MorganClassicalPrep Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 If your children had a train table, how old were they when they grew out of it? (Alternatly, if they still have one and play with it, how old are they now?) DD has always loved the train tables (at Barnes and Noble, Toys R Us, etc.) Her 5th birthday is coming up, and she keeps insisting she wants trains. So I was going to get her one of the little starter sets. But then I started looking on craigslist and there are a number of train tables with the tracks and trains for sale for not (too) much more than I'll pay for a brand new set with just a few pieces. I don't want to invest in it if it's something she'll be done with soon. Is this one of those toys you get after hearing about it forever and they lose interest? The other thing is, we don't have a lot of space. I was GOING to get a new table for us to eat/craft on but.... I could sacrifice that for something she'll love. We can continue to eat where we do and craft on the train table (most have reversible tops). She's also getting a new bike and helmet, so if I went ahead with the table that'd be it for her (at least from me.) I guess I'm waffling because I don't want one of her only two gifts to be a dud.... Picking birthday presents shouldn't be this tough! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskool Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 My kids still use ours at 11 and 7 years old, but they often will take the trains off now and use it to build lego villages on. It is something they have got a lot of use out of, but my kids were really into trains. I know what you mean about picking out presents, some years it is not easy. Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsnwings Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Our train table has been a great investment for our family. We got it for ds3's 1st Christmas and he and dd1 play with it ALL the time. DS9 uses it as a table for his legos and puzzles. We paid $40 for ours on craigslist and it is super nice! :) we already had tons of trains & track from when ds9 was obsessed as a toddler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Our train table has been in continuous use for about ten years. At first it was duplos and Thomas trains. Now it is used for board games or Legos. We love the train table. My ds6 is the one who uses it most now, but all of us use it on occasion. We don't have a coffee table in our house. Instead the train table serves that purpose. The high edges keep the toys mostly contained and it is just the right height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Girl Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 My son and daughter are much more likely to set up a big train layout that fills up the living room floor than to confine it to one area. We had a table that we used for trains for a while, but it was too small and not flexible enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needleroozer Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 (edited) We never got one. My son played with Thomas for 8 hours a day, or more, on the floor from the time he was 18 months to about 8 years. Then it was Legos and Lego trains. The floor was bigger, and more flexible than a table. We got a floor mat that we could roll up...that was a nice option, but not expensive or limiting. His best buddy got a train table and used it for less than a year. YMMV. :iagree: Ditto. This was our experience as well. The tracks would sometimes meander all through the house. The five year old boy I nanny one day a week only uses his table to store things- for the most part, his layouts are always long and complicated, and great fun. I think the train tables are limiting in some aspects. The Boy was 2 weeks short of 2 when we gave him his first set. They were played with till kids were around 8 and 11. I just recently put them all into tubs. The end of an era. Edited January 16, 2011 by Needleroozer added info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganClassicalPrep Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Ok I'm going with it. I was thinking that the table could double for puzzles, legos, she could play with her cars on there.... if she wants to put the train up all over that is okay too! But at least the table will give us somewhere to store it. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 My parents bought my son a train table for his 3rd birthday and he actually lost his intense interest in Thomas and the trains not long after that. Even though the trains are long gone, he still uses the train table every day though for lego building and storage. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 It just depends on the child. My oldest got his first Thomas set and table at age 2 for Christmas and he would spend hours and hours with it until he got to be around 6 or so. My other 2 boys just haven't had the intense interested that my oldest had. We just got rid of our train table at Christmas time. A friend wanted a Thomas table and we wanted a ping pong table and so we traded! We were THRILLED and I hope she was as well. She didn't have room for the ping pong table and just wanted it gone! We have been playing ping pong every day since! For our Thomas table, we bought the Thomas top (Sodor) and DH built a table with 2x4s. We could fit bins underneath. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 We never got one. My son played with Thomas for 8 hours a day, or more, on the floor from the time he was 18 months to about 8 years. Then it was Legos and Lego trains. The floor was bigger, and more flexible than a table. We got a floor mat that we could roll up...that was a nice option, but not expensive or limiting. His best buddy got a train table and used it for less than a year. YMMV. :iagree: We inherited tons of track, the train table and over 100 Thomas and Friends engine pieces. The table never got used because it wouldn't contain enough track. Several friends that do have the table have glued a track to it so that the children can play for a short time without digging out ALL the pieces. When they have a longer time for play, the rest of the tracks get built on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlaura Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 We were given our table by an older cousin,, and my son loves it. I frequently wish we'd not accepted it just because it takes up so much of our very limited space. But the truth is if the track gets set up on the floor, the dog gets overly and unhelpfully involved,, and DH gets super annoyed walking around it. So overall it is a good thing. And it is nice to use for hotwheels, blocks, etc, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We left ours in the US when we moved to Brazil. Our boys were 10, 7 and 2 when we moved. All three still used it, though not necessarily for trains at that point. If we had space, and they were not an outrageous price here, we'd buy another one now for the youngest (he's about to be 6 now). At this point, the boys are 13, 10 and nearly 6 -- I think the 10 yr old would still use it (not for trains), the almost-6 would use it for trains and other things. The big boys would, at this point, use it for legos and things, I"m sure. YOu can always repurpose it once your dd outgrows trains -- would make a lovely base for a doll house, or a kid-sized sewing table/crafting table, or put small throw pillows on the floor and use it for eating around, etc. I think you'd safely get a few years' use out of it, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We've had a train table since my older boys were about 3 & 4. I don't remember how long they used the trains, but the table still gets used by my 11 year old. The table is one of the best presents they ever received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We got this train table when DD (currently 6) was 2: http://www.amazon.com/Step2-Deluxe-Canyon-Train-Track/dp/B000AM03TQ . It fits wooden trains, metal trains, and even hot wheels cars. They often use it with the top on to set their big dollhouse, to play blocks, to play with little people and animal figures, to draw, etc. All trains and cars can store inside of it. Actually, I moved it into our new sunroom and the kids use it for school. I sit on the couch and they gather around the train table and use it for a writing surface, etc. This past Christmas they got a wooden train track from Ikea (EXCELLENT price!!) and sometimes they set the wooden track on top of the train table with the lid on it. They like them both...it's the first time they've had wooden tracks. And they are good quality too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightly Salted Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Our train table has been in continuous use for about ten years. At first it was duplos and Thomas trains. Now it is used for board games or Legos. We love the train table. My ds6 is the one who uses it most now, but all of us use it on occasion. We don't have a coffee table in our house. Instead the train table serves that purpose. The high edges keep the toys mostly contained and it is just the right height. us too - I bought it for $12 at Goodwill and it's now a puzzle table! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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