Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

which is better play value for 3 yr old boy?

35 replies

skerriesmum · 14/12/2005 22:10

Thomas train track set or play kitchen? They're about the same price. He likes both cooking and trains!

OP posts:

chjlly · 14/12/2005 22:11

My ds prefers the train track to the kitchen we bought him last year - the trains got taken places & played with without the track

BudaBabeInAManger · 14/12/2005 22:11

Think I'd go with the kitchen. Was going to get one for DS (then 3) last year but got a work bench - useless! Getting kitchen this year!

colditz · 14/12/2005 22:12

Oh crikey.

Um... the train track, because you can let him play with your itchen pots and pans, and he can pretend the table is the cooker etc, but would be a lot harder to pretend with Thomas.

Speaks the woman who is giving her 2.8 yo a Thomas track......

elliott · 14/12/2005 22:15

So hard to tell because kids really vary. We have both and they are both used - probably the train set has the edge, with the kitchen, it is mainly the play food and tea set and saucepans that get used, for making 'picnics' and playing cafe's and making 'stew' and suchlike - so you could probably get similar play value from just those accessories rather than a big kitchen set.
My ds's are 4 and 2 btw.

WigWamBam · 14/12/2005 22:15

My dd is 4.5 and has had both a train set and a kitchen since she was 2, and the kitchen was definitely not a good investment. She spends hours playing with her train set, while the kitchen sits gathering dust.

roisin · 14/12/2005 22:19

Trains for longevity, definitely.

DS2 has just been persuaded to part with the wooden railway and he's 6.5! The kitchen disappeared (through lack of interest/taking up too much space) years ago.

puff · 14/12/2005 22:19

My two (4 and 2) don't have a play kitchen but they do have a train set which they play with every day for ages. We continue to add to it as they get so much pleasure from playing with it.

polly28 · 14/12/2005 22:43

ds has train set that he plays with all the time,agree that you could get a few pots etc. instead of a full kitchen.

We got ds a workbench for his b'day because he loves tools but it is hardly touched.

MistletAero · 14/12/2005 22:47

We're going with the trains - ds will be two in Jan and is obsessed. He also likes dd's pots and pans and very tiny kitchen set, but the trains he already has are getting the biggest amoutn of play value so he's getting a big proper set (from Tesco) to add to his small circle track.

Original poster

skerriesmum · 14/12/2005 23:01

Great, guess we'll get the trains... which dh thinks are more "manly" anyway (silly).

OP posts:

WigWamBam · 14/12/2005 23:02

Don't tell dd that trains are manly, she's obsessed with them. And cranes. And the colour pink, but I guess that's not so unusual for a 4 year old girl

bobbybobbobbingalong · 15/12/2005 05:43

Ds has both and will always play with Thomas, whereas he's not always in the mood to cook.

Also Thomas is a good solo activity, which involves maths, spacial awareness, planning ahead, fine motor skills - and that's just making the track. And then role play with the engines.

He seems to need a lot of "help" with his kitchen.

So from your point of view you may prefer Thomas.

Auntybrandybutter · 15/12/2005 06:39

I'd go for trains simply because my ds spends hours with his.
Go for a wooden one though that you can add to and make up your own track plus they are easy to put together.

Blandmum · 15/12/2005 06:50

At age 3 I would say the trains. My ds loved the play cooker at 2 and 3 but by 4 had stoped playing with it much. The train set is still in weekly use and he is now nearing 6

merglemergle · 15/12/2005 06:57

My train-mad 2.3 yo would prefer the kitchen, I think. In elc he makes a beeline for their kitchen, stomping straight past the train track with transporter bridge.

I think his preference would actually be for some trains (he carries them with him at all times, just in case) and some kitchen accessories, maybe with a cardboard box as a stove, washing machine etc.

Auntybrandybutter · 15/12/2005 07:04

I think the train will give years and years of play wher the kitchen will be limited.
If you go to someone without children you can put enough pieces in a bag to make small track and a few trains

merglemergle · 15/12/2005 07:53

However, 2 other points about the train track: 1. Unless you are going for a nice wooden kitchen at about £100 a go, the kitchens don't look that nice. Train tracks tend to look a bit nicer IMO. 2. Train tracks are smaller and can be packed away, the kitchen will loom at you forever.

But I do not tolerate Thomas. I just cannot stand him. I have not forgiven my mum for buying ds a complete set of Thomas books for a being born present. I am trying to wean him onto Ivor the engine instead.

Auntybrandybutter · 15/12/2005 17:01

and jones the Steam!!!

merglemergle · 15/12/2005 17:05

We live in wales + the dialogue is exactly right. It is so funny.

BluStocking · 15/12/2005 17:05

Train track - but is the Thomas one that is compatible with others and can accommodate more grown-up trains in a year or two (like Brio and it's more affordable copies - ELC/ikea/etc)? DS, 4, loves his train track - but identifies Thomas as 'for babies'.

spykid · 15/12/2005 17:07

my ds's had both.

Wooden train set is still virtually untouched

Kitchen is falling apart from so much play!

merglemergle · 15/12/2005 17:26

just a thought but elc usually has a kitchen + a train track set up. Can you take him in + see what he prefers?

Original poster

skerriesmum · 15/12/2005 17:46

Hmm. I think we will get a train set but maybe not he Thomas one; one of the wooden ones probably. It's just that anytime we go to a toy shop or play area he gravitates to the kitchen... but as someone said here, it's easy enough to play kitchen with my pots or a smaller plastic food set.

OP posts:

TheFish · 15/12/2005 17:47

trains

Original poster

skerriesmum · 15/12/2005 17:48

And merglemergle I hate Thomas too! Possibly the most boring kids' show! Ds doesn't even like it much but likes the toys. That's why I suppose any train set would do.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2