Best Train Sets for Toddlers

The lego duplo number train is the perfect size for little hands to pull along and play with. It's recommended for toddlers from 18 months.

Toddlers will love to put one of the included figures in the train driver's carriage to drive the train.

There are 10 number blocks (0 through to 9) which helps toddlers with counting. The colorful blocks are also great for teaching about colours

Wooden train sets are great for older toddlers.  At 2 1/2 years old my son loved his wooden train set and played with daily. He built different tracks and pushed the trains along.

The train set featured has 39 pieces and is a great starter set. It's a nice size for toddlers to begin with. However, a larger train set means you can build better and more intricate tracks so you can also check out other wooden train sets featured below.

The magnetic trains  hold my son's attention and he will spend ages putting them all together in a line and pushing them around the track. It's also good to have bridges, tunnels and other accessories.

There are lots more exciting train sets aimed at toddlers that are worth checking out.
If your toddler loves Thomas and Friends they will probably love the Thomas trackmaster sets. These sets also have motorized trains which fascinate my own son but they have lots of other features too.

4.) Step 2 Deluxe Canyon Road Train and Table Set

My son played with the Step 2 train and table set at a toddler group. He loved playing with it and so did the other kids.

It has tracks which are fixed. The advantage of this is that parents don't have to keep fixing tracks which are broken. And kids don't get frustrated when the track breaks. Its great for kids to use to play independently. There are also less pieces to clean up and the track can't get lost.

The step 2 set has a multi level track with seven non-removable bridges. It comes with 3 piece train set. My son also plays with cars on the tracks as well as trains.

When you have finished playing with it, just throw all the trains into the table and put the lid on. This makes a quick and easy clean up.

When the table cover is on, the table is great for doing things like drawing too.

Standing 2.5 ft tall this is a great Thomas and friend playset.

It features characters and places from the TV show. It comes with a motorized Thomas engine, die-cast Percy engine and Harold the helicopter.

Highlights include a spinning turntable, Cranky the crane picking up and dropping cargo, and mutiple switches to send the trains whizzing down the tracks.

7.) Kidkraft Waterfall Mountain Train and Table Set

 

What's great about the the Kidkraft train table is the 3 durable red plastic bins for easy clean up and storage. When play is finished it won't take two seconds to put all the track in the bins which is a major plus for parents.

The table comes with 120 piece set. The set includes trains, track, trees, people and buildings. The set is lose (not attached to the table) which is good as kids can have the fun of building the track themselves and making tracks of different configurations. This keeps the play very interesting.

The table also feature special T-moulded ​edges to prevent chipping and keep the table looking good.

8.) Melissa and Doug Stacking Train

The Melissa and Doug stacking train is the perfect size for toddlers to play with. They can easily pull it along. The train cars can be linked together or played with separately.

The stacking blocks provide extra fun and learning. Toddlers can use them for building and stacking. They are also great for teaching colors and shapes.

Fitting the stacking blocks on the pegs helps hand and eye co-ordination. ​Building the stacking blocks on the train is like putting a puzzle together.

A great toy with many play opportunities.

9.) Melissa and Doug Wooden Train Cars

 

Magnetic trains keep toddlers occupied for hours.

They enjoy putting the trains together and then pushing them along the floor.

The Melissa and Doug set has eight wooden trains with magnetic couplings on the ends. The trains are brightly painted and include a steam engine, caboose, coal car and passenger car.

10.) Thomas & Friends Talking Thomas & Percy Train Set

The Thomas & Friends motorized train and track set is great for young kids.

The motorized Thomas and Percy engines stop to talk with each other when they meet on the track, and both have cargo cars for loading and unloading

There are interactive play opportunities. Track switches and a control panel allow little engineers to stop engines for side-by-side interactions and control which way they go.

Fun Ways to Play Train Tracks with Your Toddler

Playing trains with my son is probably one of my favourite activities to do with him. I think the reason why is I get to be really creative and build all kinds of elaborate and different track. Here are some ways I play with my toddler and his train track.
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Make big tracks - The best train tracks are the biggest ones and we see how far we can stretch the train track across the floor.

​Incorporate other toys - We use lots of other toys when building our train tracks. We have a racetrack which the train track goes underneath. We use animals and build a farm next to the track. We use lego duplo to build towers and a train station. The imagination is the limit.
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Build big bridges - We try to build ramps and big bridges out of some of the pieces which is always fun for trains to go under and over. You can use wooden blocks or other toys as supports for your ramps and bridges. Although expect them to fall over now and again!

Brio Train Sets

Brio is the name for quality and durability when buying wooden train sets. There are lots of lovely Brio train sets on the market. They'r train sets are designed to last. They're made from solid Beech wood.. The track pieces are cut with precision and fit with other pieces easily. All the wood Brio uses is FSC®-labeled. This ensures that it comes from renewable forests and that no unique biospheres are destroyed.

Brio Classic Deluxe Set

This set is a great Brio starter set or an expansion set to other Brio sets owned.
It features 25 pieces with trains, wooden tracks, trees, station and a hill.
Designed for kids aged 2 plus
Brio sets a

Save Money and Buy Wooden Train Tracks in Bulk

This set featured is a great basic buy to 68 pieces of train track.

Here are some more things to look out for when buying a train set for a toddler.

How interactive is the train set - some train sets have some really interactive parts for toddlers to play with including gates to lift, cranes to work and pieces such as helicopters and airplanes to promote imaginative play. Look at the number of pieces in the train set and see what kinds of pieces there are to encourage imaginative and interactive play.

Number of track pieces - make sure that there are a good number of track pieces in the set you are buying. Many train sets will have a lot of pieces but if half of them are trees and not many of them are tracks this will limit the track configurations you can make.

Check the suggested age range of the track - some tracks are better suited to older toddlers and pre-schoolers as they may require more skill to play with the set. Having said this, sometimes the age ranges are misleading so its worth reading reviews as well to see what age children are getting the most of of the set you are buying.

Believe it or not, playing with trains is not only a source of fun for toddlers and big kids, there are many educational benefits too. Here are a few:
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Improves fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordination. Using little hands to put track pieces together and pushing trains around the track increases the strength and control toddlers have in their hands. This is great for writing later on in their school life.

Develops social skills - working with another person or a team to build a train track helps build social and communication skills. It could be their first experience of working within a team.

Encourages imagination and creativity - putting together different configurations of sets, building towns around the tracks, getting the tracks to fit together in different loops can all help with creativity. Of course train sets also facilitate lots of imaginative play.

Increases vocabulary - as you build and play together with your toddler, talk to them about what you are building or what different parts of the train are called. Play while talking through scenarios. It's a great way to introduce new words and vocabulary.

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