Truett has been eyeing a wooden train set for several months now. He first saw one at The Better Toy Store, a Thomas train table set that cost a whopping $600. Usually, we try to indulge them since they don’t ask for toys very often but for that price, the train set better be made out of gold and not wood. I checked it many times and I was pretty certain it was all wood (not even wood-plated gold) so we told him there was no way we’d fork out $600 for several pieces of wood.
He didn’t kick up a fuss, but instead kissed the train and waved a longing goodbye before saying, “next time daddy buy train set for me.” That was smooth, and secretly, it made us want to get him the set even more.
So when we made our trip to Florida, we were on a mission to return with a wooden train set for the kids for a lot less than $600. After scouring every toy store in the Orlando vicinity, we decided on 2 different train sets (1 from Imaginarium and 1 from Circo) for about $40 USD. Since the tracks were compatible, I figured I’d mix them up to create a giant set for them.
Joining up the sets was a lot harder than it seemed. I didn’t have any instructions to follow so I had to freestyle most of the time. Also, Tru had a lot of demands like the track had to run under the bridge and I had to use up every piece of track and it had to be rectangular not weirdly shaped. After many hours trying to come up with a design, I finally settled on version 5.3.
The good thing is that it was a huge hit with the kids. It’s by far their favoritest toy and they’ve clocked more hours fiddling with this than any other toy they own. But the frustrating thing is that the playing inevitably degenerates into a Godzilla-destroying-city reenactment. Both kids will stomp on the pieces till they all come crashing down, then they will be all “OH NO TRAIN BROKEN…” and harass me till I rebuild it for them.
I’m thinking of mounting all the pieces on a table for them so I don’t have to keep rebuilding it again and again but I’m a little reluctant to glue all the pieces down permanently in case they want to change the design or add on more tracks in the future.
Any ideas on how I can do this?
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Those train sets are great & the track design is really good. Maybe try using a double sided tape instead of glue? It wouldn’t be as adhesive as glue but at least it will stick to the table :p
By the way, how do you teach your kids not to cry when toys they want are not bought for them? Hope you can share, thanks!
P.S. Your kids are very adorable! Ü
Thanks for the suggestion! I may try looking for those super sticky double sided tape to see if they work but the regular ones don’t hold it very well.
As for not crying, I don’t really have a secret method. I’d say half the time they do have a meltdown when they don’t get what they want. Usually we explain to them why they can’t have it and offer an alternative. Half the time it works and they’re ok but the other half, they scream their heads off.
If the screaming happens, we let them calm down before explaining again so that they understand that screaming doesn’t get them what they want. Also, when they react well, they tend to get what they want eventually. Irony, really.
Wow, that’s a kick-ass train set for USD40! Thanks for sharing – I have been ogling at the same wooden train set from The Better Toy Store too!
Yeah the circo one was on sale for $10 at Target and it was the last set so we grabbed it instantly. For some reason, it’s ridiculously expensive here.
If you have any friends going overseas, they can help to buy it much cheaper. I saw this Thomas set in Australia for $30 plus.
http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine_Wooden_Railway_Set-p-2117.html
I reckon it’d still be cheaper if you ship it down from the US or something.
perhaps use velcro? there are some mats/carpets which provide something for velcro strips to grab on to. Stick on velcro strips are easy to find at places like ValueDollar or other household ware stores. That would give you a way to get stuff stuck down while still being able to move them around if necessary. :)
Velcro, genius! I’ll try it out to see if it holds. But the problematic area is the elevated twisty area. Maybe I’ll glue that area and use velcro for the rest. Thanks jo!
I found that out by accident with my own kids while they were playing :P the elevated twisty area is an issue… its a little iffy there… small strips of velcro might help or you could do double sided tape just for that area…
how about Bluetak Daphne?
Hahah bluetak was the first thing I tried but it doesn’t hold very well and it causes a gap between the tracks. Worst thing was that Tru loves to pick at the bluetak – it’s a very strange quirk. He’ll yank it out just so that he can roll it into a ball.
mine love bluetak… and its the last thing I’ll use.. it gets all over the house!!! and causes endless headaches almost as bad as chewing gum all over the streets. as a last resort, we use those removable sticky tapes (eg from 3M).
Love the set up! ;) how abt the 3m mounting tape used for hanging pictures? Removable yet pretty strong.
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http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/04/trofast-play-table.html
Not sure if this would help, but it is a cheap way of putting together a play table for the train set, if you can afford the space. Perhaps having it off the floor will prevent them from going all Godzilla over it?
I love ikeahackers!! i’m trying to see if i can get a carpenter to build a customized table for it cos we’re not very handy with modifying furniture hah. Just putting together the ikea stuff is already tough enough..
My son would love that train set! Okay, maybe I would love it just as much as him but you get my point. I refuse to buy that set from Better Toy Store as well so we settled with a Ikea train set which he loves. Cheap and good plus he can run his Thomas wooden trains on them. As for mounting them, I’m guessing velcro would be your best bet. We don’t mount ours cos Max seems to like sitting in the middle of the track to play.
Ya kirsten too! She will sit right in the middle of the tracks but there isn’t enough space so she will knock stuff over in the process and Tru will get very upset with her. I’m definitely going to try the velcro with the table
Actually there’s this clip thing that you can buy at toy stores which will keep the train tracks together. And you just have to unclip them to dismantle the train tracks. The only problem is they are quite expensive. 42 clips for US$31.95 on Amazon. Not sure if they sell them here. You can try The Better Toy Store but a sure bet will be to order it on Amazon and ship it here or get a friend to bring it back for you if they visit the US.
Here’s what I’m talking about
http://www.amazon.com/Suretrack-locking-system-Wooden-Stickers/dp/B002QZ5E12
Good luck!
Thanks, I had no idea there were such clips available! But you’re right it’s a bit expensive plus shipping and all. We’ll try checking the toy store to see if they have it here
Wow very cheap for two super cool train sets! And yes I heard Thomas is generally cheaper in Aussie. Was about to say bluetak but guess it didn’t work. Anyway you should let us know what u used eventually =)
Definitely! I’ll try the tape and velcro and maybe end up using a combination of stuff for the different parts.
Oh, I know that train track at the Store. One of Jay’s fave too. And like you, I cannot bring myself to cough out THAT kind of money! Haha! But US$40 for that track you got!? What a buy! Haha! I wouldn’t recommend glueing it down tho. Knowing kids, once you DO glue it down, they might *knock on wood* lose interest and then you’d be stuck with something that much harder to pack away? Or maybe that is just how Jay would behave. Hahaha!
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Exactly, the packing is going to be a problem when they outgrow it.. And if they want to add more tracks and stuff they will keep nagging at me to yank out the pieces.
Ethan loves his wooden train set as well. We kind of have two sets going. One is a train set on a train table ($99 at Costco with train table). We tell him that set is the stationary set and he’s allowed to push the trains around but not take it apart. The other set we keep in a giant tupper-ware ($35 from Costco). If he wants to build his own railway on the flor, he does so with that set… which he does often. That way, if he’s tired of trying, or just wants to play with a cool one with lakes, cranes, bridges and all, he can just play with the one on the train table. It was totally worth it for us. He’s had it for a six months and they are still his favorite toys! I don’t know if this solves your problem since my solution is to buy another set… Hah!
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Hahahah ok now why didn’t I think of this?? If the kids could choose, I’m sure they would go for this one… make mommy buy another set!
If all else fails, I might end up gluing this set down and getting another one without the fancy bridges and stuff for their floor set. The tracks are relatively easy to fix and very stable, it’s the elevated portions that keep falling apart.
Love your blog and has been lurking around without posting hee hee…AHS alumni here too! first thought I had upon looking at the trains was – valcro, then realised it has been suggested. To “enhance” the suggestion, perhaps try this:
think felt board as a table surface. You can buy felt pieces, bigger pieces that is, from Spotlight or Golden Dragon in Chinatown. Perhaps green for grass and cover your table with it. then, using only the hook part of the valcro, cover entire base of tracks to avoid uneven bumps on the base. Your felt base can then double up for loads of creative play, be it a farmyard setting, as a board for attaching pics to etc.
Hope this helps and have loads of fun!
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Seriously, you guys are awesome! Thanks for the idea sophie! Will attempt the felt pieces with the velcro, the kids will LOVE it.
BTW which year were you from?
I graduated in 1997, always thought you looked familiar. Think you graduated two years later?
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wow love the train set ! glad u manage to get a good deal in US, it is a shopping paradise! esp during sales and I LOVE TARGET!
We shipped back boxes of toys when we were there the last time, many still sitting in the storage room. We forgot that we don’t live in houses here. So the husband was kind of right we should just buy what we need…but it’s so hard to resist the temptation, esp the word SALES
Hahah i went a little crazy in target too, like everything is SO CHEAP!! I feel so ripped off having to pay 4 times the price here for basics like Desitin cream. I ended up buying baby stuff for the next kid even though we probably won’t be going for #3 until 2013. Ok I might just end up giving it to friends who are having babies soon..
Wow that’s a kickass train set!! I want one too! haha. But from the looks of it, I probably have no space in the house for it! Without having everyone trip over it that is. I love the above idea of covering the table with felt! There’s another material that is less ‘pokey’ than the hooks part of velcro I think you can use. I’m not sure what it is called or where you can buy it but I know in Sunday School it is sometimes used for Bible Story characters etc.
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Yeah I think bubbles will love it too! And I actually have no idea what material that is but I’ll head down to spotlight this week to take a look. Hopefully I can find something there.
Have you solve the issue yet? Well, if you have not, a way to look at it would be Quality Time. I mean, it is boring for me to sit down to watch him play or tell “our” stories from the imaginative movement of dead characters in which i get interupted or scolded for spoiling his wish for how the stories should go. Well, sometimes it is fun to have these debates. But most times he shush me off because he wants the story to go his way. So my way of joining in his fun is to rebuild his track as he destroy them. You will find that if you get engross in it as I have, you may even have some creative cells growing. Careful of addiction though, now it is me that wants more part for our track set!
Another way is too relate all broken parts of tracks as part of Thomas: Accident Can Happen scenario and sing the song when I get too lazy to build them back up again.
How do you play with your kids using train set?
Hahaha I’m pretty much just the builder. After I’m done building they take over and do the playing/destroying.
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