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My son is obsessed with trains. In fact it’s not uncommon for him to just tell people he’s a Train Enthusiast! We watch shows, we read books, we go to museums and we build/play with train tracks at home. It’s particularly funny that he’s so in to trains considering I had an adversarial relationship with trains (ride Amtrak in Oregon and let me know how you feel!). So I’m learning along with him and since he loves trains, you best believe I will pretend to love trains! Going to leave some recommendations of products my son has enjoyed as well as some other tips.
Watching Train Shows
I’ve written about Thomas & Friends and what to watch and look out for there. Outside of Thomas there are some other solid options on Netflix as my son has also liked Mighty Express and Titipo.
The other program my son loves watching is Riding Britains Railways on Disney +, it tells the story of how a bunch of portly gentlemen with mutton chops helped shape Britains train landscape. Also just popping on some train videos on YouTube can do the trick.
Reading Train Books
Our favorite book for learning the ins and outs of trains is How Trains Work . It’s a great lift the flaps book that really details the history, make-up and future of trains. It’s not an easy one to sit in 1 setting and finish, but he’ll just point around to a few pages and we’ll read and zoom in from there. For a shorter book about the basics of how trains work we love Terrific Trains.
Thomas & Friends also has 70+ years of books to peruse. They range from Bright and Early Board Books (titles like Go, Train, Go! and A Crack in the Track)to Golden Books (some based on movies) but our absolute favorite is the Thomas & Friends Character Encyclopedia it goes through hundreds of Thomas Characters and it’s crazy that my son knows every single one (which sadly means he wants toys of every one…)
Toy Trains
Every young train enthusiast needs some train tracks of their own! There are many different avenues to take, but the tried and true easiest way to get started is through Wooden Train Tracks. Many different routes you can go Brio is the industry standard, but you can find wood tracks all over Amazon and even at places like Ikea. The other thing that is great about wood tracks is that they all work with each other, so you can easily mix and match brands and accessories.
With the trains for the wooden tracks there are lots of Thomas & Friends trains that can be found on Amazon. You will find most of the main characters on Amazon, for the deeper cut characters you will need to hit up eBay.
If you’re really living large you can splurge for the ride-along trains, obviously here a big playroom or yard is key there. Also all sorts of train models that can be found at toy stores and museums, but again with anything for kid’s it is going to get beaten up!
Go See Trains in Person
Learn by doing! Pretty much anywhere we go, we try to find a train, tram, monorail (mono means 1 and rail means rail), subway or trolley. When my son was younger he’d even go “Choo Choo” the whole ride, now he just spreads his gospel of trains and he points out all of the Gazebos!
Conclusion (TL;DR)
- Go See Trains in Person!
- Wood tracks are the way to go for your toys
- How Trains Work is the best book for immersing in all things trains
- Have fun and always share in your kids hobbies!
Let me know your favorite things about trains or how you teach your child about trains!
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