If you bought the Costco train set and table...

[Jennymarie]

How are you setting it up?

Honestly, I just bought the table because I think its great play/activity space and its great for storage. For the price, the train set was a bonus.

My son is only 19 mos old and he just keeps smashing the pieces everywhere. I'm thinking we'll glue down the set and maybe, eventually, buy more of the Thomas or Brio pieces and replace the board so that he can rebuild/reconfigure it when he's older and interested in that sort of building-type-activity. Of course, this means the table can't be used for blocks and other activities.

I'm a little worried, because the configuration of the Costco train set doesn't seem as interesting as a Thomas set. Nathan loves the long downhill set-up of the Thomas set at Barnes and Noble, which the Costco set doesn't have. The Thomas set at B&N also seems to have a lot more track. The Costco set also has the tall garage with ramps, which is interesting, but I don't think he'll be able to reach at all if its set up in the middle of the table. Maybe I should just buy some Brio track and other pieces and use those with some of the Costco pieces to come up with my own configuration to glue down?

What is everyone else doing? Is there a favorite part of a Thomas or Brio set that I should look for if I choose to reconfigure it? (Bridges? A Roundhouse? )

TIA!

[o_mom]

At 19 mos, he is definately early for a non-glued train. DS1 (2.25 yo) got this table for Christmas and was OK with it, but not great. I did remove most of the signs/trees, since the baby could get it. I wanted to get some sure-track clips, but haven't manged to yet. I think those would have been enough, since the only place he had problems was the elevated tracks. I did consider gluing the elevated portions to the supports, but didn't get to that either, LOL! In about 6 mos, you might find the track clips, or some limited gluing will be enough.

We just put the trains away last weekend and got out the LP Farm. I would hesitate to glue anything down, since you won't be able to do anything else with it. I want to get one more table toy to rotate with the LP and train and plan to leave them out around 4-6 weeks at a time.

[bluestar2]

We have a Thomas table so I'm not sure how different the Costco set is, but we store most of our pieces underneath the table when we aren't using them. If your DS is throwing pieces around, perhaps you can put most of them away until he is older and leave out a basic figure 8 and tunnel or bridge? DC got the table when he was a couple of months older than your DS and the few times they threw pieces, I took them away immediately and they rarely do it any more.

We love having the versatility of an open table (without glued on pieces) for block building, artwork, puzzles. DC (just turned 2) like building different configurations on the floor as well as the table. DS in particular loves the trains and table and plays with it every day, setting it up a bit differently each time. Their favorite pieces are the long downhill set up you mentioned, bridges, tunnels, and the cranky crane. Wacky tracks are also another favorite, and the logging building where they can put "logs" in and turn a crank to make them fall out onto an open train car. Sorry I don't know the official names but can find out if you like.

[DebbieJ]

We bought last year's table and set it up when ds was about 15 months or so. He just destroyed the track everytime we set it up. I put the track away for a while and he played on the table with matchbox cars, walking around the circumference of the table with a car in his hand.

Now he is two and we just bought some Thomas track--the Figure 8 Water Tower set. The track and train quality is MUCH better, plus it's a simpler layout. He loves it because he can do it. He can push and pull his train around the entire set up without anything coming apart. We didn't glue it or use SureTrack or anything.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

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[ethansmom]

We got last year's version when DS was about the same age....

He couldn't help himself; if the track was set up, he'd rip it apart, so we put it away. However, he LOVED playing with his cars or any other toys on the table. He wanted to always stand/walk and the table facilitated that.

I finally got around to ordering the suretrack clips about 6 months ago and they work great! As soon as DS saw he couldn't pull apart the track, he stopped trying.

Really, I'm sort of glad we put the track away at first....DS was plenty happy just using the table and I think he would have been bored with the trains by now if he'd always been playing with them.

As far as buying other pieces/sets, I would start with a simple figure 8 set using a Michael's/AC Moore coupon. (It seems little ones play better w/a simple set.) We don't have any Brio pieces yet, but the sales person at our independent toy store was right on the money when she suggested certain Thomas pieces. For under age 3, she highly suggested the mountain overpass (it makes sounds) or any other tunnel. She also recommended the roundhouse, but suggested waiting on the turntable until after 3 or they wouldn't be able to operate it. Based on her suggestions, I picked up the mountain overpass, mine shaft tunnel and roundhouse; all have been a big hit with DS. Plus, I think they'd all work with a basic figure 8 set, although you will probably need a t-switch (?) piece for the roundhouse.

[Jennymarie]

Hmmm... I guess I see the argument for not glueing the trains down. I'd like to have the workspace available for legos and other projects too. Though I don't think, in our case, it would be a craft table because we currently have it set up in our carpeted family room. I'm guessing that we'll eventually put a table and chairs set in our kitchen for messy/crafty stuff.

I guess my thought was to have the train set glued to this board for this early stage, and then buy another playboard and Thomas or Brio set for building (I've confirmed that the playboards are the same size). I feel like the Costco track doesn't fit very tightly, so its probably not going to be great for reconfiguring anyway. It was a freebie anyway, so I don't mind replacing the set when he's in the building stage. We could always alternate playboards - keeping the glued one in storage for future young toddlers, and then switching back to the unglued one and a Thomas/Brio set in pieces when the kids are ready to build.

The storage issue could be a problem though...

Aargh. Who knew this could be so complicated?

[pittsburghgirl]

At that age, a basic figure 8 set is great, I would also get the Suretrack clips to hold it together.

We have a brio mountain pass figure 8 set, and the Costco set. DS got the intermediate brio expansion set for Christmas. He is perfectly happy with the figure 8 set, honestly. I think the appeal of the B&N set is in part because it's not at home, and because there are other kids there :)

We alternate our track out every now and then, and set the garage aside. Everything else fits in one of the trundles when not in use. DS isn't really interested in road at this point, but he likes the elevator in the garage.

Marilee
mommy to James
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040120/1/1/1/-5/.png