Toddler Theme: Trains

Trains have played an integral role in the history of Colorado.  Abandoned train tracks up in the mountains tell the story of past mining booms and the new construction of light rail lines highlight Denver's population growth.  Mia has always shown a big interest in trains and with Millie getting a little older, we decided it was time to do Train week again.  The girls like to do physical activities in the late afternoon before dinner so one day I pulled out the wooden train whistle and we made a human train (hands on the shoulders of the person ahead).  Two toots of the train whistle meant "go" and one long toot meant "stop."  Being the little sis, Millie loved her time as the engine in charge.  She also seems to be very auditory-driven so she wanted to learn how to use the train whistle herself. In the last few weeks, I've taught her how to use the kazoo and the harmonica so she picked this one up really fast.  The whole week, my house sounded like a busy train station...except for that one afternoon I hid the train whistle.  Ha!  Another train activity I set up was like a connect the dots game but with train tracks.  I made a few numbered circles on the computer and printed them out.  At first I laid out circles 1, 2, and 3 to explain the game.  They had to create a track that started at 1 and went through 2 and then on to 3.  Once they got the hang of that, I added more numbered circles and put them in funny places that required more creative track laying.  We also worked on patterns with the train cars...green car, green car, blue car, green car, green car, what comes next?  For an extra challenge, I had her create the correct patterns using the train tracks & interchanges to get them in the right order (i.e. not lifting the train cars off the tracks).  More of a brain teaser.

Nana bought the girls a cool sandwich cutter that not only de-crusts the sandwich but also cuts it into 2 pieces -- an engine and a car.  All week, we had train sandwiches for lunch.  Huge hit! 

Our art project this week was the creation of a name train.  I cut out rectangles in various colors and drew letters on each one, making sure I had the letters required for each girls' name plus a few extra to increase the challenge.  I also googled "train engine outline" and printed out 2 of those.  For Mia, we just reviewed how to spell her name and she found the letters and put them in the proper order before gluing them down.  Millie required a little help from both of us, so I wrote her name on the easel and Mia helped her pick out the corresponding train cars.  Millie did the gluing.

There are many, many cool train field trips you could do in Colorado.  Riding the light rail, for instance.  Or seeing the old Denver South Park railroad tracks up at Kenosha Pass.  Another fun one is riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad.  We did this a couple of months ago and the girls still talk about it.  Their 2016 season opens in April but they'll start booking rides at the end of March, if you are interested.  We also love going to Union Station to see the big passenger trains.  The California Zephyr stops in town regularly and we daydream about the day we can take a long train ride.  This week, we also chose to visit the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.  I was really surprised by the amount of trains they had on exhibit.  There's even a roundhouse and a turntable.  The best part is that the museum is mostly outdoors so it's perfect for hands-on active learners that need to burn off a little energy as they explore.  Naturally, Mia & Millie found a way to get really dirty at a museum...there's just something about a dirt pile, I guess.

A summary of all Train week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Played connect the dots with train tracks, Played with the train whistle and made our own human train (1 toot means stop, 2 toots mean go)

ART PROJECTS: Created a name train with lettered cars

OUTINGS: Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Took a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad, Visited Union Station to see the big passenger trains

BOOKS: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, Locomotive by Brian Flocka, The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter

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