Eco Train City

     I'm always using cardboard boxes for things.  "Reduce, reuse, recycle" has been drilled into my head, and I get a guilt complex if I don't implement it when I can.  They really help us reduce because we can get creative with the boxes instead of going out and buying a new toy when the kids get bored. 
     Our assortment of sizes and shapes of boxes works great to build our "train city."  Long boxes become tunnels and ramps and bridges that go up and down for Bulstrode the boat.  Square boxes pile up to transform into tall buildings, train stations and engine sheds.  Our long narrow triangular shaped box that my husband's golf driver came in  is a house favorite because it becomes an elevated tunnel that trains and trucks race down.
      The best is when Jac takes the initiative to really create the city himself.  It is such a joy to see him problem solve and create on his own with these giant building blocks.  I can dream of his passion of trains one day leading to a career in civic engineering....

Light and Go Fun With Thomas the Tank Engine

This Little Tikes Light and Go Thomas Flashlight
is one of Jac's favorite Thomas the Tank Engine toys.  He loves to push it around and hear the fun chugging and peeping noises Thomas makes.  He actually has two of them so he and a friend can crawl around with them like two little trains on the floor.  To make this Thomas train even better, it has a flashlight feature so Jac can have fun lighting up dark places.  His favorite place to light up is the tunnel that goes through the mountain on his train table.  Thomas the Tank engine bravely lights the way for all the trains chugging through this dark tunnel.  Once again you, Thomas, are a really useful engine.

Train Story Box

Another favorite activity of Jac's is to do a train story box.  "Mama I'll put trains in a box, and you tell a story."  He loves hearing me make up a new story about his favorite train characters based on what he's put in the box.  As a bonus, it's fun for me too.  I like to spend time with Jac doing what he likes to do, but honestly, pushing trains around a track does get monotonous after a while.  This way we can lay on the floor, push trains around, and watch a new adventure unfold. 

Pulling Coaches

Since Jac is "Thomas the Tank Engine," he is always talking about pulling coaches. One winter day, I decided to poke holes in some old shoe boxes and packing boxes and string them together to make his own train. It was great for hours of entertainment, and as a bonus, plenty of wintertime exercise, which is not always easy. He was so happy running circles in the house and peeping. Like Thomas, sometimes he was pulling passengers, and sometimes freight. Mostly he was just having fun being a "really useful engine." He was also thrilled to pose for pictures as Thomas the Tank Engine.

Jac's Top 5 Train Books

The Little Engine That Could Storybook Treasury
by Platt & Munk Publishers

This book was Jac's first favorite. As soon as he could walk he started bringing this book to everyone to read. It has 7 train stories in it, including the original Little Engine That could story. I think this is the book Jac learned all his letters and numbers from. One story goes on a trip finding things that start with every letter of the alphabet and ends with an alphabet train. The next story is a one through ten counting story. The last three stories are perfect for toddlers. They have simple one sentence pages, perfect for their attention spans, and plenty of opportunities for sound effects.

Whoo! Whoo! Goes the Train by Anne Rockwell and Vanessa van der Baan

This is a recent favorite of Jac's. He will read it over and over and over. Allan, in the book, is obsessed with trains, something Jac can identify with. The book does a great job building the excitement of Allan's first train ride, and puts in all the fun details.

Choo-Choo, Peek-a-Boo a Peek-a-Board book by Random House Publishing

This is a favorite with Jac and Julianne, my little toddler. They love the little peek-a-boo holes to look through, and poke their little fingers through. Sir Topham Hat needs to find his seven grandchildren, and they count them as they find them along the way. And of course this is Thomas the Tank Engine, what more needs to be said?


Catch Me, Catch Me! A Thomas the Tank Engine Story (Pictureback(R))
by Random House Publishing

The same publishing house and illustrator as the book above did this book, so they are doing something right for Jac. This is the book Jac picks out when he wants to read a story to his stuffed Thomas the Tank Engine. It limits the vocabulary to fifty words, and has a sheet in the back you can cut all the words out of for learning activities. Jac is starting to catch on to reading a bit more this way. We take the cut out words and talk about what they look like, and match them to the words in the book, and he is really starting to recognize them! (He is three years old) The story itself has very catchy rhymes, and a race that Thomas wins!

Thomas and Friends: Ride Along with Thomas (Thomas the Tank Engine)
, a Play-a-Sound book

Of course a favorite list of books for a three year old wouldn't be complete without a book you can push buttons for sound effects. Jac's favorite sounds are the little musical songs it plays when you hit the music note buttons. This book has a steering wheel that put you in the driver's seat, with a "horn" that peeps, and other fun sound effects. Thomas chugs all over, and meets all his favorite friends.

The Train Takeover

Jac loves trains. In fact he informs me throughout the day that he is not Jac, he is still Thomas the Tank Engine. When he was two, his response to almost every conversation was to start singing the Thomas roll call song. Now he simply explains to us that he is rolling, puffing, peeping around the tracks, pulling coaches, or simply being a train. Train tracks are set up throughout the house, his bed is a "shed," and everyone in the family goes by a specified Thomas character name. "No mama, you're still Henry." "No mama, that's "baby Percy." Our home is filled with Thomas merchandise. Oh, and he always wears blue. His silverware, cups, straws, and drawing utensils also have to be blue, because, "I'm still Thomas the Tank Engine." Train tracks are everywhere. Sidewalk curbs, playground borders, patterns on the floor at the airport, and sealed cracks in the driveway are all rails on which Thomas chugs.

So, I have started this blog. I want to share some of our train activities for other moms who are going through the train craze, and for moms who are going through other obsessions with their little ones....clearly you are not alone.