I had so much fun putting the Top Train Activities for Kids 2013 post together I decided not to stop there. Here are our top 10 train craft posts from the past year, with ideas that will suit every child: toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, and up! Many of these crafts can be made by kids ...
Top Train Activities for Kids 2013
As 2013 comes to a close, it's been fun to look back on all the articles I've written for Play Trains! and see which ones were the most popular with you, our readers. I've loved hearing from many of you throughout the year as the fun we've had in our train adventures has inspired play time in homes ...
White Christmas Wooden Train Layout
For the final day of Christmas Play Days, I wanted to share a Christmas wooden train layout I surprised the Little Engineer with on his train table last year. I really enjoyed finding little toys around the house that helped set the scene and encourage imaginative play. And I always love adding any ...
Holiday Breakfast Train Activity for Kids
For our second activity for the Christmas Play Days series, we've put a train twist on a family tradition by putting our beloved holiday breakfast on a toy train. This is a fun Christmas morning activity that works just as well for birthdays (the photos of the activity are from the Little Engineer's ...
Recycled Toy Packaging Play Dough Molds
Welcome to Christmas Play Days! Once again, I'm teaming up with some of my favorite creative women -- Shaunna from Fantastic Fun and Learning, Rachael from Nothing if Not Intentional, Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy, Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day!, and Ann from My Nearest and Dearest -- to share fun ...
Quick and Easy Halloween Train Layout Ideas
The Little Engineer and I love playing out holidays with our trains. This is our second year making a Halloween train layout, and we had a lot of fun building on what we did last year. Here are several simple ideas to celebrate Halloween at the train table. ...
Halloween Carnival Pom Pom Trees Invitation to Play
Our final activity for the Halloween Invitations to Play series is an invitation to create and play with pom pom trees in Halloween carnival colors. I loved this one so much that I ended up doing both simple and train play versions of it. And with the addition of glue, it could easily be a pom pom ...
Pumpkin Mountain Railroad Building — Halloween Train Activity
We're back with another great Halloween train activity: building a mountain railroad on a pumpkin. Well, two pumpkins, in our case. Once I started setting up the train tracks, we were having too much fun not to bring in the second pumpkin! ...
Building with Mini Light Boxes: Wooden Train Roller Coaster Tracks
The first time we used our DIY mini light boxes with wooden train tracks, the Little Engineer immediately saw the stacking potential (which I hadn't noticed yet). He put one light box on top of another and ran off to get our tallest ascending track to send a train rolling down from the top. We ...
Play Dough Train Set
This activity started from a simple question: "Mama, do they make Play-Doh train sets?" We did a quick search on the internet to confirm that no, Play-Doh didn't have a train-making set. Disappointment was just starting to set in when I suggested, "Why don't we make our own play dough train set?" ...
October Moon Halloween Train Play
I'm really excited to be teaming up with my blogging buddies again for another round of invitations to play! This time, we're focusing on Halloween Invitations to Play. Our creative partners in fun are Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day!, Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy, Stephanie from Twodaloo, Rachael ...
DIY Mini Light Box: Portable, Floatable, Stackable, Waterproof
I would love to have a light table in our house, but we have absolutely nowhere to put another large kid item. So last spring, I came up with our own super easy version of a DIY mini light box with what I had on hand. When I say mini, I mean mini. The playing surface is only four-by-seven ...
Halloween Books for Kids Who Love Trains
Halloween is approaching! Even though my sweet tooth has faded over the years, I still love the costumes, the colors, the anticipation in the air. And, of course, I always enjoy sharing my favorite holidays with the Little Engineer. One of the best ways to do that is to snuggle up with a festive ...
Outdoor Fall Train Play — Fall Invitations to Play
For our final activity in the Fall Invitations to Play series, I saved the simplest invitation of all. It also happens to be the closest to my heart, inspired by something the Little Engineer has done every year since his love of trains began. Fifty years from now, I see myself watching the leaves ...
Squirrel Train Small World — Fall Invitations to Play
Our third Fall Invitation to Play in the series is a squirrel train small world sure to delight any child who loves both woodland animals and trains! The Little Engineer was so excited to play Squirrel Train, and it turned into a creative, relaxing play experience for both of us. Make sure to ...
Glowing Discovery Bottles — Fall Invitations to Play
We're back with our second activity in the Fall Invitations to Play series: glowing discovery bottles for fall! I'm thrilled to be partnering this week with four of my favorite bloggers, each of us sharing a play invitation idea every day this week. I'll be linking to their invitations for today at ...
Play Dough Pumpkin Patch Train — Fall Invitations to Play
I'm very excited to be part of a series of Fall Invitations to Play this week. Along with four of my blogger friends -- Ann from My Nearest and Dearest, Stephanie from Twodaloo, Shaunna from Fantastic Fun and Learning, and Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy -- we'll be sharing five ways to invite kids to ...
Two Color Oil and Water Discovery Bottles
These vibrant oil and water discovery bottles contain no lamp oil, using all edible ingredients. This makes them a safe science activity for preschoolers to make on their own! We found some fun train-related things to include in our bottle, but you could make them with any (or no) theme in ...
Ice Train Play — Winter Fun for Any Season
Ice and snow have been a recurring theme in our train play, no matter the season. First we froze toy trains in ice and found many different ways to play with snow (real or pretend) and trains. This summer, we made a train out of ice and sent it whooshing around our deck. The logical next step was to ...
Learning About Trees with Wooden Train Tracks
As I was watching the Little Engineer buzz up and down today's special layout in his room, I realized we somehow managed to learn about art, biology, planning and executing a project, and gross and fine motor skills, all with a pile of wooden train tracks. If I hadn't already been excited about the ...
DIY Troublesome Truck Face Stickers for Wooden Trains
So easy to make, these DIY face stickers for Troublesome Trucks are a great way to add some personality to a child's wooden trains. ...
Hi, I'm Jessica! While playing trains for the last several years, my Little Engineer and I have had a lot of fun and learned so much together. I'm excited to share our discoveries with other people who have kids who love trains in their lives.