We are in the midst of Thomas the tank engine fever in our house, Daniel loves trains, cars, vans, trucks, lorries, planes, tractors, you get the idea, if it has wheels he likes it. If he’s sitting with me he’s often driving something over me. With William, he liked cars but he was never that bothered, we got him little cars but he’s not been that interested. Luckily we kept them, because now they’re used for Daniel. He has a whole box of cars, a small wooden train set and a big tractor, digger and fire engine. My lucky little boy has been gifted the Thomas the Tank Engine and friends all around Sodor interactive toy train set to try out. It’s perhaps not something I would have bought him, it’s plastic and maybe more than I can afford, but here’s the thing: He bloody loves it! He plays with it every day. He loves the buttons on top, I now know all the phrases and sound effects (over 50, plenty of variety), plus Thomas’ eyes and mouth moves when he talks. He comes with batteries, which are still going, and he drives himself round the track. Daniel didn’t get that at first, he was just enjoying the train and the buttons, but once we showed him what Thomas can do he was thrilled! The train moves by himself! At the moment Daniel is not parted from his train for long and I’m so grateful we got it. It would make a lovely present for Christmas or birthdays for any vehicle obsessed toddler from 18 months up. As you can see from the top picture, I was not a prepared blogger and tried to get a photo of it in the box whilst he was desperate to get hold of it, so I thought I’d use the one where his hand is grabbing at it!
One happy boy
The train tracks and add-ons are easy and quick to assemble and you could take it apart again and keep it stored if you want to, ours is still out in the playroom. The crane that comes with it could have a working hook and crank handle or something to hold the 2 barrels that come with the set, at the moment you can put the barrels on the platform next to the crane so that they drop onto the carriage and you can carry the barrels round in the carriage.
Thomas goes both ways round the track, but one way round on one of the corners he always seem to derail and need a bit of help. If he hasn’t got his carriage attached he does better. There’s a little signal signpost and the whole track is very colourful and goes round in a figure of eight.
Real life background mess
The Tidmouth sheds attachment isn’t toddler proof, Daniel’s always pulling that bit off, but it does fit in nice and securely initially. He likes to give them to us as a present. Toddlers don’t have anything to give you like flowers or chocolate or a drawing, so they like to give you whatever they can, be it a stick, a slug, a half eaten biscuit or Tidmouth sheds, so accept what you get with good grace.
The Thomas train is a nice size for little hands and sturdy enough to withstand their antics. The carriage that attaches to the train does come away easily but when it’s on the track it stays put. Daniel takes his train everywhere, god help us if we lose it!
Disclosure: we were gifted the train set, all opinions are my own and honest.
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