Two of our grandkids, ages four and six, are visiting us. They’d like to help me with construction of the railroad, and I’m more than happy to let them be involved with it. Trouble is, this stage it’s mostly heavy work such as moving earth and rocks, building concrete tunnels, etc. Or delicate work such as constructing trestles.
I could use some suggestions on things for young children to do, even if it’s just “busy work”.
A few thoughts come to mind. First off, there are a number of “easy” tasks within the heavy work that they could do. For instance, if you’re pouring concrete, little helpers may be able to stir the concrete for you, or pour the water, etc. Or, they could shovel dirt into a small wagon and pull it to where you need it, or just help shovel dirt into the wheelbarrow with an appropriately sized shovel. The same could be done with the rocks, if they’re not too large. If they’re softball sized or thereabouts, kids that age will easily be able to handle them. Larger boulders may be a bit more difficult, though.
At the least, they can perform the ever-necessary role of gofer. If you’re doing some surveying, they can help with that, or carry tools from the dirt pile to where you’re dumping the dirt, saving the need to have two shovels.
Later,
K
Have them build some popsicle stick buildings for further placement or get some birdhouse houses and have them paint. Most kids love animals-get a few roughly to scale and have them set up a farm, zoo, or circus-in years to come that will give them their place to play-no delicate buildings/plants/scenery. I remember as a kid, I had a 6’ x6’ dirt area in the yard, I could do anything I wanted with my Tonka Trucks-just don’t dig outside the area-many a test bore to China was started in that area!
I like the idea of giving them a small area where they can play. Do you have some old track and a kid-friendly train set? Maybe they will enjoy running that around.
My 5 year old took a coffee can and went to the ballast pile and came back and dumped it where I needed it, then I fine tuned the ballast, she would do trip after trip. Now saying this my 7 year old wanted nothing to do with the ballast. Maybe gather stones from one spot of the yard and move them to a more central location for your self, most my stones range in the softball to basketball size, so the kids move what they can. Need a area turned up, weeds need removed? Give them a garden hand rake, and let them “dig” in this area, which would turn up the soil some and make your turning the soil a little easier. Maybe they can make sure your cup stay filled with your favorite beverage, my daughter always keeps my cup filled with lemonade. The popsicle building idea above sounds like a good idea. Might try that in the future.
My then 3.5 year old grandaughter wanted to help lay block for the retaining wall so Mom Mom gave her a hand; and after 10 minutes her child’s attention span had reached its limit. She was happy as a clam at high tide!
In the ensuing years, she would sometimes be the gofer, but usually wanted to just play with the houses and “people”!
Now, at 7.5 she is quite happy playing with the “people” while her older siblings and I play trains!
That’s my job,… on my own rail road!!![B)][:0][:0][:0]
what’s wrong with that picture?
I expect they’d be delighted to be with you “helping.”
My 5yo. grandson was very effective at putting ballast on top of the track to be worked into the ties. I just gave him a small bucket, and a trowel . He was very happy. I have developed several areas of the layout for the grandkids to play at will. The grand daughter especially likes the “horse farm.” area, The “Buffalo range” and the “Bear’s Den”.
JimC.
Give them a camera and get them to be ‘official photographers’ for the afternoon. A digital camera saves on film and a toy version saves on the camera! My 6-year-old daughter loves taking snaps and later we put them up on the computer and print out a few of the better ones. A nice memento of the day.
While you do the ‘boring stuff’ they could go around the garden and find things you need. Make a list of railway useable stuff, like twigs (for fences and walls), smooth stones, odd shaped rocks, or before-hand hide a few items and give them a treasure hunt/scavenger-hunt. The list can be words and pictures or they can find something and rush back to an adult for the next stage. Sweeten the pot with a few goodies like candy or their favourite small toys.
My daughter enjoys collecting interesting stones amongst the gravel and using them to decorate bits of the garden. She hunts for 4-leaf clovers and collects pretty flowers, or just the petals for potpourri.
Matthew [bow]
Hi Ray
Not having any children of my own I have no idea of what they can and cannot do.
I do think no matter what they do or don’t do they will need to feel involved even if it only means being with you.
The idea of an ice cream stick passanger shelter for a whistle stop
or other small manageable structure sounds good to me.
But what would I know I don’t have any children.
regards John
My little ones liked to run around with Daddy’s camera. Yes, the big, totally manual 35mm SLR. I would set the exposure for them and a fairly high aperture number so focusing was easy and let them go. Ethan took especially nice pictures! Then we got the digital. At first I told them to stay away from the pond with it [:o], but soon they learned to keep the strap around their wrist. Now that one is theirs and Daddy has another, though I think theirs is nicer. Theirs is now held together by a piece of duct tape, but it still works.
The 13 & 7 year old grandaughters do like to use Mom Mom’s cell phone to take pictures! Each other, things they have set up on the railroad, whatever! 16 year old grandson (who is good labor pool for building railroad) likes to mess with the digital camera!
Gentlemen;
Well done, this is an important matter, more important than many realise and many good suggestions have come to hand.
My grandaughters (i have 5) are a complete loss around my layout and i don’t bother with them much, as they are really not interested.
However grandsons are different matter and my 11 year old is great for finding things as he has excellant vision and seems to be pretty good on the electronics to do with digital sound and MTS. Even found a new sound that my Sachsen makes it has since been dubbed “Andrews sound” he even likes to actuate the announcement hoping the little people will think its telling them to disembark and that they all get off while it is till going and get killed.
RGds Ian
Thanks all for the excellent tips. I managed to come up with several small tasks they could do, depending on their interest.
Wouldn’t you know, it was so hot we couldn’t do any work on the layout. So instead they got to play with the temporary track on the patio, giving dolls rides on the “ambulance train” to the “hospital”, where a plastic two-headed dragon was pressed into service as a “doctor”. 
It’s supposed to be a bit cooler next week, so I’m hoping they’ll still get a chance to help with the layout before they have to go back to Texas.
Hi Ray
Sounds like you need Aristocrafts conductor bear to keep things under
control, and Engineer bear to get the other toys where they want to go[:D]
Sounds like a good time was had by all and thats what its all about[8D]
regards John
Bring out the Sow’s Ears for just such an occasion.
Major Carrales
I needed to bring in more field stone for walls, so I took my 2 grand daughters, ages 5 and 7 with me over to my uncles farm. They helped move the little stones that they could handle, and had a ball doing it for PAPPY. Then the next day, the older one, Kaitie, helped me in the trains layout moving the rocks and bringing me drinks of iced tea. She said when she was getting a drink, I was getting one too, It was pretty hot that day, and she was a real angle. We had a great time.
OOPOS, sorry, my grand daughter, Kaitie, was a real ANGEL, not angle, LOL. But she did a great deal of real work too. And I’m so thankful she was there.
when my children were younger they always wanted to help, but having HO at the time it was not a good thing. After they weathered some, things became better. Now That I have added 3 Steps it’s always fun to hear they ask when are we going to start the new railroad ( see new indoor DNRR ). My helpers include 3 computer geeks, 1 fiber-optic tech, 1 paper pusher, 1 janitor superviser, and 1 stay at home mom of 5, living all over the US, The Grand Children 6-B 5-15 and 4 G 4-18. You can always find somthing for the young ones to do.Take 5 minutes and look around, You will find helping hands,big and small.