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JennGM
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Specifically, Thomas the Tank wooden train sets. I was at the mall today which has a hobby shop with two platforms. Ds played and concentrated for over an hour (we were getting portraits done).
I'd love to hear feedback. Is this a "Montessori approved" kind of toy?
I had a list of things for Christmas for ds (age 2) and my husband thought I needed to add some "toys" to the list, like cars or something. I've been opposed to the TTT stuff because I thought it was a "character," but now seeing it in action, I'm rethinking. I have a space for a platform....
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Jennifer G. Miller
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kingvozzo
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My 7 y/o loved Thomas--he still plays with the set. My 2 y/o is just getting into it now. Thank Goodness, because we have a lot, and it cost a lot of money 
We started getting the Thomas stuff when he was maybe a bit younger than your son. My dh had some Brio trains that ds liked to play with, and we just expanded from there.
2 suggestions, if you don't mind. I would NOT buy the Thomas table, because it's way too much, and I don't think it's much better. If possible, try to stay with the Thomas or Brio brand track because they're not only stronger, but the companies will replace anything that breaks.
Also, the original Thomas stories are very nice. We actually wore out our first copy, and my older son never saw the show (or the movie--Magic Railroad--which came out when he was about 2 or so) and did not suffer from the lack of it. Original Thomas the Tank Engine Stories
If I recall, they do use the word stupid, and "shut up" I think (both no-nos in our house), but that's easy to edit out with a pre-reader. Plus, each story in the book is short. I think there's 48 of them.
Hope this helps.
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kingvozzo
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This is a nice game too--color and picture matching
Barnyard Bingo
I think we'll be on our second set of this, also. When my older boy got it, it didn't have a carrying case, so we lost some of the pieces. So the bigger kids might get that for their baby brother.
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Noreen
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guitarnan
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Our Brio railway set has lasted 11 years (so far). We are keeping it so ds can give it to his own children. He played with it for years. The table is limiting; my son and his buddy built huge tracks and used all our wooden blocks to build cities, planets, etc. (Wooden blocks also last forever!)
In my mind, creative toys (building sets, Lego, etc.) are worth the investment. They last, they encourage imagination, and they don't have screens or silly noises.
Just my two cents.
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Mary G
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Jenn -- I just started my 3yos on TTT -- he loves the wooden set by Learning Curve -- and you can "cheat" a bit as TTT wooden work with Brio and just about all wooden tracks -- I actually picked up a big bucket of more tracks and buildings, trees, etc at Target for $30 to add to his Santa set!
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JennGM
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Oh, thanks everyone for your help! I've got to get DH to see it to "seal the deal", but I think this is where we are headed. I was so overwhelmed at the store at trying to think where to begin to start the set.
How about this set from Costco? Is that a good price? Is this a good set? Julie's Stuff has TC Timber, another brand of train tracks that she says are compatible.
My mind is just reeling as to where to start and what's the best buy, etc.!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Jamberry77
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Hi Jenn,
If you have Michaels Craft Store by you, they may have TTE goods and you can use the coupons for the things. My oldest son was "Train Fanatic #1" and is now 7 1/2 and still occasionally plays with trains. Don't get the table; you'll want tracks to go everywhere, even under the couch legs. Also, when your son gets older and you get bridges/ascending tracks, remember that stacking Duplo Legos are just right for supporting the track. Some of our cheaper track pieces have broken but I still think it's worthwhile to get the heavy duty pieces (like switches) from TTE or Brio or TC Timber, and get plain tracks from cheap places.
Also, our son was given The Complete Collection of Thomas the Tank Engine Stories by the Rev. Awdry (a hefty book) and we read those stories every day for years. (They are the same as the little books mentioned previously.) By the way, these stories offer fantastic vocabulary for little ones and lots of crashes and accidents which boys love. So if he starts loving trains, this would be a good book, otherwise stick with one or two of the small books.
Also, don't buy too much at first. See if he likes them a little or a lot. You can always buy more as he gets older.
Peep! Peep!
Kelly in NC
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JennGM
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Don't get the table? Hmmm...then some more basic questions. How do the tracks lay on carpet? I don't want to add frustration!
How do you organize if you don't have a table with drawers? I go crazy when toys are left out. If he has a place that a toy specifically belongs to and can stay out, my sanity can be restored...but of course, I don't want to stifle him.
Thanks for dealing with a clueless mom on all this!
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Mary G
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Jamberry77 wrote:
Also, our son was given The Complete Collection of Thomas the Tank Engine Stories by the Rev. Awdry (a hefty book) and we read those stories every day for years. (They are the same as the little books mentioned previously.) By the way, these stories offer fantastic vocabulary for little ones and lots of crashes and accidents which boys love. So if he starts loving trains, this would be a good book, otherwise stick with one or two of the small books.
Kelly in NC |
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Kelly,
My now almost 7 yos had us read to him from this every day -- sometimes 2 or 3 times in a day. It got so bad the binding went KAPLOOY! We took it to OfficeMax and had them rebind with a spiral cover -- the pages are sturdy and the spiral has saved this classic for us. Now 3 yos loves looking at the pictures and hearing the stories!
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MaryG
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Mary G
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jenngm67 wrote:
Don't get the table? Hmmm...then some more basic questions. How do the tracks lay on carpet? I don't want to add frustration!
How do you organize if you don't have a table with drawers? I go crazy when toys are left out. If he has a place that a toy specifically belongs to and can stay out, my sanity can be restored...but of course, I don't want to stifle him.
Thanks for dealing with a clueless mom on all this! |
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Dear Jenn,
Don't stress yet -- he's young! The tracks work well on carpet -- unless your's is super fluffy! Also, kitchens are a great place to set up trains as they can play in a corner --under the table or whatever, while you cook.
For storage -- they have cases that are cute, but you could also use the plastic bins (Rubbermaid, etc). We have the open organizer bins from Target -- those are great because the buildings can be on the top shelf (those pieces that just stick out) and the tracks fit in the other bins. It actually is a realtively "clean" toy -- especially if you have bins that he (or you, for now) can organize the parts into -- straights, curves, switches, cars, scenery, etc.
Have a blast -- trains are a classic "boy toy"!
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kingvozzo
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Jamberry77 wrote:
Also, don't buy too much at first. See if he likes them a little or a lot. You can always buy more as he gets older.
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I second this! It's a toy that you can definitely build on, if he turns out to be a fanatic. The smaller sets at Julie's Stuff look about right for a starter
or something like Brio starter--zoo at target.
If he's not a Thomas fan, you might consider even skipping any of the Thomas engines to start, get the storybook, and see what shapes up.
Enjoy!
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Rachel May
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Jamberry77 wrote:
| Also, when your son gets older and you get bridges/ascending tracks, remember that stacking Duplo Legos are just right for supporting the track. |
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We have all kinds of track. One thing I've noticed is that some of the Thomas' ascending tacks are easier for little guys as the support is built into the track and the Brio track is supported by blocks. My 3 year old loves to play with them, but he won't build them himself and he is always knocking over the elaborate track designs his older brothers create for him.
The cheaper track does fit with the Brio and Thomas track, but can be hard to get apart again, and I've found it breaks more easily. I've had to throw a lot of the cheap track away because it splintered to a point
Letting an older kid take a break from school and build trains for Charles is a special treat and keeps people quiet and happy for a while. We also build on the carpet with no problem and throw everything into one big rubbermaid when we're done.
Jenn, bring your son over here one day if you want to see how he likes it. I think we live about 45 minutes away. 
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humanaevitae
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We also love the wooden tracks with Thomas trains at our house. We orginally had a table but as the boys got older they actually become frustrated by the limitations the table put on their track layouts. Our tracks are also a mixture of generic/brio/thomas track. But we love the thomas trains as the boys thoroughly enjoy the Thomas stories. It is wonderful to see their brains work as they try and figure out what pieces are needed to complete the layouts they've designed.
We also the Rubbermaid stacking bins to sort the pieces. Even the 2yr can help and yet it still looks picked up.
When it comes to buying the Thomas trains I have found some cheaper sites online that have worked for us. These toys have also made it easier for other people to purchase for their birthday gifts. Many times the Grandmas choose not to purchase other items I've suggested as they seem "too educational" but the Thomas trains are convincingly fun.
Make sure and pace yourself-don't give in to wanting it all at once!
Nicole
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Marybeth
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Oh, Jenn! TTT...is such a wonderful time in a boy's life. We are big train fantics here and ride Thomas every summer at a train museum by our home. It is such a great investment to have train track and train cars and provides hours of fun imaginative play. You will soon be saying the names Thomas, Percy, Edward, Gordon and etc. like you have known the characters forever. We have taken many rabbit trails with our train enjoyment in the past few years. We never had a train table so ds could play with his trains anywhere in the house. Meaning--he put them in his carrier bucket and followed me around all day. 
I really think your ds will love it! We have Brio track and only 3 TTT trains and some smaller trains that came with our track originally.
Also, more track and trains are nice incentives and such for potty training and sleeping in a big boy bed if you are into those types of rewards.
Just my 2 cents.
Marybeth
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Katie
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Ikea, if you are lucky enough to have one near you, also carries Brio compatible tracks at very reasonable prices.
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ALmom
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You asked about carpet and the track. We did find that carpet did frustrate the boys once they were building fancy layouts - but the simple solution was to get a great big piece of masonite that we put on the floor.
Also, when we had lots of boys playing and wanting to keep stuff out from crawling infant and crazy puppy, we did build our own table. It really wasn't hard to do and we were able to make it just the right height for our boys. Sometimes they use the table and sometimes they use the floor - it all depends. They cannot build as fancy a layout on the table - but it keeps it from being stepped on and trampled, etc.
We used rubbermaid bins for storage. One for the track, one for the special pieces (roundhouses, tunnels, etc.) and one for the trains.
The boys really enjoyed it for years - currently our 3 yo and 6 yo are still big time into it. The 8 yo and 11 yo still get into playing with it every now and then. It was well worth the investment.
We store blocks in a bin nearby and also duplos. We also have a bin of little plastic animals. These all get used together.
Enjoy! Usually you can find a starter brio or Thomas set at a really good price this time of year. We asked for the catelogue from the store and wrote prices down while we were there and (amount of track if not in the catelogue) then at home calculated which set gave us the most variety for our money with at least a few pieces. (like tunnels) to add interest. We were buying the set for Christmas for several dc one year so it was one gift for all - but we did need to make sure there were enough trains for everyone to have their own train.
Janet
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Kathryn UK
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jenngm67 wrote:
| I've been opposed to the TTT stuff because I thought it was a "character," but now seeing it in action, I'm rethinking. |
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Jenn, Thomas the Tank Engine is up there with Winnie the Pooh or Peter Rabbit as a "character" . Get the books, get the trains and enjoy 
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JennGM
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Kathryn UK wrote:
jenngm67 wrote:
| I've been opposed to the TTT stuff because I thought it was a "character," but now seeing it in action, I'm rethinking. |
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Jenn, Thomas the Tank Engine is up there with Winnie the Pooh or Peter Rabbit as a "character" . Get the books, get the trains and enjoy |
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Thanks, Kathryn. I was put off by the TV shows. Should have asked which came first.  If I had just asked dh, I would have known this sooner! Seems he was familiar with it all!
I grew up in a family of 5 girls, with two boys near the end of the line, and I have to confess I don't know much about boy toys!! I wasn't familiar with the book, but I now know what book ds is getting for Christmas.
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Jen L.
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I think that the deal at Costco (I still call it "Price Club" ) is a good one and if you have space for a table, it is worth it. I got the idea from a friend, she used her train table for duplos (with base plates) so it was still useful when the track expanded to the floor.
If you don't get the table, another friend I think had a great idea. They had a piece of wood (light plywood, I think) that was stored next to their 2 large rubbermaid containers of track. They would take the track out of the tubs, and put the wood on top of the containers - Voila -- a table!
Have fun!
Jen
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Karen T
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jenngm67 wrote:
Don't get the table? Hmmm...then some more basic questions. How do the tracks lay on carpet? I don't want to add frustration!
How do you organize if you don't have a table with drawers? I go crazy when toys are left out. If he has a place that a toy specifically belongs to and can stay out, my sanity can be restored...but of course, I don't want to stifle him.
Thanks for dealing with a clueless mom on all this! |
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My kids use theirs all the time on carpet and it lays just fine. Ds5 likes to set it up to go under his bed and out through the room, etc. The tables take up a lot of room, and that's all they are good for. Because of the sides of the table, you can't really use it for coloring on, etc. We have a couple of clear plastic tubs that the train stuff goes on, and we have another tub full of basic wooden blocks, which they use to make structures around the trains, etc.
We got the first set from Target for about $15, and have added various pieces from Brio mostly.
Constructive playthings has lots of sets and pieces, and there is another site I ordered from last year that I was very happy with, but can't find right now.
Karen T
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