Presents for an almost 3 year old who only wants trains!

[Summerdays2014]

Hi,

My son will be almost 3 at Christmas (early January birthday- but that’s another issue...) and I’m already starting to think about what to get him. We have lots of toys at home but all he ever plays with are trains and cars! When I ask him what he wants he says more trains! I will get him a couple of bits of new track (wooden) and a couple of new trains, but I’m wondering what else your 3 year old likes?

He does love books (so any recommendations for those would be great) and being outside but already has balance bike, scooter, ride on toys etc.

He has duplo, a toy kitchen, jigsaws and paints etc, but he’s not really interested in these (could change by December I guess)

Any suggestions great fully received as we have Christmas and birthday to cover (plus relatives will soon be wanting suggestions!)

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like my DB when he was small. He's a train driver now

Different colour trains? Train bedsheets? Train wall vynl for his room?

Trains! My 5 and 3 1/2 dds still play a lot with theirs, it’s been a really good value present for us. Suggest you look in Lidl as they have great stuff (in mid November normally)

Thanks thisnamechange, train themed things could be the way to go! I wouldn’t be at all surprised if my son ended up a train driver too!

A visit to the Thomas steam train day

Learning resources 123 build.

Ohh good idea CantankerousCamel.

Transporter for cars

Also a grimms fire, earth, water and rainbow for making worlds in which to play trains

Plus some fake trees etc

Just google 123 build as I’ve never heard of them. Looks great - will definitely add that to the list.

I will definitely get him more trains, was just wanting some other things as well as we are already pretty overrun by them!

Some great ideas already thank you!

Just get him trains!

My ds was obsessed with TtTE until he was about 7. He sold all his trains a few years back to go towards a Laptop and made nearly £400!

My ds is train mad too. Over the years we have just added to the wooden railway. He loves Thomas and Friends so we have a lot of the Thomas wooden railway stuff.
So stations, turntables, water towers etc.

If your ds likes Thomas, then a trip to Thomas land at Drayon manor might be an idea. Although they don’t open during the winter so you’d need to wait until spring to go.

Could you get tickets to a train museum or on a steam train x

I bought DS a 'Cranky the Crane' at that age. It went down well and was another sort of toy that went with his trains.

My ds was also obsessed with Thomas! We've just put the trains in the attic this summer .

I got him a personalised Thomas story book starring himself , but it's about a birthday surprise so maybe not suited to Christmas. Got it online here.

For his birthday this year he wants to go to the National Railway Museum in York! And he loved Thomas Land when he was your ds's age.

The Usborne lift the flap train book is brilliant and a huge hit with a 3yo train fanatic I know. Might be a good stocking filler?

My 3 year old DS is like this. I think I'm just going to get him the Thomas minis as these are the only types of Thomas trains he doesn't have yet!

My DS6 has been train mad since he was 2 and only ever asks for train stuff. We've bought him more fancy stuff for the brio set. His favourite was the underground station and monorail.
They're quite expensive but he absolutely loved them!

Mine is the same - we got him a train table to put his track on and some battery operated Brio trains. Those car mats with the towns and roads on them are good too for playing with cars.

Ds was a similar age last Christmas and got his first playmobil sets which he adores and is now taking over the house.

Trains are also popular here, he's getting some the Big Jigs dinosaur train stuff to add to the bits he's already got this year.

William and the Night Train is a favourite bed time book in our house.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/29453.William_and_the_Night_Train

There is also a series called "All Aboard!" which features a train journey around a city or area, which you could combine with an atlas or globe especially if you can find one with main train lines shown on it. (www.babylit.com/catalog/product/view/id/3879/s/all-aboard-california/category/412/).

These are played with a lot in our house

https://www.amazon.co.uk/60pcs-Magnetic-Building-Blocks-Set/dp/B06WGS7NT9/ref=mpssa113?ie=UTF8&qid=1534189887&sr=8-3&pi=ACSX2366SY340QL65&keywords=childrens+hub&dpPl=1&dpID=51evpmtLecL&ref=plSrch

Mine is very similar, though he also has a passion for buses. He also likes his Big Bus Jigsaw Puzzle (15 pieces) and you can get car, taxi and fire engine ones. We have found that you can't have too many buses/trains/cars or tracks, but variants on the theme are occasionally acceptable.

I take it he has a car mat?

For books, how about The Little Engine That Could? Or Naughty Bus? Or You Can't Take An Elephant On A Bus?

This reminds me of my DS at that age. He lived and breathed trains! My DH even built a railway for him up in the loft. It’s still there today and my DS is 18 now! He doesn’t play on it anymore (thank goodness 😄) but wont let us dismantle it!

One of the things I remember from when he was little is that we bought him a Thomas carrycase that had compartments for all his trains. Very easy for him to take everywhere and for me to double check they were all accounted for when we left somewhere.

Another thing my DS loved was DVD’s about people’s garden railways. You will be surprised how many you can find on Amazon and online. He would be glued to it! We also took him to Bekonscot Model Village at that age as it has lots of miniature railways running around. It was a 2 hour drive for us but his most favourite place in the world for about 5 years.

We are also lucky enough to live somewhere where we have a steam train and regular Thomas Days. Can highly recommend for train mad children!

Train obsessed 3 year old here.

There are so many fun accessories you can get - look for brio or bigjigs.

Favourites here are a big cranky the crane, an engine shed with doors, a brio metro station set.

I use trains as the basis for most of our playing at the moment, so eg we build a town with a police station, shops etc but everybody gets around it by train and we act out all kinds of stories.

Happyland toys are good for buildings to put round the town.

Train driver dressing up outfit

Another mother of a train fanatic here.
My son is 3. He loves the brio type track. Last year I got him this
www.amazon.co.uk/Ravensburger-BRIO-World-Record-Station/dp/B006IOCTMO/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=brio+recordable+station&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1534191555&sr=8-2-fkmr1 It’s a pretty cool station for his brio
I also got him this book

wordery.com/wind-up-train-fiona-watt-9781409581796?currency=GBP&gtrck=SnIxdVY0TEsrQkQ1MGVlTmYwVE93NU93RGN1L0k2UkVkZm0veVJkWHBtdFJpZUtwbDRjYmdMT0w1bEJCWlIwVXhXWTF4c3NHWkxsUTE2aFlOR2pPNEE9PQ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjIf52O3q3AIVLbHtCh21lwwbEAQYASABEgK-MfD_BwE which was much loved.
Last year, all he wanted was a purple train. I foolishly got him the Thomas track master set to try and mix it up a bit from the brio. It’s an absolute pile of crap! I’d highly recommend you stay away
As a PP has said, in November Lidl do some very cheap battery powered trains which are an excellent addition to the brio track