Ever since the Little Engineer was a toddler, I've been obsessed with collecting different sizes, shapes, and colors of color coding stickers to use for art and craft projects. Not just for him -- I enjoy making pictures with them, too! I love how being limited to a few simple shapes brings out ...
DIY Zoo Train Set for Wooden Trains
The Little Engineer has always loved having animal passengers for his trains, so it's no surprise that we jumped at the chance to make a zoo for his wooden trains as soon as we had the idea! This is by far our most ambitious DIY wooden train set project yet, but it was well worth the investment of a ...
DIY Board Book: Angry Bird Train, a Kid’s Favorite Things Mash-up
The Little Engineer and I started making books together at about the same time he began speaking in sentences. Sometimes I write down a particularly popular bedtime story I've come up with (usually with his help, because he likes to take over the story!). But I especially love to help him write ...
Dryer Sheet Box Engine Shed (Wooden Train Kids’ Craft)
When I'm asked for advice on beginning a wooden train collection, one of my first recommendations is an engine shed. From the earliest days of his train obsession, the Little Engineer has always loved sheds and roundhouses. The appeal is easy to understand. In addition to the easy-to-relate-to ...
Paper Engineer’s Hat Craft for Kids
This is a great way for kids to show their affection for their favorite stuffed animals, especially if their plush friends like to play trains with them! The idea came to me while creating a pattern for the felt engineer hats I've been sewing for some very special stuffed animals. At the time, ...
Assembling and Painting Wooden Trains with My Toddler
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 ...
Painting with Trains on Canvas
Painting with trains or other toys with wheels is nothing new -- and this certainly wasn't the first time we did it -- but here's the Little Engineer's latest twist on it. His ideas led the project deeper into the realm of pretend play, and resulted in a pretty cool end product. Not that 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.