Best Helicopter Toys for 3 & 4 Year Olds

By: Mary

Boys and girls find helicopters fascinating and love watching one of these twirly birds fly through the air which is why we’ve put together a list of the best helicopter toys for 4 year old kids that will keep your child engaged in hours of fun.

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Receiving a toy helicopter as a gift will make your child’s eyes light up and will guarantee that they will enjoy hours of imaginative play.

Here Are Our Top 3 Helicopter Toy Picks

Our top pick: Playmobil Canyon Copter Rescue Set

Second place: LEGO City Police Small Helicopter

Third place: Green Toys Helicopter for the youngest future helicopter pilots

A Word from a Psychologist

Written By: Psychologist Natasha Tanic

  • Helicopter toys encourage a child to engage in pretend-play and learn about the world around them

Dramatic Play Gives Kids a Sense of Freedom and Independence

When your child plays with helicopter toys independently, they learn to be self-sufficient instead of depending on others for attention and entertainment. 

Pretend play with helicopter toys can promote self-control, helping kids verbalize their emotions and work through them. Independent play also encourages the child’s self-awareness and confidence. 

Playing with others with helicopter toys gives kids a lot of interaction.

It allows kids to explore different life situations and pretend to be different characters children.

This way, children learn to communicate, negotiate, take turns, and become responsible.

Best Helicopter Toys For Three and Four Year Olds

Vtech Switch and Go Dinos Blister The Velocriptor Dinosaur

Giving your 4 year old the Vtech Switch and Go Dinos Blister The Velocriptor Dinosaur is like giving your child two toys in one since this toy switches from a helicopter to a dinosaur and back again.

Kids love the fact that they can simply press a button and the helicopters propeller turns of the searchlight shines.

Best of all the helicopter actually launches a small toy rocket and makes realistic helicopter sounds when you child pretends to fly the helicopter.

In dinosaur mode, Blister says several phrases and makes a variety of entertaining sounds your child will enjoy hearing over and over again. This toy does take 2 AA batteries (included).

Why We Recommend The Vtech Switch And Go Dinos Blister the Velocriptor Dinosaur

  1. Fun helicopter toys for children 4 years old as well as slightly younger and a couple of years older
  2. This toy tends to be a favorite of children for two or three years, making it excellent value for money
  3. Blister encourages your child to engage in imaginative play
  4. Although the toy tends to be loud, there is a volume control
  5. This dinosaur/helicopter is quite durable according to parents
  6. There are other toys in this set, so your child can collect them all

Fisher-Price Imaginext DC Super Friends Batcopter

If your four year old likes Batman, then he or she will love creating their own Batman adventures with this Fisher-Price Imaginext DC Super Friends Batcopter and small Batman figurine.

Made from durable plastic, this black, blue, and yellow helicopter is tons of fun.

Kids love that they can use the landing gear to pick up the bad guys right off the ground, plus the rotating blades really spin!

Best of all, the bottom of the cockpit opens so Batman can slip inside as he heads out to save the world!

Why We Recommend The Fisher-Price Imaginext DC Super Friends Batcopter

  1. Kids have a great deal of fun loading and unloading Batman and other small figures in the helicopter and flying them around
  2. This helicopter requires no batteries and is powered purely by your child’s imagination
  3. Really encourages imaginative play as your child makes up adventures and acts them out with their batman figure
  4. Batman easily fits inside the helicopter
  5. The Batman helicopter is well made and is a great looking toy for 4 year olds
  6. This helicopter will hold up under a young child’s rough play

Green Toys Rescue Boat With Helicopter

The Green Toys Rescue Boat with Helicopter is actually a 4 piece set, which includes a tug type boat, helicopter, and a boat captain duck and pilot bear.

The boat and helicopter can be played with together or separately, and is sure to provide hours of fun for your little one.

The helicopter has a hook to which you can attach a small string to carry items underneath the chopper.

Children like that this boat and helicopter is sturdily built for hours upon hours of play.

Why We Recommend The Green Toys Rescue Boat With Helicopter

  1. Provides your 4 year old with hours of fun as they sail the boat or fly the helicopter on all sorts of rescue missions
  2. This rescue boat with helicopter is high quality and made from 100% recycled materials
  3. Your child gets 4 sturdy toys in one little package
  4. These helicopter toys encourage your child to engage in open ended imaginative play
  5. Perfect size for both indoor and outdoor play
  6. Made in the USA
  7. Since there are four toys, your child can learn to cooperatively play with others
  8. BPA, Phthalates, and PVC free

Matchbox Power Launcher Helicopter

This cool red and white Matchbox Power Launcher Helicopter is the perfect helicopter toy for 4 year olds who love search and rescue play adventures!

Your child will love the manual activation as well as the launch mechanism.

The car carrier can hold up to three 1:16 model cars at one time and comes with one vehicle so your toddler is ready to fly high!

The rotors spin and there is a car grappling hook for picking up cars and carrying them to a new location.

There is also a ramp to load vehicles inside of the helicopter.

Your child will have fun loading up vehicles and then ‘flying them’ from one location to another and unloading them.

Why We Recommend The Matchbox Power Launcher Helicopter

  1. Helicopter is designed to be a scaled realistic model of a real power launcher, providing your child with hours of fun play
  2. Nicely detailed, which will allow your child to discover something new about this toy every time they play with it
  3. The Matchbox power launcher helicopter is durable and should withstand a 4 year olds rough play
  4. Kids love the various moving parts on this helicopter and will spend hours raising and lowering the ramp, closing the grappling claws around other vehicles and spinning the rotors
  5. Provides your child with plenty of opportunities to stretch their imagination as they play with toy, shipping and hauling various cars
  6. Can hold 3 cars and come with a car to really get your child engrossed in playing with it
  7. Fantastic value for money as your child is getting two toys in one

Dickie Toys Light And Sound Helicopter

The Dickie Toys Light and Sound Helicopter has plenty of features to keep your child actively playing and exploring for hours on end.

This toy comes with spinning helicopter blades, light and sound effects, a winch that can be wound up and down, and a siren to alert the less fortunate that help is on the way.

It also comes with doors that open and close, and even a rescue basket to save those who need to be transported to a medical facility.

This brightly colored helicopter is good size for 4 year olds to hold and play with.

The inside of this light and sound helicopter is large enough to put people inside.

While it doesn’t come with people figures, your child could maybe use toy figures they already have or you can buy figures that would work well.

The helicopter does take 3 AA batteries, which are not included so make sure you have some on hand before gifting this toy to your child.

Why We Recommend The Dickie Toys Light And Sound Helicopter

  1. Helicopter has lots of fun features which your child will enjoy exploring
  2. Perfect for imaginative play since your child can make up their own rescue adventures
  3. Made from durable plastic, this toy helicopter is sturdy and able to withstand the rougher play of 4 year olds
  4. With buttons to push and the winch to operate, this helicopter toy will help your child develop their hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills
  5. Helicopter will hold different size people figures, so your child can have a pilot as well as people to rescue
  6. There are plenty of fun sounds to keep your child entertained for hours on end
  7. Toy helicopter is a good size for small children

Melissa And Doug Created By Me Rescue Vehicle

The Melissa and Doug Created By Me Rescue Vehicles is a set of three wooden vehicles; a police car, fire engine and helicopter that your 4 year old puts together and paints and then applies stickers.

Once the vehicles are made, your child then has custom made toys to play with.

This craft and toys set comes with three automobiles, five axles, ten wheels, two wooden propellers, pegs and stands, stickers, paint and brushes and glue.

It’s a great toy for children who enjoy creating crafts, allowing them to make toys just like in the olden days.

Why We Recommend The Melissa and Doug Created By Me Rescue Vehicle

  1. This craft kit gives your child hours of fun, assembling and painting these vehicles and then playing with the toys
  2. Assembling the toys, painting them, as well as placing stickers on the various vehicles, will improve their fine motor skills
  3. Doing these crafts will help your child develop hand-eye coordination
  4. Kids love customizing their own toys to play with
  5. Your child will love playing with these toys that they ‘make’ with their own hands
  6. Parents can work with their child in creating these toys making for good bonding time
  7. As the set comes with three vehicles, your child can share and play with siblings or friends
  8. Helps your child to expand their imagination and storytelling skills

PlaySkool Heroes Transformers Rescue Bots Griffin Rock Rescue Team

Children love transformer toys, since these toys provide double the fun by giving your child two toys in one.

This PlaySkool Heroes Transformer Rescue Bots Griffin Rock Rescue Team is based on a familiar show that young children love watching.

This fun transformer set comes with 4 rescue bots; Boulder a construction bot, Blade a helicopter bot, Heatwave a fire truck bot, and Chase a police bot.

Each of the figures are around 4.5 inches giving your child plenty of toys to play with alone or with friends.

Why We Recommend The PlaySkool Heroes Transformer Rescue Bots Griffin Rock Rescue Team

  1. With 4 transforming toys, your child will have tons of fun making up their own adventures
  2. These toys are easy for your child to transform from a robot to vehicle and back again
  3. The toys are pretty rugged and able to withstand transforming them again and again
  4. These transformer rescue toys inspire your child to use their imagination
  5. With 4 toys, your child can learn sharing and cooperative play
  6. As your child acts out their own adventures, they will be improving their verbal skills

What Else Is Available

Walmart.com

Pilotmall.com

Frequently Asked Questions

How do flying toys help kids?

Flying toys are great for kids because they build their teamwork and communication skills as they play with friends.

They also stimulate imagination as the child imagines flying a real helicopter/plane. This could even cause them to have deep interest in pursuing piloting as a future career, who knows?

Are police helicopter toys good for kids?

Police toys are fantastic for kids because they help them learn how to role play and pretend play.

Role playing makes them perceive things from different perspectives and also appreciate how people interact with one another.

How can I clean my helicopter toy set?

If they’re wooden, use a spray bottle and a soft cloth to spray water on the toy and wipe it off. Avoid using too much water because wood will absorb it all, taking longer to dry and reducing the lifespan.

For plastic toys, if they’re not battery-operated, you can put them in a dishwasher, or wash by hand.

What is pretend play?

Pretend play is a type of play in which kids experiment playing different roles using their imaginations.

For instance, rushing to an imaginary rescue scene using the police helicopter set as an imaginary police officer and acting how they see real life officers do.

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