Today I'm going to show you how kids can make their own wooden train track Christmas ornaments, inspired by my upcoming picture book, Old Tracks, New Tricks. The best part is that the decorations are temporary, which means the tracks can go back to the train set when the holidays are over! ...
Free Printable Train Valentines
When the Little Engineer was littler, and I was looking for train valentines to buy for him to pass out to his preschool class, I very quickly discovered that there weren't many options. It was even difficult (though never impossible) to find Thomas & Friends valentines, which I never would have ...
Thomas MINIS Advent Calendar Video Playdates
Come play with the Little Engineer! While our jumping off point for this series of video playdates is a Thomas MINIS advent calendar, our hope is to inspire a fun, creative play session with your child's favorite trains, plus some simple items or toys you probably already have around the house. ...
DIY Rainbow Train Set
The unfinished surface of wooden train tracks makes an excellent canvas for all kinds of creativity! And ever since I found a new source for unpainted wooden train cars, I've been working on a number of different DIY train sets to share with you. This first one is the one I'm most excited to share ...
Jingle Bell Candy Cane Tree Craft
Once I finally figured out how to make a pipe cleaner palm tree -- the final "real" tree on my list of pipe cleaner tree ideas -- I thought I'd be rid of the urge to make trees out of pipe cleaners and pom poms. However, it seems my freedom from this accidental obsession is still out of reach. I ...
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 ...
Wooden Train Jingle Bell Shakers
We love experimenting with adding other sensory elements to wooden train play. Adding sounds to our trains always is especially fun, and these wooden train jingle bell shakers are no exception. This is the perfect way to get child who loves trains involved in making music, whether that's Christmas ...
Painting with Trains: Thomas the Tank Engine Candy Cane Ornament
I'm so happy to be participating in Mama Miss' 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas series for the second year in a row! This year, the theme is Ornaments Inspired by Children's Books, and 70+ bloggers are each coming up with an ornament for a different children's book. We decided to stay true to our ...
Christmas Train Books for Kids
If there's one type of train books for kids I've delighted in collecting more than the others, it's been Christmas train books. I've been looking forward to sharing this list of holiday books for young railroad enthusiasts for a long time, and here it is. I've also included suggested activities for ...
Train Advent Calendar Gifts
When the Little Engineer was three years old, I had so much fun filling his advent calendar with train-themed advent calendar gifts. If you're looking for train gifts for your child's advent calendar, here is a big list of options for tiny train treasures: small Thomas & Friends trains, little ...
Printable Train Advent Calendar Gift Tags
Here are some fun train gift tags for DIY advent calendars! I made them in two different color schemes -- Festive Train colors and Thomas & Friends Engine colors -- so that these trains can count down to Christmas for Thomas fans and regular train fans alike. Just download the free printable ...
Fourth of July Wooden Train Play
Happy Fourth of July! As I type this, I'm listening to the fireworks that (still) boom and crackle around our neighborhood. But at least the Little Engineer is finally asleep, instead of running around our backyard in the dark with giant glow stick rings, throwing them in the air and shouting, ...
Train Engineer and Thomas & Friends Easter Eggs
We got to our Easter eggs at the last minute as always, but I'm so glad we did them! The Little Engineer loved it even more than last year and would have been happy to dye several more dozen eggs. As for me, my Thomas & Friends eggs turned out to be much easier to make than I was expecting. ...
Train-Themed Easter Egg Fillers
When it came time to plan for the Little Engineer's first egg hunt, he'd had only had a few tastes of chocolate, and no other candy to speak of (still hasn't had any, I don't think, though he does seem to think chocolate should be a food group). So while my own fond childhood memories of Easter ...
Easter Train Freight and Easy Bunny Ears for Wooden Trains
Bringing holidays and season into train play is always a fun way to renew interest in the trains and learn about these special times of year at the same time. Here's a big list of fun ideas for an Easter train layout, plus a super easy way to make bunny ears for the trains to wear -- without ...
Train Gifts for Easter Baskets
My mom always made Easter morning special for us when I was a kid, so I always enjoy planning the Little Engineer's Easter basket. I have a tendency, however, to buy gifts that are a bit too big for his baskets -- which means I have to figure out how to wedge them in! With that in mind, I've made a ...
Easter Train Books for Kids
I love reading holiday-themed books with the Little Engineer. He often requests the best ones all year round, and train-themed books have been especially popular. (No suprise there, of course!) Here is a list of all the Easter train books for kids we've been able to get our hands on. ...
St. Patrick’s Day Freight for Wooden Trains
The Little Engineer and I started celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our trains by decorating a few engines and making some new freight. Here are several easy ideas for ways to incorporate the holiday into any kind of toy train play. ...
Easy DIY Valentine Freight for Wooden Trains
Here's one of my favorite things the Little Engineer and I came up with for the Valentine's Day in Vicarstown layout: DIY valentine freight to load into the Troublesome Trucks! I was just going for visual effect when I started on these easy-to-make felt hearts, but they have a nice, firm, and fuzzy ...
Valentine Counting Activity with Thomas and Friends
When the Little Engineer and I adapted Valentine's Day in Vicarstown into a storytelling wooden train layout, we read the book several times in the process. So when I started to set up this valentine counting activity based on the same book, the Little Engineer knew exactly what we were doing -- ...
Valentine’s Day in Vicarstown: Book Review and Wooden Train Layout
The Little Engineer and I enjoy taking what we read and acting it out in play. Often, this means playing it out with our wooden trains. (Big shock, I know.) I think there's a lot to be learned from adapting a book to another form of storytelling. Also, we're hoping the photos of our layout might be ...
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.