Four year old on train

[Ppejfhfhrhhfhf]

I’ve booked for my four year old nephew and me to travel from the North on the train to London, a visit to Hamley’s and the aquarium, then on to Hampshire to visit Peppa Pig World the next day.

He’s a very good little boy but I’m worried he’ll get bored on the train. I don’t have kids and I’ve never taken him away before, so I wondered if anyone had any tips for travelling with a child?

He will love it. I take mine on long train journeys all the time. Bring a special sticker book or colouring book you can do together; look out of the window; bring a little game. It will fly by and 4 is a great age to be curious and excited about the world. Whatever you do don’t bring a screen, kids miss out on so much when they’re plugged with tv. Train journeys are great fun!

I used to take the travel sized versions of Connect 4, Guess Who and a pack of cards.

Get lots of magasines and a treat at the cafe. We used to love doing those (try to get a table seat for colouring in too)

Ipad or electronic device to play some games or watch videos.

Thank you! Interesting about the screens - I was going to download some Peppa to watch with headphones but maybe I shouldn’t.

He loves Guess Who! Will definitely do that.

Definitely have it as a back up in case all goes to pot (tantrum etc) but actually he would get a lot of it that he will miss out on if he just watches a screen.

If he's a Peppa fan, you can get loads of sticker books on Amazon with different themes and they can kill quite a lot of time. DS also quite liked the packs of magic pens and colouring pictures you can get (I think they're Crayola and they write as if they were white on normal paper but on the special paper, they write in different colours = no mess). My DS is nearly 5 so has outgrown some of those a little bit now though. He currently loves mazes so I've got him a few of those type of books and a (very junior) sudoku book for our next trip.

Snacks are a must. And more than you think are needed.

Oh and I also do use screen time too. I don't think it's the worst thing in a world

We never needed to but the longest we were on a train was 3 hrs - not sure how long you will be on one for? If you have changes the walking about will refresh.

Might be handy to have an episode or 2 for back-up on the way back when tired and less to see out of the window in the dark I suppose? I can understand you'd be nervous not having done it before.

As a child on long journeys, my brother and I would enjoy spotting things along the way. See if you can find a sheep, a black and white cow, a garden with a swimming pool etc.

We had dry wipe dot to dot books that DS loved at that age which were ideal for train journeys. They only went up to 10, then started again with a different colour, so nice and easy

If I were taking my three year old on a long train journey, I'd take:
A couple of Orchard Toys mini games
Snacks
Colouring book/ sticker book and crayons (if you want something Peppa themed, you could get a Peppa colouring book?)
Couple of books to read
Train bingo - find some pictures of things we might see on the train, print them out (on one sheet) and see how many we can spot.

You could have a look and check whether any of the train companies do anything like colouring sheets or puzzle pages you could print out. (My children were delighted to be given a tiny cardboard "suitcase" with some bits like a postcard to colour by one of the staff last time we went on a train - but that was Transport for Wales and I'm assuming you won't be travelling with them!)

Another for the sheep, cow, I used to tell my kids when I was young I’d imagine galloping on a horse alongside the train and jumping all the hedges

What a fab auntie!
sticker book
coloring
cards
snacks
i spy
story book
small lego set
first to spot

no screens

My immediate thought was a sticker book. My other advice is to check with his Mum whether he can be relied on to say if he needs the toilet...

He’s great at saying when he needs the toilet so that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.

Is he closer to four or five?

And how tall is he?

The reason I ask is that we took our son when he was 4 and he was actually tall (and brave) enough for a lot of the bigger rides in the main part of Paulton’s park. We spent much less time in PP world than we expected to, as he found it quite tame. The Cat o Pillar is a good next step up but if he is 1m tall he can go on Flight of the Pterosaur.

As for the train, a bit of iPad is absolutely fine along with others’ toy and game recommendations. More important is having plenty of snacks and a nice lunch. Don’t rely on what you can buy on the train. If you are taking him from home his parents will probably sort that out, they can be fussy at that age.

Have fun!

He was four in March but he’s over one metre.

He loves Peppa and I hadn’t actually realised there was another part of the park. I’m not sure how brave he’ll be but looking forward to finding out.

I’m looking forward to the food on the train. He’s not fussy and he’ll enjoy the train picnic.

PP World is only a small area. Whole park is on one ticket. Loads to do, you’ll love it. Queues tend to be shorter outside PP world too.

Oh he'll love it! Don't be surprised if the train is his favourite bit of the whole thing. I have such happy memories of long train trips as a child (to see grandparents in the north). We used to have our own bag of sweets each that we chose before the trip, a picnic for everyone that we would crack open far too early usually, a sticker book or puzzle book each etc. I spy or just looking for things that started with each letter (maybe a bit tricky at 4!) Though tbh nowadays if you've got an ipad you're pretty sorted for entertainment. The parents must trust you a lot - that's so lovely.

I’ve booked for a Thursday in June. I hoped that a weekday outside holidays would be quiet (or quieter). Do you know if that’s the case or should I expect queues regardless?

As pp have said, Peppa Pig World is just one area within Paulton’s Park, which is a family friendly theme park, with lots of things suitable for your nephew’s age. There’s a mini train ride, and lots of ‘safe’ rides for younger children. Just wondering if you’ve planned how to get there, as the nearest station is Southampton, so it would be a bus or taxi ride from there? Not sure how long the bus takes, but the taxi is about 15 mins. Hope you both have a great time!

Thank you!

We’re getting the train into Southampton then a taxi to a pub/inn we’re staying in for two nights that is apparently only half a mile from the park (Mortimer Arms). It’s so close I thought we’d just walk there and back on the Thursday.

Bring a few ziplock bags - hopefully you won’t need them but they are super useful as sick bags if he gets motion sick on the long journey (if you’re getting a bus/car after the train). Saved me from cleaning up a lot of sick on numerous occasions. Also handy for organising all the random bits (colouring pencils, etc) and to store rubbish temporarily if there isn’t a bin nearby.

Fab suggestions on here, but yes this, or a standard supermarket carrier bag, my 4 were fine on trains but hopeless on buses, and it is never a bad suggestion, as you end up using it for other things. Also headphones if they are doing peppa pig on a tablet otherwise other travellers will be grumpy at you. Also have your valuables and tickets in a small back pack so when they want to go the loo you can leave obvious signs of you sitting there (so people don't jump into what they think are empty seats) but not have to leave your valuables. Favourite snacks doled out sparingly are good. Something comforting to have a sleep with is helpful, I used to encourage mine to sleep if they were a bit tired. Also go the toilet more than may think you need to, gives you both a chance to stretch the legs and it does sort of make certain accidents less likely to happen. You will have a lovely time and it is a lovely thing to do xxx