Here's another fun thing we picked up at the Northwest Railway Museum's gift shop last July, along with the Instant Foam Railroad I wrote about before. These are the Made By Me! Train Engine, Passenger Coach, and Caboose by Maple Landmark, an American company that makes high-quality, classic ...
Organizing Wooden Trains and Track — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide
I had a question over on the Play Trains! Facebook page as to how we store our trains. I had taken a few photos of our system a while back, intending to eventually post them, but this gave me the nudge I needed to take a couple more pictures get this up. By far, my favorite way to store our ...
Wooden Luke from Blue Mountain Mystery
If you have a young train fan who's been waiting for their very own Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway version of Luke, there's good news: he's finally available. In light of today's over-merchandized children's entertainment industry, I found it hard to believe that Blue Mountain Mystery, last ...
wTrak: the Coolest Train Tables Ever
If you live near Seattle, you can see and play with this train table at the United Northwest Model Railroad Club's annual model railroad show coming up this coming weekend, February 2nd and 3rd, 2013. There's nothing quite as exciting as seeing something you know will thrill someone you love ...
Review: Peaceable Kingdom Train Valentines
Looking for some super cute train valentines? Then you have to take a look at these adorable Peaceable Kingdom Train Valentines. They were a big hit with the Little Engineer! ...
Exploring the Possibilities of an Instant Foam Railroad
I remember having a lot of fun with expanding foam capsules like these when I was a kid, but I didn't expect to be surprised by them as an adult. Then again, lots of unexpected things happen with the Little Engineer around. I'm not sure if the designers intended it all of it or not, put there was ...
The Pacific Science Center’s 39th Annual Model Railroad Show
We spent two exciting days at the 39th Annual Model Railroad Show at Seattle's Pacific Science Center last weekend. Exciting and exhausting for us adults, but completely worth it. Given that we already have a membership to the Science Center, I wasn't going to let the Little Engineer miss out on ...
BIG ENGINE: Train Pretend Play on a BIG Scale
"Mama, Mama, Mama come and play Big Engine!" "Big Engine" is the Little Engineer's bed. When we picked the Kura bed out at Ikea almost a year and a half ago (can it be that long?), I didn't realize that it really was a train. Not that trains didn't influence us in choosing it; I had visions ...
Speed Up Routines with Tickets for Your Little Engineer
Every so often, I come up with an idea that works really well with the Little Engineer. And then things get better, and I phase the idea out (or, more accurately, I forget to do it because it's no longer necessary at the time). Which is just as well, because most of these ideas stop working so ...
Engine Paint Shop — Train Color Matching Activity for Preschoolers
One of my son's favorite things about trains are their "coats of paint." Along with wearing solid-color shirts as coats of paint that let him become an engine of that color, he especially loves pretending to paint his wooden trains, or Big Engine (his bed). Knowing this came in handy the last time ...
Thomas the Tank Engine Shirt for a Birthday Boy
The Little Engineer needed something to wear for his second birthday party. When he turned one, I had a cute but run-of-the-mill first birthday onesie lined up well in advance. But due to his getting opinionated about his wardrobe over the course of his second year of life, a week before his party I ...
Our Latest Wooden Train Layout
Every few weeks, we disassemble the tracks that take up the majority of the open floor space in our living room, vacuum the play mats, and start anew. The last time this happened, we got off to a bit of a false start. I deemed my original plan too dangerous due to the likelihood that the Little ...
Cut the Rope + Wooden Trains = the Candy Train!
The Little Engineer loves Cut the Rope. Months ago, before he figured it out himself, he used to watch Dada play. When the candy would fall off the screen instead of into the adorable green monster's mouth, he'd make Om Nom's sad noise and do a sign he made up that combined the signs for "cry" and ...
The 2012 Pacific Science Center Model Railroad Show
We went to the 38th Annual Model Railroad Show on the last day it was at the Pacific Science Center this year, January 16th. The day after this year's big snow storm. Fortunately, we were able to ride a train there, and it was well worth braving the cold weather. This is a wonderful train show ...
The Perfect Wooden Train Play Rug
Ikea has a new Woodland theme for children's bedroom textiles this year, and the play rug is perfect for wooden train layouts. The VANDRING SPÅR rug depicts a woodland stream and the banks on either side of it. Underneath a wooden track layout--particularly if you span it with bridges--the ...
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.