Playing with trains

I have met so many mothers who when I mention to them how much Trainboy loves trains tell me that their kid did for a while and got over it (and they sigh with relief). I smile and change the topic because I am sorry that they have viewed their kids' passion as a temporary annoyances to be survived while I see them as things to celebrate and feed.

Trainboy has been playing trains for over 2 years now since we borrowed (on an extended basis) my parents old train set and shows no signs of slowing down. If he decides at some point to move onto another topic of fascination, I will support him, but right now I feed his desire to learn about trains as much as I can. We have gone to ride Thomas the train, his dad has taken him to model train shows, we read books about trains from the library (and not just fiction picture books!) and more.

Anyway, we still have a wonderful time playing trains, whether on our train table or on the floor. The train set has been expanded significantly to the point we have laid track all around the house so the kids could drive a train in a circle thru the house.

This is our latest train track creation. It was a lot of fun. It was based on a train track design given to us with one of the track acquisitions (and how much Craigslist is our friend there!) But we expanded it to include as many bridges and tunnels as we could. Dinoguy also loves to play trains, and in this photo is directing Trainboy and I in a game where we are driving our trains to a party, I am bringing the balloons on my little train, Trainboy has the cake and Dinoguy has the other decorations.

I could discuss all the different topics of learning that can be covered in trains, but let's just summarize by saying the possibilities are endless. It is so much more than little boys using their imaginations and building skills here.