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Valentine's Day in Vicarstown: a book-inspired wooden train activity from Play Trains!

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 ...

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Winter Train Play Ideas: Snow for Wooden Train Layouts from Play Trains!

Snow for Wooden Train Layouts

Of all the kinds of scenery we've come up with to decorate our wooden train layouts, my favorite is most definitely snow. Not only is it pretty, but it's also interactive: trains can plow through the snow on the tracks, or haul it around in freight cars. It also is perfect for inspiring new story ...

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Winter Pom Pom Trees for Train Sets and Other Small Worlds from Play Trains!

Snow and Ice Winter Pom Pom Trees

Now that we're deep into winter, it's time for another seasonal variation on our pipe cleaner trees. These black trees started out as spooky trees for Halloween. Then we added color for Halloween carnival pom pom trees and fall pom pom trees. Now, soft pom pom snow and hard glass gem ice has landed ...

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Wooden Train Ski Jump -- Winter Olympics Activities for Kids from Play Trains!

Wooden Train Ski Jump — Winter Olympics Activities for Kids

I kept my first two activities for the Winter Play Days series intentionally simple because I knew I was gearing up for something epic: wooden train ski jumping in honor of the Winter Olympics! This one activity has caused a huge surge in the Little Engineer's interest in the Olympics, winter ...

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Thomas Gets a Snowplow: Train Book Review and Play Ideas from Play Trains!

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 ...

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Winter Train Play in the Snow from Play Trains!

Winter Train Play in the Snow

Here we are at the beginning of another fun series of seasonal play ideas: Winter Play Days! This week, we're teaming up with Fun-a-Day!, Fantastic Fun and Learning, Nothing if Not Intentional, My Nearest and Dearest, and Buggy and Buddy to share some great winter activities for kids. For our first ...

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Winter Train Activities for Kids: Building a Train Engineer Snowman from Play Trains!

Train Engineer Snowman

Nothing is more magical than a child's first snowman. However, sometimes there's a way to make it just a bit more magical for that particular child. In the Little Engineer's case, that magic came in the form of an invitation that required no words to explain: a spare engineer's hat and a baby ...

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Pipe Cleaner Trees Christmas Craft for Train Sets and Small Worlds from Play Trains!

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 ...

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Snow Trains: Seven Ideas for Bringing Snow into Train Play

We haven't gotten any snow yet this year, much to the Little Engineer's disappointment.  But that hasn't stopped us from playing trains in the snow all winter. We've combined snow and trains in our play off and on through every season.  It's always a popular element.  It taps into one of the ...

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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

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

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Play Dough Train Set from Play Trains! put together a train-making set for kids with play dough and Duplo bricks.

Play Dough Train Set

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

Lego Minifigures and Wooden Trains: Tips and Tricks

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

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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.

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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