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

55+ Creative Train Gift Ideas for Kids that Will Make You a Hero

December 11, 2016 By Jessica Petersen 6 Comments

Looking for the perfect train gift for a child? Below you’ll find some of my best — and most creative — gift ideas for kids who love trains!

The great thing about buying a present for a kid who loves trains is that you know exactly what to get: More trains!

But in those two simple words — more trains! — lies a lot of uncertainty. Especially if you’re a grandparent, an aunt, the parent of a friend.

Unless you’re there playing trains with that little engineer on a regular basis, you probably don’t know which trains they already have — or what train books Mom and Dad haven’t already read five million billion times.

Our family tried to solve the problem through communication: emails, wishlists, whispered conversations while the kiddo was busy — you guessed it — playing trains.

But there were still duplicate gifts. I know we’re not the only family with a herd of wooden Thomases.

If you’re anything like me, you want to pick out something new and unexpected and all around delightful for that child’s special day.

What you need is a creative train gift that goes beyond a Thomas & Friends starter set or copy of The Little Engine That Could.

Something that will make Santa jealous on Christmas morning.

Something that will make you the hero of a train-themed birthday party.

Fortunately, there are a lot of uncommonly awesome train toys, books, and other gifts that are as likely to surprise as they are to delight!

This page contains affiliate links to Amazon.com. Read our disclosure policy for more details.

Creative Train Gift Ideas for Kids

1. Train Sets for Toddlers


2. An Epic Wooden Train Set


Note: If you’re looking for a wooden train set and want to delve deeper into learning about the different brands, I recommend reading my Ultimate Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets. And if you’re interested in train tables, check out my train table guide.

3. An Awesome Addition to a Wooden Train Set


4. A Battery-Operated Wooden Train


5. A Paint-Your-Own Train Set


6. A Ride-on or Climb-in Train


7. A Train Book


8. A Train Launcher


9. A Train Game


10. A Train Video or CD


55+ Creative Train Gift Ideas for Kids that Will Make You a Hero

Filed Under: Gift Guides

« Whittle Shortline Railroad Review: Realistic Wooden Trains
Wooden Track Veggie Stack: a Wooden Train Activity »

Comments

  1. Philip Cornett says

    December 11, 2016 at 6:36 am

    I am glad you have the Peters Railway books listed! We have most of the paperbacks for younger children and the are fantastic. Lots of diagrams to show how things work.

    Reply
    • Jessica Petersen says

      December 11, 2016 at 10:38 am

      Yes, we love them! I wrote a long post about how awesome they are (Sand Tracks: Train Beach Activity Inspired by Peter’s Railway) a few years ago after reading them to my son. He was three at the time but would beg me to keep reading chapter after chapter. We’ve just started reading them again recently…I love how they’re suitable for such a wide age range.

      Reply
  2. sarah says

    December 23, 2016 at 10:28 am

    omg! just found your site! My 4yo is obsessed with trains! super excited to read some of your posts! great site!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Jessica Petersen says

      December 23, 2016 at 10:38 am

      Thanks! So glad you found the site!

      Reply
  3. Siraj says

    June 20, 2019 at 11:33 pm

    Hi Jessica,

    Great site!

    My son loves wooden trains but he’s now reached an age whereby he wants real wooden train replicas…..he has the Virgin Pendolino but we’re now really struggling to fine UK sellers of toy versions of real trains that will work kn wooden tracks …any ideas, please?

    Reply
    • Jessica Petersen says

      June 21, 2019 at 9:57 am

      Hi! Bigjigs–who make the Virgin Pendolino–also have a Eurostar as well as a number of historic trains in their Heritage Collection. The other ones I know of are based here in the US, but they’re very realistic, so you might check out Whittle Shortline. (I have a review of their trains here.)

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Jessica Petersen, author of Old Tracks, New Tricks
Hi, I'm Jessica! We're so happy you've climbed aboard the Play Trains! express. Next stop: a trainload of fun and learning for your little engineer!

Our Book!

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

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

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

Best Train Tables — The Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

Copyright

Copyright © 2012 - 2023 Jessica Petersen, All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Disclosure

Some product links on this site are affiliate links for products we think are worth checking out. The owner of this website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Lego Brand Retail Affiliate Program. Read our the rest of our disclosure policy here.
Parents' Guide to Building with Dreamup Toys Wooden Railway Block Platforms -- how to combine your child's wooden train track and DUPLO, LEGO, or other interlocking building blocks!

Building with Dreamup Toys Wooden Railway Block Platforms

Painting with Trains on Ceramics: tips for beautiful kid-made gifts from Play Trains!

Beautiful Kid-made Gifts: Painting with Trains on Ceramics

A simple trick to give Lego minifigs a way to ride wooden trains -- from Play Trains!

Lego Minifigures and Wooden Trains: Tips and Tricks

Our Train Videos on YouTube

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

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}