Hi, I would like to hear from other Fathers or Mothers who enjoy Toy Trains with children. I had a 4x8 more detailed layout with lots of switches and inter connected loops and blocks etc but ripped that one apart and now am building a new simpler one with my son. We painted it green and laid one loop of fasttrack-all curves with one siding and a loop of O42 around the edge. Hooked up the Lionel sawmill with a doorbell button. What kinds of ideas do you have to add some fun on your layout? What kinds of things do you hook up to buttons around your layout? Looking for less expensive ideas-not just big accesories to buy for 200.00 etc. I have been having lots more fun with this project by the way than the old one. Best wishes
I have a 2 year old who loves playing with old trains of various scales.
On our 4x8 combination S and O-27 layout we have a few accessories that are simple and easy for him to use. We have a Lionel crane taht he loves to see used, but he really loves to activate crossing gates and a Marx bell ringing sign using doorbell buttons.
Simple rugged and easy to use accessories that move, have lights, and/or make sounds are the best.
Good luck on your layout.
In my humble opinion: Lose the layout. Grab a box of track and get down on the floor with your child, and put together a floor layout. Where ever possible let the children direct the action. Where to put switches, curves, etc. Then grab a box of stuff to make “scenery”. It can be plasticville, plain old building blocks, or cardboard boxes. The key things are to give the kid a sense of control, and to actively work with the child.
In my experience, kids will be perfectly happy running scout type engines, and junk box special cars. If you can do repairs, let you child sit with you and help.
I have four kids at home. Each has had a hand in my current layout.
Oldest gal is into art, and she helped me with my painted backdrops.
Middle girl used rubber tree stamps to add woods to my mountain scenery (at least a thousand presses. She also helped plaster and paint.
The boy jumps at every chance to use power and hand tools. He used a drill with chisel blade to rout conduit holes in my benchwork, and it was his hands that nailed together my 6 x 7 expansion.
The littlest princess is the most eager helper. She wroked hard to paint all the nooks and crannies of my mountain ridges, and loves to construct trees with Scenic Express products. She once confided that she likes the trains more than her brother does…
Both kids growed up and on their own here. We do attend dinner parties here in the neighborhood with young families, and like CW suggest, I sometimes take along a box of Fastrack and an assortment of MPC, get on the floor, and play. Fastrack is very kid friendly. They’ll dig out their toy cars and building blocks and we build a “city”. We’ve done this in the summer months outside in the grass. Fastrack is great for that as long as the soil isn’t lumpy.
Their is a kids modular club of sorts in Green Bay ran by an adult core. You have to be 12 or under to join. The modules are simple O27 astro turf type things with Lincoln Log and Lego villages. They set up at local train events. Quite interesting.
Trainsfan, though I have no kids of my own, I’d rather talk to parents with kids at train shows then to collectors looking for some rare item. I’ve build kid-oriented display layouts and built another for another for a nephew of mine. So here are some ideas…
Look for simple low cost toys that can be adapted to a train layout. I found this nifty farm tractor with a crank turned conveyor belt trailer. I took the trailer apart and mounted the conveyer belt part to a couple of trestles, so that a load of say barrels can be put onto the conveyor and then hand turned operated to drop into a waiting gondola. I also found a simple crane tower in a holiday gift construction set. I painted the crane to help make it look not so cheap. Then I changed the hand cranks on the crane and made new turn levers on the front of the layout, so it can be operated from there. I also attached a self-stick wire clip to a small round magnet, so that can be hooked on to the crane hook to pick up things via the magnet.I’ve used small srings of the bubbling light decorations available around the holiday season. The time to get these cheap was weeks ago. But those bubbling light decorations are self-contained and very easy to mount into the train board as part of some operating chemical facility or factory of your imagination. Again, very cheap to make on your own when compared to the price of buying a brand new operating accessory of this type.Watch for small cartoon figures that are sized right for Lionel trains. I have found Warner Bros. figures on the ends of pencils and Sponge Bob figures in gumball machines. I took the Taz off a pen
I also apologize for the poor spacing of above. I spell checked it, and then could not get it to reformat as I wrote it. I’ve spent more time trying to correct it then I did writing it, so I’ll leave it b e, though I know it’s hard to read withouit the breaks.
Why does this thread have a 1 star rating? Sad, to say the least.
I’m starting to believe it is old CRT displays combined with a bi-focal coordination thing. [(-D]
My granddaughter at the age of 3 liked to watch the trains run…but when I removed the passenger consist and replaced it with freight cars that could carry her little stuff, we were off and running. First it was the Teletubby characters and then the Disney Princesses (2 inch figures). Due to scale limitations, the Barbies and the Ameerican Girl dolls had to watch from the sidelines.
Every operating session had a plot or a story. The Teletubbies were moving to Nana and Papas in Chicago. The Princesses were going on vacation TO DISNEYWORLD. They were all teaming up on a road trip to the North Pole to visit Santa to see if he had any leftover toys he wanted to dispose of. We started a moving company to transport doll furniture, animals, and people…what a diversified idea!
The scale, realism, and common sense mean nothing to a young child. When you place no limitations and let the child invent the play, they won’t want to stop until the chow is on the table or they get too tired. But once they invent…support, join in, and add to their ideas. They feel empowered, valued, and important, a leader. You are seen as a fun person to hang around. And your child or grandchild can be your agent with Mom or Grandma for some additions to your rolling stock.
Simply let the child integrate their stuff with yours and let the imagination fly. Play value is king. Having some of your second or third string runners that may be subject to the beginner motor skills of a child with less appreciation/ability for the slightly delicate nature of the trains is a good idea…don’t turn it into a classroom for a crashless “protection and perfection” session. But at the same time, teach them how to operate the trains safely
Kids love lots of soudns and smoke. and liek the others sais, dont bother with realism. let them make it the way they think it should be. let them load or unload tihngs. operating accesories are great too.
I’m currently building my layout and I’m installing skirt buttons at every opportunity. I have a Lionel Gantry crane, burning switch tower, and 2 animated bill boards so far. Soon to come - I think I have the animated lumberjacks (if I don’t I’m going to be rather upset as I’m designing an area specifically for this accessory), road crew, #38 water tower, oil derrick, oil pumps (postwar version and the new ‘modern’ one), oil field, tire swing, and an MTH firehouse. ALL of the accessories will be wired so they opperate off the skirt buttons as well as from the CAB-2 remote and from the command center.
Everytime I have kids over and we’re running trains they are more interested in watching the trains than the accessories. My 3 yo niece loves the quillable whistle and bell on the Legacy engines. Her favorite accessory is the gantry crane, probably because it is very close to the layout edge and she can see it without standing on a chair (I have designed a remedy for the height problem - light weight stepping stools).
The biggest problem I have come across is kids love to put their hands on the tracks. Before we enter the train room I deliver my ‘safety first’ instructions - which are more for the parents than the kids. Ever see what a 10lb steamer will do to a 3yo’s fingers? It isn’t pretty!
Because rating a thread is difficult - it isn’t intuitive and you can easily click the wrong star… and some of us remember the old feature where you could click on the stars to see who rated the thread - now if you click the stars you rate the thread…
I’ve accidentally rated threads with 1 or 2 stars that I did not want to rate…
Brent makes a couple of good points, which brings me around to what I have always said about layouts for children: keep them kid friendly.
As Brent said, it’s a good idea to have accessories that require participation up close and within reach. Other accessories, such as repetitive animations, rotating beacons, smoking buildings etc. can be towards the back. In my experience I have found kids do like animated items and accessories just as much as watching the trains. And they like pushing buttons. So even wiring crossing gates and crossing flashers to a button rather than an insulated rail can allow kids to get active and participate with running the trains. Even if dad has his hand on the throttle, junior can push the button for the crossing gate when the train comes by.
The height of the train layout is also important. If the layout is taller than kid eye level, have some solid stools they can stand on and not fall off easily by them being too small.
The biggest problem I have come across is kids love to put their hands on the tracks. Before we enter the train room I deliver my ‘safety first’ instructions - which are more for the parents than the kids. Ever see what a 10lb steamer will do to a 3yo’s fingers? It isn’t pretty!
This is so true which is why it is a good idea to run “kid friendly” sorts of trains. Cheaper, lighter locos that won’t hurt a young child’s hand nor damage an expensive detailed loco if it’s derailed or touched by curious hands as it goes by. For whatever reason, kids seem to be drawn to smaller locos… maybe because kids are smaller. I find my Lionel MPC docksides to be very popular with children. The RMT BEEP, Lionel’s Thomas and pals, Industrial Switcher and hand cars too.
Most of us adults today would probably be embarassed if not horrified if we could go back in time and see exactly how we played with our c
I have two kids, one six, the other 4. They enjoy working with Dad under the layout with wiring and all, but I have to be extra cautious regarding soldering, etc. It usually takes me about twice as long when they help, but it is worth it. they do enjoy the wood working and are looking forward to scenery. that is on the main level.
The plan is that below the main level, I will have a level where most of the post war accessories are used. I like the idea of doorbell buttons to activate…that will keep their interest. Also, lots of gondolas and box cars that allow them to put stuff inside…they seem to like that. My wife gave me a great idea too. Our kids really like the Starwars things. We will have a lot of that on the lower layout as well, my son is increadible with his Lego creations, leave room to let them do what interests them along with the trains. Lastly, play with them, don’t just hand over the throttle and say go for it, and walk away. Stay there, show your interest in their activity too.
Dennis
In a word… Thomas, Thomas, and more Thomas! The Tank Engine that is. Run him and his brethren. Or rather, let a youngster learn to manipulate a throttle, push a whistle button, reverse occasionally and watch his (Thomas’) eyes roll. He’s a hit.
I understand Percy has magnetraction as well and is a strong puller.
Ol’ Perc’ is a decent puller - about as decent as you could expect from an 0-4-0. but I’m almost positive he doesn’t have magnetraction.
Doug, I have not personally seen one, but others have mentioned that Percy was a great deal because of the magnetraction. They also mentioned that it was not listed as such in the Lionel Catalog, and that it was better than the others, which do not have it.
Dennis
Dennis, That would be great news. I was responding based on what I saw on the lionel website. Never ever knew the little guy had it. I have to test it when I get home.