Play Trains!

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright
  • Ultimate Wooden Train Guide
  • Gift Guides
  • Parents & Teachers
    • Parenting Little Engineers
    • Train Tips & Tricks
  • Play
    • Wooden Train Play
    • Trackmaster and Take’n’Play
    • Pretend Play
    • Sensory Play
      • Water Play
      • Light Play
    • Outdoor Activities
    • Fine Motor Activities
  • Learn
    • Literacy Activities with Trains
    • Science Activities with Trains
    • Math Activities with Trains
    • Engineering Activities with Trains
    • Music Activities with Trains
    • Social, Emotional, and Practical Skills
    • Cooking with Kids
  • Create
    • DIY Projects
      • Train Play Sets
      • Train Set Accessories
      • Train Set Scenery
      • DIY Wooden Train Sets
      • DIY Train Tables
      • Pipe Cleaner Trees
      • DIY Costumes and Clothes
    • Train Crafts for Kids
    • Train Art Activities
    • Kid-made Gifts
    • Upcycled Train Projects
  • by Age
    • Toddlers
    • Preschoolers
    • School-age Kids
  • by Stage
    • New to Trains
    • Train Obsessed
    • Making Trains Exciting Again
  • Through the Year
    • Seasons
      • Spring
      • Summer
      • Fall
      • Winter
    • Holidays
      • Valentine’s Day
      • St. Patrick’s Day
      • Easter
      • Fourth of July
      • Halloween
      • Christmas
    • Special Days
      • Birthdays
      • Day Out With Thomas
      • Train Shows and Exhibitions
  • Books
Jingle Bell Coupling Chains for Wooden Trains: a fun, hands-on science exploration for Christmas or any time of year from Play Trains!

Jingle Bell Coupling Chains for Wooden Trains

Here's a jingle bell train activity we did last year, but I never managed to write about the photos -- which means I've been looking forward to posting this for twelve months now! My son has always been very interested in couplers and coupling chains. For a long time, when I'd want him to hold my ...

Read More »

Toy Surfboard Summer Craft for Kids from Play Trains!

Toy Surfboard Craft for Kids

This surfboard craft for kids is a great way to bring favorite toys into water play. The Little Engineer had so much fun pretending his toys were really surfing! Plus there's a lot of hands-on science going on, as kids try to get the toys to stand up on their surfboards. It would also be fun to make ...

Read More »

KID SAFE Two-Color Oil and Water Discovery Bottles @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/two-color-oil-and-water-discovery-bottles/ These vibrant discovery bottles contain no lamp oil, using all edible ingredients to make them safe for young children to make themselves!

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 ...

Read More »

Floating Word Discovery Bottles @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/ Create a beautiful, relaxing bottle of swirling and floating words to inspire curiosity in young children and creativity in older kids to adults.

Floating Word Discovery Bottles

I have two fun ideas for discovery bottles to share with you this week. This first one sprang out of the current theme at our house: words, words, words! Writing them. Reading them. Memorizing them. Making them up. Writing them some more. It's fascinating to watch -- well, except for when I'm wiping ...

Read More »

Ice Train Play @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/ice-train-play/

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 ...

Read More »

Tree Track: Learning About Trees with Wooden Train Tracks @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/ The Little Engineer, at 2.5 years old, was enthralled with the whole process for a good hour and a half, and learning about art, biology, and planning and executing a project the whole time! Based on the art installation, "Tree Track", by Christien Meindertsma.

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 ...

Read More »

Icy Engine: Cool Summer Train Ice Play @ Play Trains! Activities for ice frozen in the shape of an engine and freight cars.

Icy Engine: Cool Summer Train Ice Play

Ice is always nice to play with when it's hot outside. It can be as simple as what we did over the weekend, when I brought a pitcher of ice to the Little Engineer so he could have an ingredient besides water for play cooking in the kiddie pool. Thanks to my Pinterest addiction and all of the ...

Read More »

Fizzy Engine: Baking Soda & Vinegar Trains @ Play Trains! Fun summertime science for kids who love trains.

Fizzy Engine: Baking Soda and Vinegar Trains

Mixing baking soda and vinegar is a classic science activity for kids, and once you've tried it with your child, it's easy to understand why. It's hands-on, safe for young kids, and pretty amazing, especially for a child who has never experienced it before. Last year, I introduced one of the cool ...

Read More »

Rescuing Toy Trains from Ice

I can't think of a better motivator for a little train lover to put on a thinking cap than to see a collection of toy trains, trapped in ice and in desperate need of rescue.  Especially if the toy trains are new, never-before-seen ones, like they were for the Little Engineer when we did this last ...

Read More »

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 ...

Read More »

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.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Our Book!

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