Teaching Old Tracks New Tricks!

Posted by Apr 17, 2017 Book Based Activities, Books

Kids are full of imagination and creativity. Watch kids on Christmas morning. Boxes are almost as much fun as the toys that come in them! The great part about this creativity is that it can be harnessed to create some amazing things. The new book Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen gives kids a great opportunity to re-purpose old toys and create new ways to have fun. It also presents an opportunity to do a lot of fun train activities with your kids!

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Old Tracks, New Tricks was written by Jessica Petersen, the creator of the blog Play Trains! This book follows a set of tracks who are excited that they will finally get to play with the trains and the other pieces of tracks. They soon find that the trains make the rules and don’t encourage creativity and originality. These determined tracks refuse to fall in line and end up having a lot more fun. They teach the old tracks and the trains that they can have more fun doing new tricks and playing games. This is a great book to encourage kids to think outside the box and be creative!

Painting with Trains – Gather some train toys (preferably ones that are easily washable). Set them out onto a table with some paper plates and some paint. Have kids roll their trains through the paint and then roll them across the paper. They will love making train track art using their favorite trains!

Hop along the train tracks!

Train Track Obstacle Course – Using masking tape, create a set of train tracks on the floor. Have kids follow the train tracks from one end to the other. Make the game increasingly more difficult by having them hop along the tracks, or follow the tracks backwards. You could also have them jump from square to square counting by twos or spelling their name. There are a lot of ways that you can adapt this activity for your kids and their skill levels.

Train Track Trivia Hop – This is a fun activity to get kids moving while working on desired skills. Using masking tape like above, create two sets of train tracks on the floor. Have kids stand at one end of the train tracks to start. Ask them a question based on the skills you are working on (math facts, spelling, shape/letter recognition, etc). If they answer correctly, they can jump to the next square on the tracks.

Kids who are working on the same skills can compete to answer first. If you have two kids playing at different skill levels, you can have them take turns answering. If you only have one child playing, you can stand on the other set of tracks and take a step forward if they answer incorrectly, or have them ask you a question that you have to answer! (Better brush up on those Paw Patrol characters!). The first one to make it to the end of the tracks wins!

Take a ride on the alphabet train!

Alphabet Train – This is a fun activity which can be done in two ways. Cut 26 rectangles out of colored paper and write one letter of the alphabet on each one. Lay them out end to end on the floor or on a table top. Tell your kids that they have to search the house to find items that start with each letter of the alphabet. When they find one, they have to bring it out and place it onto the train car with the right letter. (You could also have a preset group of items for them to sort if you would rather keep them contained).

Another way to do this activity is to have your kids search through old magazines to find pictures of things that start with each letter of the alphabet. Cut them out and glue them onto the respective letter squares.

Old games, new tricks

Building New Track Tricks – Use the photos in the book to create new tricks for your train tracks to do! Encourage kids to use their imaginations to use the tracks in new and different ways. The author shares ideas on her website and asks that readers do the same!

Old Tracks, New TricksShop on AmazonRecreating Old Toys – Do you have pieces of old games and toys around that no longer have matching sets? An UNO deck missing half of it’s cards, or puzzle pieces without a board? Encourage kids to repurpose these old toys into something new! Let their imagination run wild and see what new games and hybrid toys they can come up with! You might accidentally create a new family favorite.

It is so important to encourage kids to be creative and to think outside the box, and this book is a great starting point! These fun train activities will also help them to use their creative thinking skills. These skills can help your kids to be more adaptable and resourceful, which will help them later in life!

Celebrate creativity and originality in this fun children's book about trains and train inspired learning activities! #traingames #trainbooksforkids #trainactivities #letterrecognition

Practice letter recognition with this train inspired alphabet game! #trainactivities #letterrecognition #alphabetgame #trainbooksforkids
Encourage creativity with this fun train painting activity! #trainactivity #traincrafts #paintingcraft #paintingforkids

 

61 comments on “Teaching Old Tracks New Tricks!”

  1. Yes! My kiddos love playing with cardboard boxes. I get a few things delivered from Target and they have hours of fun playing in the big boxes. 🙂

    My daughter painted with trains and loved it! Great ideas.

    • Thanks! I remember when my parents got a new fridge when we were younger, and we spent hours rolling each other around the back yard in the box!

  9. Great ideas! My kids are 5 and 6 and still love playing with our wooden train set. One of their favorite activities is to make a “parking lot” with masking tape for all of the trains.

  12. I love that hop along the train tracks idea! It reminds me of a game I used to set up when my oldest was very young. We’d take those little foam floor tiles, and set them up in a track down our longest hallway. And then he’d crawl over them like a little train, saying ‘chugga chugga’ on the way. So many fun ways to incorporate trains into playtime!

  14. What a cool idea! I’ve never thought about using those old uno cards that are no longer a full deck for a new game but it makes sense and encourages creativity! Thanks for the ideas!

  15. Love the painting with trains idea! What a great concept for the book, too. We are always looking for ways to repurpose old toys. Boxes definitely have the most bang for their buck, but this gives me something more to think about!

    • Thank you! I think repurposing old toys is a great way to get kids thinking outside the box (no pun intended!)

  16. That looks like a cute book for train lovers! And I love the idea of painting with trains – I have a nephew that would love to do that! Great idea!

  18. This looks amazing and definitely something I’ll try with my toddler! I’ve been looking for more activities to do with him during the day and I think he will really enjoy this!

  20. This isn’t such a cute themed post! Love all the activities you came up with for trains. I used to love building train tracks when I was a little girl. I can also remember putting tape down to make “roads” for toy cars (sort of like your idea for the train obstacle course). Thanks for all your ideas! Such a well thought out post.

  21. Oh I looovve the idea of an alphabet train. My three year old is so uninterested at the moment, so I’m not pushing but just keep trying to think of fun things to incorporate learning ABCs into. He is going to love this!

  22. These are such cool activities! I love teaching that incorporates books, but takes lessons to the next level with all sorts of fun sensory activities!

  24. Sounds like a great book for kids and moms.I got some new ideas to do with my kid.In our home,we dont have expensive or big toys.Instead we have small toys.I think that is the best opportunity for my kid to be creative.Using these small toys,we create lot of play activities… 🙂

  27. That is a great book and I love the activities that you share with it. I especially like the hopping game. My boys are kinetic learners so anything that involves movement gets a big plus in our house.

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