Do a lot of you with girl babies have train tables?!!

[papal]

All this Battat talk suddenly had me researching train tables. And then I got to thinking, what if Leela does not even LIKE trains? Do other moms with girl babies have train tables? Do you get a lot of usage out of it? Do your kiddos really use it to play ON.. i mean, i would love if Leela kept her toys in one place and played there but I can't imagine she really would.
Not to be sterotype or anything, but do your girls like trains??

[Lynnie]

i have two boys, and don't have a train table, but i am thinking about either buying one, or making one with a piece of plywood, cut about 6 inches bigger around the diameter of our oblong coffee table, so that it can come on and off. (yeah, right, i'll get that done !)

in your case, i do think they have tables that can be used either for trains or for the fisher price little people or stuff like that. so even if trains aren't a hit, she might like it to set up a village, or to make a zoo with animals, etc.

if i had the room, i would get one i think, with either a girl or a boy.

[Jeanne]

We got Charlotte one for Christmas last year and she still plays with it. However, the set spend most of it's time dismantled because Claire isn't old enough to understand that sort of play.

We do put it back together about once per week though, and Charlotte does play with it as intended. And the table gets a lot of use when other kids come over so I think it's got staying power and was a good investment.

[jk3]

One way to test it out is to go to a local library or bookstore that has a train table. My DH loves the train table at our local B + N so I'm hoping that once he has one he will love to play with it too!

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[egoldber]

We have trains and a train table. But she mainly uses the trains NOT on the table, but mainly on the floor. The table is a convenient place to store the stuff though. :)

[Vajrastorm]

Aine likes trains and train tables. We don't own one, but I shop at 3 different places that have them out. I have been known to go to Barnes and Noble just so Aine could play with the trains. She insists on calling them cars, heh.

I think this is probably an issue of personaility and not gender. Then again, I was a "tomboy" so what do I know?

Aine already has two matchbox cars. :)

[cinrein]

Anna just started really playing with the trains and Barnes and Noble. She likes it when they derail. :) I think Leela maybe a little young yet, but it won't hurt to research it and be ready to snap one up if you find a great deal. If the trains don't pan out they would make great play areas for dollhouses and FP Little People sets.

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[Momof3Labs]

The little girls who come to our house usually make a bee-line for the train table! If you don't have a toy store nearby with a train table, you could always buy her a small car/train or two and see if the rolling action interests her. I bet that it will!

And Colin was 15 months old when he started playing with trains, so now is a great time to think about it!

[mekiemom]

We JUST got her the kidkraft one from Costco and she is loving it. I never expected to get her a train table but she LOVES trains and always goes for the one on display at the bookstore, TRU, and at playgroups. So we decided that she would love to have one and couldn't wait until Christmas. It was a great deal and not only did it come with a train set but it has wood people, and an airport (which she also loves). I really never paid much attention to the train stuff because I was busy buying her baby dolls and my first princess stuff (which she also loves to play with) but she also loves transportation type toys as well.

Jenn
DD 3/02

[lisams]

DD LOVES her trains, I'm not kidding you!!! She uses her train table all day, sometimes she has her little people stuff there, or a train track set up, or whatever.

It was one of our best purchases!

Lisa

[pritchettzoo]

I'm going to try to make one for Gracie for Christmas modeled after the PBK table. You can order the mat (drawing of scenery and roads and such) separately. In the PBK store, they have the table set up on the girly side with a dollhouse and on the boyish side with a train set.

I do plan on getting her a basic train set, but if she chooses to use the table for her Little People and not for the trains, that's cool with me.

She really enjoyed playing with a train set and table at a toy store about month ago--are there any independent toy store near you where you could gauge Leela's interest?

Anna

[papal]

Well, it is difficult to gauge her interest. The second she hears the KA-CHING of a purchase made, her interest levels in the new toy her mom has purchased goes down the drain. But yes, good idea, I will take her to the toy store or the book store and see what she does.

You are going to MAKE ONE FOR GRACIE??!!!!!! You are CUH-RAZY girl! You mean like buy lumber and use the saw and what not?


Okee... off to research more Battats and toy trains and what not! It is always something isn't it?! What fun!

[papal]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I think I might get one next spring when she is a little older.. she does not 'play' with the little people yet. As in, she does not make them do stuff and kiss and things. She just eats them.
She has a dump truck but has no interest in it and a Little People train that she does not care for. But it would be a good place to store stuff!!

Thanks!

[Vajrastorm]

Okay, Rashmi, you're scaring me. You want Leela to be making her Little People kiss? Hee hee.

Aine mostly eats her Little People, though sometimes she throws them. The animal one excite her the most, and she'll carry them around.

[new_mommy25]

Noah stands at the top of the stairs and chucks his Little People through the bars. That's about the extent of his playing with them.

[papal]

heehee.. i meant like she doesn't use them to role play but i guess she is much too young for that!! They could be Little Potatoes or Little Pieces of Mush for all she cares.. just lilke Aine, all she does is eat them, throw them and put them into the incrediblock. haha. I don't think she diffrentiates animals from others... though if I say 'bring the tiger' she brings it.. but that is because I don't say 'bring the giraffe' or 'bring the conductor'. ha. These days her favourite thing is sneaking into the pantry and playing for hours with an onion.

[papal]

heehee... that is us too. My doubt is, do we need LITTLE PEOPLE for this. I mean, won't they throw random stuff too.. must carry out an experiment and see. Line up a little person, a stuffed toy, a piece of carrot, a ball. See if everything gets thrown or just the little person.

[Vajrastorm]

I am sure *they* do not need Little People. I needed the Little People!

The Little People vehicles she plays with quite a bit. She and her best friend, who is the same age, are very into cars, trucks, and trains that roll. My MIL gave us the school bus LP, and both kids love to throw things into it and roll it around the living room.

[mom2kandj]

You guys just wait! DD was not yet 3 and she had her LP lined up two by two for a WEDDING! And then the next day, they all stood in line (still two by two) to go on an amusement park ride! :P


Rose
mom 2 Katie 12/02/00
& Jack 04/16/02

[pritchettzoo]

Actually, there's a tree in the backyard I have my eye on...

Anna

[pritchettzoo]

Give her a couple more weeks. Last week, Gracie started making her stuffed animals talk to each other. Don't get me wrong, she still prefers to gnaw on and throw them.

Oh, and the LP animals are waaaaaaaaay more popular than the people. Noah and his wife, eh. The boy and girl animals on the other hand--they're fun! She can find all of them, pick out the mama and the papa, make the noises. I heartily recommend the animal sets. The ark has really cool animals, and you could always ditch Noah and the wife and even the ark itself so it's not Biblical. Heck, you could probably ebay those parts! Then you'd just have animals you could add to the zoo. We loooove the pandas!

Anna

[cinrein]

We loved the animals first too. They all lived in a big red bucket and each morning Anna used to dump them out and we'd take inventory. I ask her to get me the such and such, and she'd find it. She learned the sounds too, well, for the ones that I knew what sound they made (what sound does a giraffe make?).

The LP bus is a big hit too. I love to see what Anna has loaded it up with each day for a drive around the kitchen. When she got back from trick-or-treating at 3 houses, we have her a small piece of a 3 Musketeers bar. She didn't eat it, but into the bus it went!

It's only very recently that Anna started playing with the people. Leela will get there!

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[papal]

Whaaaaaaaaaat???!!! Crazies Crazies... run run run!

[papal]

Awww... how cute!!!!!

[papal]

Great idea girls! Identifying animals is our biggest play activity.. consisting of me sitting in a corner and telling Leela 'get the monkey', 'get the lion', 'get the baby', 'get the polar bear', 'get the tiger'. haha. And then making the noises. The little people animals would be a great idea.. we only have the tiger and giraffe right now (lol Cindy, I asked dh the exact same thing.. what noise does a giraffe make??!!).
Animals and colours. That is what our play consists of these days. Good to know we are doing what other kiddos are doing..sometimes I wonder if I am slacking in the parenting department...heehee.

[miki]

We do this too. Asking DD where the peacock is (from one of those Noah animal sets) will distract her from a tantrum and send her scurrying to find it. Then the peacock has to hide behind one of the legs of our bed. No idea why.

[starrynight]

I would wait until she is closer to 2 and shows some sort of interest in trains only because the tables can get expensive. If you have the cash to blow on one either way I would probably get one. Daria is 2.5 and in the past 6 months or so has really shown an interest in trains, especially the thomas sets. We don't have a table yet but we are strongly considering one for xmas.

My main thing holding me back is although both my older 2 love the train tables set up in Barnes and Noble and TRU I wonder if it's the novelty of playing with something in the store that they love not actually a table at home. I bought a lego table before and that got sold because they did nothing but toss the legos around but at a friends house they loved the lego table. My dh joked if we buy a train table he is gluing everthing down so they play with it instead of just chucking pieces everywhere.

Daria loves everything, trucks, trains and kitchen sets and dolls. Ds is the same way, Eliza plays with whatever you put in front of her. I've always bought various toys of both genders and let the kids play with what they want.