that I picked up at Michael's craft store. I bought a bag of sparkly fake gems for about $3 but didn't let her see them. I told her if she left her treasure boxes out on the kitchen table, tinkerbell would come and decorate them for her. After she went to bed I bedazzled the boxes with the help of a little gel superglue and she adores them.

She loves collecting polished rocks so I pick a few up every now and then from this toy store that has a bin of them and give them to her to put in her treasure boxes.

She likes foam swords. And hats with feathers in them. She doesn't have a play kitchen but she has a shopping cart and a bunch of play food. She doesn't play with the plastic food at all but she loves the shopping cart. She has a bunch of stuffed birds that tweet when you squeeze them and she loads the car up with them and takes them for a walk.

She loves stuff that lights up in the dark. Glow sticks, magic tinkerbell wands, flashlights etc.

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

When My girl turned 3 we had a princess party at Micky Ds. I asked all the girls to wear thier pretty pretty princess dress. At the party I put blush, lipgloss and glitter on them. I gave crowns as favors. I had the boys dress up as anything that would protect the princess. My son decided that was a pirate. Another boy came as a cowboy. We had a policeman too. I didn't have to plan any games. At that age, they just wanted to run around in circles, chasing and laughing.

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J.D.

answers from Dallas on

I actually think having a costume party around Halloween is perfect. The kids get to wear their costumes more than once and Mom and Dad don't have to go looking for costumes in the off-season.

As for themes, just pick a show she likes and hand out masks, hats or some other key feature of the character. Or, you could pick a few of her favorite shows and have dress up/pretend stations. It sounds like fun!

My daughter just turned 3 last month... This age has its challenges, but it is so amazing the things they come up with. :)

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

That sounds like SUCH a fun party! My little sister was born 11/2 and she had costume parties at a very young age, so you can definitely do that for your little girl. Have you seen the big box of dress up clothes at Costco? It's around $35 and comes with several different skirts & dresses plus some accessories.

If you have room in your house, I sell a really fun playhouse through Discovery Toys that I think your daughter will love! Each side is decorated to look like a different business, so it has a schoolhouse, restaurant, puppet stage and pet hospital. It is perfect for a 3 year old who is into pretend play (I have a 3 year old, too!). Check it out here: http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?P...

K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao

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