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The Play Trains! Ultimate Guide to Wooden Trains

The Play Trains! Guide to Wooden Train Sets: expert advice on the best wooden train set to buy for your little engineer.

The Play Trains! Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets 2021

Searching for the best wooden train set for your child? I've turned my expert eye on the wooden train sets that currently on the market so that you can make an informed choice. A train set can sound good on paper, but there's nothing like hands-on play to tell you whether it's going to be the right ...

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The Best Battery-Powered Wooden Trains

So many kids (and their grown-ups) have watched a poor battery-operated wooden train shake and strain and struggle just to get stuck halfway up a wooden train track hill. In the grinding of that little engine's wheels, you can almost hear I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...even as it ...

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Handcrafted, realistic wooden trains: a review of Whittle Shortline Railroad

Whittle Shortline Railroad Review: Realistic Wooden Trains

Does your child like real trains? The bright colors and friendly faces found on many wooden trains appeal to a lot of children, but there are also plenty of kids who really want their toys to look like the real thing. And if you're looking for wooden trains that truly look like real trains -- or ...

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The Play Trains Ultimate Wooden Train Guide: The Best Wooden Train Tables for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Best Train Tables — The Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

Along with wooden train sets, wooden train tables are a classic feature in the children's playroom at home and the preschool classroom. It can be hard, however, to get an idea of all the options that are out there -- after all, I consider myself a pretty expert train stuff finder at this point, and ...

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Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen: a wooden train picture book that inspires creative play!

Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen

Old Tracks, New Tricks, is a story about three little wooden train tracks who shake up an old wooden train set. But it's so much more than that. It's a way to inspire children to invent new fun with their old favorite toys, and to value and celebrate the creativity of others at the same time as ...

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The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide -- Wooden Train Track: expert advice and product recommendations

Wooden Train Tracks — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

If you traveled back in time to my son's toddler days, you would find us on his bedroom floor, surrounded by wooden train tracks. My son: the one clutching at train in his chubby toddler fist as he ran its wheels down the almost-finished track. Me: the one building my masterpiece railway at ...

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Do you really need a train table? Honest advice and the pros and cons of train tables from a wooden train expert and mom. http://play-trains.com/

Do You Need a Train Table? — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

Do you need a train table? The best decision regarding whether a train table is worth the cost and the space will be different for every family and school. So let's go through the pros and cons of train tables, things I've learned through lots of experience and through talking with other parents and ...

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Temporary alternatives to gluing wooden train tracks down to a wooden train table, recommended by Play Trains!

Alternatives to Gluing Wooden Train Tracks to a Train Table

Many parents decide that gluing wooden train tracks to their child's train table is the way to go. If you've ever watched a toddler playing with a wooden train set -- tracks being pulled apart, bridges getting knocked over, the child getting frustrated, and parents rebuilding the layout over and ...

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Best Wooden Train Set Recommendations from Play Trains! -- UK Edition

Our Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets UK Edition

Whether you're looking for a first train set or looking to add another major addition to an existing wooden train collection, I've turned my expert eye on the wooden train sets that are currently available in the UK so that you can make an informed choice. From small beginner's sets to fun themed ...

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The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide -- Freight Cars

Wooden Train Freight Cars — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

One of the most common questions I get is, "Where do you find all of the freight cars for your wooden trains?" And it's no wonder, because many of our wooden train activities make use of freight cars to hold seasonal objects, sensory and learning materials, and other fun stuff. Here, I'll answer the ...

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The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide -- Roundhouses and Engine Sheds: expert advice and product recommendations.

Wooden Train Roundhouses and Engine Sheds — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

One of the first things I wanted to add to our initial wooden train set was a wooden train roundhouse. Initially, the Little Engineer just really enjoyed putting the engines in and out of the roundhouse and opening and closing the doors. But as time went on, our roundhouse added so much more for him ...

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The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide -- Bridges and Elevated Tracks: expert advice and product recommendations -- keep those train tracks from falling over!

Wooden Train Bridges and Elevated Tracks — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

Once you have a basic wooden train set, the next direction you'll want to take your layout is probably going to be up. Wooden train bridges, mountains, and other elevated track features turn a train layout into an exciting, hands-on experiment in physics. Bridges and slopes also create many more ...

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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 ...

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About Me

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.

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Recent Posts

  • Best Train Sets for Toddlers
  • The Play Trains! Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets 2021
  • The Best Battery-Powered Wooden Trains
  • Wooden Track Veggie Stack: a Wooden Train Activity
  • 55+ Creative Train Gift Ideas for Kids that Will Make You a Hero

Copyright © 2012 - 2018 by Jessica Petersen

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