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 -- ...
Thomas Gets a Snowplow: Wooden Train Book Activity for Kids
I'm glad that there are a few children's books about trains in the snow that focus on winter rather than the holidays. Not that the Little Engineer minds reading books out of season, but it's nice that there are a few stories that are set in winter without Christmas coming into the picture. Thomas ...
DIY Felt Engineer Hats for Stuffed Animals
A year and a half ago, the Little Engineer developed a fascination with meerkats within the space of one episode of Curious George. Soon thereafter, we took him to the Woodland Park Zoo for their Halloween festivities, and he had one and only one animal on his to-visit list: the "meekats", as he ...
Monorail Ticket Booth Pretend Play
Even before we went on our play date with the Seattle Center Monorail, the Little Engineer had started playing a monorail version of Big Engine, his game where we pretend his bed is a locomotive. As usual, one of his favorite parts to play was the ticket booth. So when I saw all the cool stuff ...
Our Play Date at the Seattle Monorail
We had been inside the Seattle Monorail's Red Train for five or ten minutes already when it seemed to sink in for the Little Engineer. He picked up his best buddy, Meekat, from where the he had been sitting next to Monorail Bunny on a seat and lifted the meerkat above his head, beaming upward in ...
“Dice Cars”: the Little Engineer’s Favorite Train Math Game
I have this theory that trains can be used to teach any subject. This seems especially true for math. I keep thinking up new train math games myself, finding new commercial train games with a math element, and running into new ideas online. But there is one and only one train math game that has ...
The Pacific Science Center’s 39th Annual Model Railroad Show
We spent two exciting days at the 39th Annual Model Railroad Show at Seattle's Pacific Science Center last weekend. Exciting and exhausting for us adults, but completely worth it. Given that we already have a membership to the Science Center, I wasn't going to let the Little Engineer miss out on ...
BIG ENGINE: Train Pretend Play on a BIG Scale
"Mama, Mama, Mama come and play Big Engine!" "Big Engine" is the Little Engineer's bed. When we picked the Kura bed out at Ikea almost a year and a half ago (can it be that long?), I didn't realize that it really was a train. Not that trains didn't influence us in choosing it; I had visions ...
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.