Train table gets no love....WWYD?

[Melaine]

So we gave DS a train table for Christmas. Of course, I picked it up used and I had already stashed away trains and tracks from previous goodwill finds. So we spent maybe $30 on this gift but I still obviously hoped it would be loved. The thing is, it takes up a huge amount of space. DS's third birthday is coming up and we are also planning a yard sale soon. I am thinking about selling this thing. He NEVER plays with it other than making a mess with the pieces or slamming the drawers. The girls sometimes try to set it up for him and he still doen't really play with it.

Should I give it more time? Should I glue the tracks in place? (All three kids seem to like the set up at TRU or bookstore where the set is stuck in place).

I also thought this table might be used for blocks or legos but it seems they'd still prefer to just throw them on the rug. I dunno....I seem to have ZERO insight into what will interest this kiddo! WDYT?

[anonomom]

If you don't have the room to put it away for a while, then I'd sell it. You can always buy another used one later if your kids ask for it.

FWIW, we got a train table when DD1 was 3. It sat almost completely unused for years. DS isn't into trains, but does use it to play on sometimes, so we keep it around. We keep hoping one of the kids will start using it someday, but so far it hasn't been the hit we'd thought it would be.

[barkley1]

Same here. We even moved it to his room. I bought it used but spent more like $100+ so I hate he isn't into it. He is 5.5, so I'm thinking that ship must have sailed. Selling it this spring.

[specialp]

Sell. There are always tons on FB and CL in my area so you'll find another one if you need it and I suspect most get unused. DH built one to slide under the bed and then pop up because I hated how much space they take up.

[liz]

Our kids go through phases, but our table has been out in our living room continuously over the last 7 years. Our table gets used for Legos and car tracks, but mostly legos. The kids create large lego cities and it helps to keep it in a contained space. We haven't glued on lego plates to keep it more versatile for the kids.

eta, the kids seemed to use the table more as they got older and into matchbox/legos. We got it when DS was 3 and I don't think it got used very much at that point.

[MSWR0319]

I'd sell. DS1 was the exact same way. He had no interest in the thing, but we kept it since we were having another. It looked brand new when DS2 came along. DS2 is the same age as your son and he adores it. It looks very well loved now. While some love train tables, others obviously have no interest. My boys are quite the opposite when it comes to toys/playing and it just amazes me every day!

[Simon]

My kids love train tables at the library, the book store, the toy stores, but have never loved the one at home. Dh was sure it would be loved, but not one of my three boys has given it more than a passing interest. It does get used in short bursts but still quite infrequently. You son is still pretty young, so he might come around to loving trains. I'd probably keep the trains/track and sell the table. IME, its harder to find good deals on those.

[JBaxter]

Ours is a lego table currently. My stepdad made ours. It didnt have much love as a train table

[ang79]

Wow, interesting that all of your boys don't like them, my girls love ours. DD2 was very into Thomas and trains around age 3-4. I happened upon a table on super duper clearance at Target after Christmas and grabbed it (DH thought I was crazy). The girls helped DH set up elaborate train tracks (mostly DH's old Brio stuff, though we had gotten a small collection of Thomas engines and some new track pieces for the girls) on the table and they enjoyed playing w/ the trains much more this way (when the tracks were on the floor they would have to crawl across them and then they would fall apart and the girls would get upset). Since then it has been used to hold their detailed "set-ups" for dinosaurs, Little People, Playmobile, and currently Lego Friends. It was in our living room, then we moved it to their playroom last year. It doesn't get daily play but is used pretty frequently. They decided it wasn't big enough for them to share with all of their Legos, so one of them took over a spare coffee table to set her sets on. I think they prefer playing with them at this low height because the sets don't get knocked over as easily as they do on the floor (we have 3 cats).

I guess if you don't have room to store it, then sell it. But it might get used more (just maybe not as a train table) as your kids get older.

[alexsmommy]

Same as many of the pp's. Ours never got a ton of love. They all loved them in public places, but I think that at home, if they were going to play trains at home, they liked being able to make bigger layouts so they'd play on the floor. I thought about making it a lego table, but in the end I sold ours. It took up too much space not to only be used rarely.

[SnuggleBuggles]

If you have space, I'd keep it just because it might morph into a good surface for some other play. I wouldn't glue train track together- that always bums me out. :)

[DualvansMommy]

We got the table for DS1 3rd birthday last year which had a lot of love over the summer. But now he's building/making really elaborate tracks that the table can't hold, so he taken to the floor around the table!

To make space for it, we took our regular coffee table down in basement and put train table in that spot. It helped us make feel like it isn't taking up huge amount of space! I like to keep the table due to the 3 in build storage baskets underneath which is perfect to hold the trains,, people, items and tracks! Frees up other storage space for his other things.

Currently he use his train table mostly for lego/magnatiles. I'm keeping it in case DS2 becomes interested, so we can get more bang out of that table since it was bit expensive when we bought it!


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[khm]

If you have space, I'd keep it just because it might morph into a good surface for some other play. I wouldn't glue train track together- that always bums me out. :)

We sold ours when my son kind of aged out of trains, it got a lot of love for a long time, though. We did miss it for Legos almost immediately, we should have kept ours! We ended up with an IKEA coffee table, but the drawers of the train table would have been so much better! Oh well.

re: the train tracks, I used those clear plastic hair ties to help keep the tracks together, just wrap a couple around the male end and they stay together way better. Maybe it'd help him enjoy trains a bit more?

If not, def sell it. They are a dime a dozen on our CL. You can always get a different one IF the need arises, and it very well might not.

[AngB]

We are thinking about doing the same thing. Both my boys play with trains all the time though, but they build tracks all over the floor, the train table really limits how much they can build/do. I am tempted to keep it for the next kid but we will be moving before he is old enough and we bought it used so I think I would rather rebuy. I vote sell it!

[Gena]

We have the opposite problem. DS is almost 11 and refuses to give up his train table. He does complex multi level layouts that include the floor and the table. He also uses it for other activities. We did move it from the basement/family room to his bedroom to give us more family space.

[ellies mom]

We had the large Nilo table and it never got a lot of love either. It took up too much space to just function as a glorified table. We ended up replacing it with a smaller Ikea table top with low legs. The top was more useful as a means to keep DD2 out from under DD1's bed than anything else. I ended up selling it and putting the money toward my sewing machine when I kicked the girls out of their playroom.

I say keep the trains and sell the table.

[klwa]

Hoenstly, I'd hold onto it a while longer. DS liked the trains at 2, but really went through a phase between 3-4 where we were building tracks all the time. (And by we, I mean I was building them to his specs.)

[abh5e8]

Mine all loved the trains, and still play with them, but never cared much for the table. They prefer elaborate floor crossing tracks and trying to make them go up the stairs. I say sell the table and buy more tracks.

[hellokitty]

Get rid of it. My 3 train loving boys preferred to play on the floor.

[Momit]

Our train table got a lot of love for quite a while. At some point he wanted more complex train layouts on the floor, so we converted the train table to a Lego table. He's 6.5 and still uses it for Legos now.

[hwin708]

Ditch it.

I don't like when toys take up a lot of space. Sure, he may come around to liking it in the future. Or he may not. Either way, you'll never know to miss it when it's gone. He's getting by just fine without using it now, he'll continue getting by just fine without it in the future, just like so many kids get by fine without a train table. And you'll reclaim a giant hunk of land in your house!

[jgenie]

If you need the space, I would sell it. We have two and they were used when DS1 was around 3 but mostly just serve as junk collectors. One of ours has made it to the garage and will go to the curb when the weather gets nicer here.