We were recently sent the Thomas & Friends My First Railway Pals Destination Discovery Playset to review. At the moment I try to only accept reviews of toys that I think will benefit both of the boys, or is something they really want.
As Lamb totally loves playing with his wooden train set, I thought this would be a great toy for him to try out. I also noticed it was suitable from age 1 (until 5 years) so is actually ideal for both Lamb and Bear.
The set itself includes a Percy train with cargo car. There’s over 40 track pieces including 9 track activation points, a light-up Tidmouth Shed, Knapford & McColl’s Farm destinations, a turntable and crossing gate.
Setting up the track is really easy. The instructions are clear and give you 3 track designs to build. I love that you can mix up how you build the track. It makes it much more fun for the kids and less repetitive each time they play.
The track is all numbered underneath, so if you do have a child who can read, then they should be able to put the track together themselves. Once it’s clipped in place, it’s quite strong and sturdy. Although I’m not sure it could handle to wrath of Bear! HA!
Around the track there are activation points that make Percy say something. I think this is a really lovely feature as it keeps the younger ones engaged with the sounds, and helps with the older ones imagination.
As I mentioned earlier, this track comes with Percy. So if you had other characters like Thomas or Toby, they may say different things at the activation points. Within 5 minutes of playing with his new track, Lamb asked me to buy him Thomas and Harold. They’re never satisfied are they?!
Although the quality of this toy is really good, there is one part I fell could be a little better. The stands that hold the track up (see image above) don’t clip in very well, and the track was balancing on top. This meant that every time the track moved slightly, the stands would come away from the track.
When this happens quite regularly (because Bear is a human whirlwind) it can be quite frustrating for a 4 year old (and a 30 year old who’s in charge of fixing the track!) But not a big issue but just an observation that’s worth mentioning.
It was really sweet watching the boys play with their new Thomas train set together. Bear loved picking up different pieces like the cargo or the carriage. When this happened Lamb would just make it part of his ‘story’ and pretend there was a giant on the track! (He’s watched the BFG recently so always mentions giants when he’s playing).
Overall this Thomas & Friends playset has been a huge hit in out house. It’s so nice to have a train set that doesn’t break up easily when knocked (or trampled on). And one that both my 1 year old and 4 year can enjoy both together and separately.
Do you have a train set fan in your house?
~A~
* I was sent this product free of charge in exchange for this review. All words and opinions are my own.
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