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

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag

May 28, 2014 By Jessica Petersen 4 Comments



Over the past few years, I’ve had fun thinking up ideas for little activities and busy bags to put in my purse that are tailored to my son’s interests. So, as you can imagine, we’ve played a lot of trains in a lot of different ways at restaurant tables. Here’s a simple train track counting activity that packs up small and works great as a busy bag. For a child who loves trains, the opportunity to them on tracks can be almost irresistible. At least, that’s always been true for the Little Engineer!

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

This post contains links to Amazon.com. If you click on one, we will receive a small commission — at no additional cost to you — on anything you buy at Amazon for a certain length of time afterwards. Read our disclosure policy for more details.

 

Tiny Trains for Busy Bags

Here are some different small trains you could use in busy bags:

  • Plastic Train Beads (what we used this time)
  • Thomas & Friends Pez dispensers
  • My Busy Books: Thomas and Friends
  • Safari Steam Train Toob
  • Safari Diesel Train Toob
  • Wooden Train Tokens

The plastic train beads and the wooden train tokens are the smallest options by far. The others are still small enough for a busy bag, but will make it a bit bulkier. I carry a very small purse these days, so the trains needed to be tiny for us!

All of these trains are small enough to be choking hazards, so I recommend very close supervision for this activity for children who are not well beyond the stage of putting things in their mouths.

 

Preparing the Train Track Counting Busy Bag

1. Using brightly-colored pens, write each of the numbers 1 to 10 at the top of ten index cards. Under each number, draw a corresponding number of train tracks. The tracks should be short, but long enough for the little trains to fit on. The Little Engineer and I like to draw our rails and railroad ties/sleepers in two contrasting colors.

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

Then, put the numbered track cards in a resealable sandwich bag with ten (or more — we could only find ten of ours) train beads.

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

 

Playing with the Trains and Track Cards

Here are some ideas for playing with the trains and track cards:

1. Count: Put the trains on all the tracks of the cards, one by one, counting up to the number on the card.

2. Compare: Put the trains on the tracks of two cards, and determine which number is greater than or less than the other.

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

3. Add or Subtract: For older preschoolers, the cards can be used to practice adding or subtracting numbers. (This is how the Little Engineer and I played with them as we took these photos, filling up one card, choosing another number to subtract from it, moving the trains from the first card to the second, and then figuring out how many trains were left.)

4. Make Ten: Count out ten little trains (if you have more than ten). Mix up the cards, draw one, put the trains on the tracks and then figure out what number you need to “make ten”.

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

 5. Imagine: My son was happy to explore the trains and tracks as a math game, but — inevitably — he started playing pretend after a while. Which is great! I started working on another busy bag for these trains that will be geared to imaginative play.

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

I’m sure there are many more ways to play with these trains and cards…this is what we’ve come up with so far. If you make one of these busy bags for your children, I hope it keeps them entertained, engaged, and…busy!

 

More Portable Train Activities for Kids:

Portable Small World: Pretend Model Train Set @ Play Trains! Come see how big the Little Engineer grinned the first time he put together this DIY train set you can take along to play anywhere!

Portable Small World: Pretend Model Train Set

DIY Mini Light Box: Portable, Floatable, Stackable, and Waterproof Light Play from Play Trains!

DIY Mini Light Box

Trains and Tracks for Light Boxes and Light Tables from Play Trains!

Trains and Track for Light Play

 

Filed Under: Featured, Fine Motor Activities, Math Activities with Trains, Mini Toy Train Activities, Preschoolers, Toddlers, Train Obsessed, Train Play Sets, Uncategorized Tagged With: activities, busy bags, math, portable activities, travel activities

« LEGO Ewok Village Wooden Train Layout
Story Cups for Light Play »

Comments

  1. JDaniel4's Mom says

    June 4, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    This is such a fun way to work on one to one correspondence! Thank you for linking it to The Sunday Showcase.

    Reply
    • Jessica Petersen says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:24 pm

      Thanks, and thanks for visiting!

      Reply
  2. Belinda says

    June 18, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    Wow, your site is such a find. We’ve just had a child join our new entrant class who loves trains too, and this will be such a great resource to be able to integrate his learning into his passion. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jessica Petersen says

      November 10, 2021 at 11:31 am

      I’m so glad it’s helpful! This made my day to read.

      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.
Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen: a wooden train picture book that inspires creative play!

Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen

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

An easy, temporary way to turn any wooden train into a LEGO train. A fun design project for kids from Play Trains!

Design Your Own LEGO Wooden Train

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}