Farm set and train set for 2 year old

[Raggeo]

My son turns 2 in December just before Christmas. I'm also due my second child in a few weeks and before I descend into the new-born chaos I wanted to make a dent in my birthday/Christmas shopping. He loves animals atm so I want to get him a farm or zoo set. Does anyone have any recommendations for a just turned 2 year old? Not sure whether to go for something plastic/electronic or something wooden and longer lasting. I would like the animals to be as realistic as possible. Some sets I looked at, the chickens were bigger than the cows😅
Also have the same dilemma with the train set. I don't want to buy Brio as it seems very expensive but I see there are lots of other cheaper versions available. Which ones did your children like? I also like the look of the duplo steam train, which has little figures that can go in, its electronic and makes noises etc. My feeling is he would like the plastic toys short term but the wooden train set would last more years and could be expanded if he liked it. Is 2 too young for the wooden sets?
Thank you for any suggestions and recommendations.

I bought the happyland farm set (from ELC) for DD1s first birthday, it’s still in pretty much perfect condition and she’s 4. It’s still played with by her and her younger sister as well. Some of the plastic toys last quite well, some wooden ones have been ruined by water when I found DD ‘giving them a bath’.

We have the playmobil 123 farm set for my 2 year old as well as a tractor from the same range and they are really good. Very durable and all the things fit in the farm and it has a handle so good for taking on the go/easy to store.

Ha, I remember that problem with the farm sets! We had one which didn't get played with very much, tbh (neither child was particularly into intricate characterisation leading to hours of pretend play).

We bought wooden track from several different places. It was all fine. The joinings are loose enough to not require exactitude, which is quite good because unlike plastic track you can - ahem - persuade the ends to join up

Brio or wooden Thomas. None of the others come close for build quality, not even Big Jigs. My 7 year old still plays with the Brio that was handed down from his cousins to his eldest brother and we've added to it over the years with Thomas and others.

My DS is farm mad and has been since age 2, he is 7 now. The best farm was a wooden one from ELC which has now served two kids over 10 years and still in playworthy condition and used frequently though a few small parts have broken off. It's this one (I'm not selling!) www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265276935454.
He also loves playmobil and we have tonnes of it, including the take-along farm, horse farm, stables and loads more. It's brilliant - but 2 is too young for it, and it's a bad idea with a baby as it's basically billions of teeny tiny parts. He's only really got into playmobil from starting school age and he plays with that daily.

For a 2-5 year old Happyland is fabulous.

The train sets pretty much all fit each other, you can't go wrong!

Our train set grew and grew, it had bits from Brio, Big Jigs, Tesco, Ikea and probably more I forgot.

They all fitted together perfectly except the IKEA which you had to wedge in a bit, typical IKEA although this was years ago and I think they fit fine these days.

I can't recommend a train set highly enough! It was, hands down, our most played with toy. And not just by the DC, but definitely a firm favourite also with visiting adults, they would actually get down and play with the DC with the trains, which the DC loved. That didn't happen with any other toys except maybe Lego every now and then.

And if the DC do play with it then it's a great toy for Christmas as you can ask relatives etc to get extra bits for it and there's something for every budget.

Also, people reading this thread, please don't forget that girls like trains too! DD got just as much play out of our train set as DS!

Wooden Thomas the tank engine is still played with by my 7 year old and 9 year old! Buy it second hand because I think they've stopped making it now! Brio / big jigs / tesco / IKEA compatible but some tunnels and bridges are too low for the height of the engines. We started with the IKEA set but the Thomas engines were bought with pocket money.

Don't get the brio motorised engine until they are 5 because mine broke the motor by pushing it!

Most sets lack carriages so the big jigs train with carriages did a great job of being the polar express:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003YLHFLY/ref=sspa_mw_detail_4?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

Honestly it has been their favourite toy for years.

Neither of my DC much liked their brio-type train set, much to DH's disappointment. They have a fab set bought in Lidl a few years back. It just sat it the box and when it did come out, DH played with it more than them.

We’ve got lots of brio ( very old now) and have added elc, IKEA ( second hand from cousins) and new bigjigs and Lidl. Lidl sell excellent value starter packs, big jigs for the fancy bits. The track master trains will also run in the wooden railway.

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/pre-school-and-electronic-learning/big-steps/big-steps-play/big-steps-play-old-macdonald-tractor-and-trailer/p/100364 We have this self driving tractor with animals. They also do it as a set with the tractor and a farm building. It’s been very popular with my 20month old since he got it for his first birthday, and my 4yo also enjoys playing with it.
We also have a second hand wooden train set, a mix of brio, bigjigs, Ikea etc which both kids love but the little one needs some help to actually build the tracks.