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
Fourth of July Wooden Train Play from Play Trains!

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, ...

Read More »

Train Easter Egg Fillers recommended by Play Trains!

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 ...

Read More »

Easy Easter Freight and Bunny Ears for Wooden Trains from Play Trains!

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 ...

Read More »

Easter Train Books for Kids recommended by Play Trains!

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. ...

Read More »

St. Patrick's Day Freight and Decorations for Wooden Trains from Play Trains!

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. ...

Read More »

Holiday Breakfast Train -- fun and yummy train play for Christmas morning, birthdays, or other special occasions from Play Trains!

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 ...

Read More »

Whole Wheat Aebleskivers from Play Trains! A healthier update to an old family recipe for these Danish round pancakes.

Whole Wheat Aebleskiver Recipe

Aebleskivers -- those plump, tasty breakfast treats you may know as Danish round pancakes -- are a beloved tradition in our family. My husband's family makes and eats them together on Christmas and Easter morning and on other special occasions. I've made a point to extend the tradition to the Little ...

Read More »

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.
Dress Up Costumes for Toy Trains from Play Trains! A fun way to decorate wooden trains (or other toy trains) without damaging them.

Dress Up Costumes for Wooden Trains

Temporary alternatives to gluing wooden train tracks down to a wooden train table, recommended by Play Trains!

Alternatives to Gluing Wooden Train Tracks to a Train Table

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

Beautiful Kid-made Gifts: Painting with Trains on Ceramics

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}