Train toys for toddlers are quite a staple in most toy boxes and bring great joy and fun into the household.
The big question is whether us parents or our little toddlers have more fun playing together.
Benefits Of Playing With Trains
Playing with train toys has all kinds of benefits for our toddlers;
- They help their fine motor skills – Simply building the train track, joining the trains together or even constructing stations will allow those little fingers and hands to keep busy. Our favourite construction and building toys can be found here.
- They allow their creativity and imagination to run wild – Watch with fascination as your son/ daughter creates wonderful train scenes with each track varying every time they are pulled out of the toy box. Other toys will soon be added to the fun, whether that be animals, cars, figures.
- They build their problem solving skills – It really is a difficult task for such small humans trying to discover how to put a train set together. Even when the track seems to be up and running, their problem solving skills may be tested and adjustments needed to be made to get that train chugging smoothly along.
Train Toys For Young Toddlers (12-24 Months)
The following train toys (trains and sets) are slightly easier to set up and simpler for the younger toddlers to help and get busy building themselves.
The trains can be used both with or without a track.
There is nothing more satisfying for our little ones to see a moving train coming towards them at high speed.
Get your best train sounds ready for all the fun sound effects during playtime.
Trains
IKEA Lillabo 3 Piece Train Set
A simple but perfect initial train set that can be used on any smooth surface to get rolling along.
Our little ones will be learning to push and pull the train along and will soon have grasped the concept to get it moving at a fast speed.
The small magnets on the back of each train piece helps them stick together easily and for our toddlers to understand how to join them.
Play22 Set Of 12 Wooden Trains
A 12 piece set which is great for separating into lots of individual trains to share whilst playing or otherwise creating a seemingly never-ending, long train.
This could be a perfect way to start introducing counting to our little ones when each train passes by on the track.
Thomas The Tank Engine Train
I couldn’t write about train toys without the mention of the classic Thomas The Tank Engine.
In some way or another good old Thomas and his friends have featured in our growing up.
It was only right that this Thomas train was made from wood so it can last for many years to come.
Even if our toddlers won’t want to use him anymore in the future, we can still keep him for nostalgia, right?!
Melissa and Doug Wooden Trains
If these Melissa and Doug Wooden Trains are just as good as the other toys by them, then this is a winner too!
Even the storage box they come in can be used in many ways during playtime and ready to put the trains to sleep at the end of the game (helping mummy tidy up).
Fun Little Toys Wooden Stacking Towers Train
I really love this wooden train- It isn’t part of a train track or larger set however it ‘stands on its own two feet’ by having many uses.
It’s a 2 in 1 toy which can be used to learn colours, shapes whilst working on those fine motor skills by stacking each shape in the right position on the back of the train.
The train can then be pulled along by the string and taken on many adventures around the house with our little explorers.
Train Sets
IKEA Lillabo 45 Piece Ikea Train Set
IKEA is always a good idea for anything and everything for our house – and so it seems with toys for our children too!
A 45 piece set full of track pieces, trains, trees, blocks to make buildings, track signage and more!
Our little one’s imagination can create a fantastic game which will keep them busy for hours (if we are lucky).
They can build, destroy and use as many or as little pieces as they want for their masterpiece.
Extra turntables, bridges, trains and locomotives can also be added to the already brilliant set too!
Lego Duplo First Train Set
Just like Thomas The Tank Engine, Lego couldn’t be missed off the train toys list!
I love the brightly coloured bricks and train structure which can be used to stack the bricks one on top of the other plus teaching numbers 1 to 9.
The set comes with two small children figures and a cat which our little ones can use to role play and have them hopping on and off the train.
Vesta Baby My First Train Set
I would say this train set is perfect for younger toddlers as it is a relatively small track and has a couple of extra little details such as the duck on the turning cogs and the moving beads on the arches.
However I do think it is quite a limiting train set and older toddlers would get quite bored of using this after a while and the set wouldn’t grow with our little ones.
Smartmax Train Set With Animals
Add animals to any toy and our toddlers are sure to love it!
The pieces in this set are larger than other sets therefore those small hands can get to grips easier with the construction of the trains and piling the animals onto the trains.
What else will our little munchkins find that they want to add to the trailers before the train sets off?!
VTech Go! Go! Train Station Playset
Flashing lights, loud noises, bright colours, doors to be opening and posts to be moving up and down.
This Vtech playset isn’t short of things to be doing and is ideal for younger toddlers.
It’s easy to put together but with lots of things to touch and press to entertain our little train lovers.
Additional pieces and trains can also be found for this depending if us mummy’s want the set covering the whole of our living room or not.
Train Toys For Older Toddlers (2 Years+)
Lego Remote Controlled Steam Train Set
As our toddlers get older, the Lego pieces get smaller.
Our older toddlers’ eyes will light up when they see that the train is remote controlled too and it will move by a simple action.
This set cleverly comes with 5 cause and effect ‘sticks’ which can be placed onto the track which will change the movement of the train eg. stop, reverse.
Orbrium 52 Piece Train Set
I have to admit, I may love the storage box just as much as the train set!
The box has a scene printed on to give the effect of more buildings whilst doubling up as a train tunnel.
Inside this set there are lots of pieces to add to the scene and allow for our toddlers to place each one exactly where they see best.
Fisher Price Talking Thomas and Percy Set
Our older toddlers will love to feel in charge by controlling the track movements themselves and stopping the trains in the right place to load and unload their cargoes.
I personally find this set less aesthetically pleasing and prefer the wooden sets however this is great for any Thomas And Friends lovers.
KipiPol Train Set
The ‘extras’ in this KipoPol train set are amazing!
There are lots of details and thoughts that seem to have gone into the designs and make them look very lifelike.
Other train tracks and brands can be fitted in perfectly with this set if you wanted to construct a larger play area.
Little Tikes Wooden Train Table
100% an investment piece for our toddlers but this set is never-ending with possibilities and uses.
The table can be used not only to play with the train set but any other games that can then be kept within that space.
There is an under table storage drawer which can easily be pulled out with its wheels and just as easily pushed back under to hide any mess.
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