These paper clay heart pendants are really fun and -- surprisingly easy -- to make. I really enjoyed painting them with engineer stripes and other train-themed designs, including Thomas the Tank Engine himself. And the Little Engineer made his own version of the heart pendants, which he proudly gave ...
DIY Train Track Valentines
If you're looking for an unusual -- and unusually pretty -- train valentine for your child, these DIY train track valentines might be just the thing! And they're easy to make: all you need are cards (or thick paper) and markers. ...
Felt Valentine Train Play Set — Valentine’s Day Craft
The Little Engineer and I have had a lot of fun with felt trains in the past. I'll do a more complete tutorial on our super easy Thomas & Friends set in the future, but this felt valentine train is just as fun, if not more so. I love playing with it because the colors are so striking and ...
Train Valentines
Looking for train valentines for your little engineer to hand out? I had a hard time getting train valentines the first year I looked for them, so I tracked down as many as I possibly could to share here. Here are some great train Valentine's Day cards available online, and a list of free printable ...
Coal-Black Chocolate Cupcakes
These are the most chocolatey, moist, and delicious cupcakes I've ever made or tasted. But what makes them extra fun -- whether for a Christmas treat or a train-loving kid's birthday party -- is that thanks to the type of cocoa powder we used, they're as black as coal! ...
Light-up Pipe Cleaner Christmas Trees for Small Worlds
Here's a cute light-up variation on our pipe cleaner Christmas trees. It makes a fun fine motor activity, especially if you have a train pulling the holiday lights to decorate the trees. It's a festive way to bring light play to your train sets and other small worlds! ...
DIY Pipe Cleaner Trees Christmas Craft
For months now, I've been looking forward to doing a Christmas version of the pipe cleaner trees we made for our train set. Well, here they are, and I enjoyed making them even more than I expected! These could work as a kids' Christmas craft -- either with the child making the trees themselves (the ...
White Christmas Wooden Train Layout
For the final day of Christmas Play Days, I wanted to share a Christmas wooden train layout I surprised the Little Engineer with on his train table last year. I really enjoyed finding little toys around the house that helped set the scene and encourage imaginative play. And I always love adding any ...
Kid-Made Felt Train Ornament
I let the Little Engineer pick what we'd do for our contribution to Mama Miss' 20 Days of a Kid Made Christmas: Ornaments series. Of all the ideas I suggested to him, he was most excited by the idea of making a felt train ornament, so that's what we're doing today! This is an easy craft that kids ...
Holiday Breakfast Train Activity for Kids
For our second activity for the Christmas Play Days series, we've put a train twist on a family tradition by putting our beloved holiday breakfast on a toy train. This is a fun Christmas morning activity that works just as well for birthdays (the photos of the activity are from the Little Engineer's ...
Recycled Toy Packaging Play Dough Molds
Welcome to Christmas Play Days! Once again, I'm teaming up with some of my favorite creative women -- Shaunna from Fantastic Fun and Learning, Rachael from Nothing if Not Intentional, Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy, Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day!, and Ann from My Nearest and Dearest -- to share fun ...
DIY Angry Birds Costume: Engineer Blue Bird Mask and Wings
This DIY Angry Birds costume took a couple of nights' worth of work to finish, but it was worth it. Not only did it turn out to be pretty cute, but we'll be using it for pretend play well beyond Halloween. The best part is it combines two of the things my son loves. The Little Engineer and I have ...
Dress Up Costumes for Wooden Trains
Whether for Halloween or an afternoon of pretend play, kids love dressing up. When the Little Engineer extended the need for costumes to his stuffed animals, I thought, why should they have all the fun? So I figured out a way to make dress up costumes for his wooden trains as well. It's a fun, ...
Quick and Easy Halloween Train Layout Ideas
The Little Engineer and I love playing out holidays with our trains. This is our second year making a Halloween train layout, and we had a lot of fun building on what we did last year. Here are several simple ideas to celebrate Halloween at the train table. ...
Halloween Carnival Pom Pom Trees Invitation to Play
Our final activity for the Halloween Invitations to Play series is an invitation to create and play with pom pom trees in Halloween carnival colors. I loved this one so much that I ended up doing both simple and train play versions of it. And with the addition of glue, it could easily be a pom pom ...
Spooky Pipe Cleaner Trees — Halloween Craft Tutorial
I love these spooky trees I came up with to go with the Little Engineer's wooden trains, so perfect for a Halloween train set or small world. While they're a little more complex than the evergreen pipe cleaner trees from last spring, they don't take too long to make, and they look so cool in our ...
Candy Train Game: Counting, Letter Recognition, and Reading Practice
The Little Engineer loves dark chocolate so much it's been very easy to convince him not to eat any other kinds of candy. During last year's round of trick-or-treating, I had to point out that we could use non-chocolate candies for craft projects. It was the only way that he would politely accept ...
Pumpkin Mountain Railroad Building — Halloween Train Activity
We're back with another great Halloween train activity: building a mountain railroad on a pumpkin. Well, two pumpkins, in our case. Once I started setting up the train tracks, we were having too much fun not to bring in the second pumpkin! ...
October Moon Halloween Train Play
I'm really excited to be teaming up with my blogging buddies again for another round of invitations to play! This time, we're focusing on Halloween Invitations to Play. Our creative partners in fun are Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day!, Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy, Stephanie from Twodaloo, Rachael ...
Halloween Books for Kids Who Love Trains
Halloween is approaching! Even though my sweet tooth has faded over the years, I still love the costumes, the colors, the anticipation in the air. And, of course, I always enjoy sharing my favorite holidays with the Little Engineer. One of the best ways to do that is to snuggle up with a festive ...
Glowing Discovery Bottles — Fall Invitations to Play
We're back with our second activity in the Fall Invitations to Play series: glowing discovery bottles for fall! I'm thrilled to be partnering this week with four of my favorite bloggers, each of us sharing a play invitation idea every day this week. I'll be linking to their invitations for today at ...
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.