November 19th, 2009 
Unlike the lights-flashing, music playing, push-button electronic gadgets and gizmos that pass for toys these days, Thomas Tank Engine wooden railway toys are the real thing. With the former, children are merely entertained, with the latter, they PLAY. The simpler wooden toys have great educational benefits. They actually develop children’s thinking skills, physical skills, as well as social skills.
Kid’s imaginations are stimulated as they dream up stories and carry out role play with Thomas Tank Engine, thinking up and speaking the parts that the simple wooden railway toys DON’T say simply at the push of a button. With its track pieces to fit together into various layouts and adventures to plan for Thomas Tank Engine and his friends, train-play is noted by experts to develop creativity, logical thinking skills and planning ability.
During train-play, the little ones develop key physical skills as well, such as hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Pushing trains around and across a layout, making deliveries and choosing routes, little ones are up and moving. The physical activity is good for them developing physical skills and awareness.
The colorful designs, chunky accessories, and cute, expressive faces on the engines all help to support children as they learn to recognize colors and numbers, develop emotional awareness, engage in self-directed play and practice social skills.
Whether they’re acting out stories from the Thomas wooden railway books or shows, or dreaming up unique adventures of their own, children are practicing lessons learned about teamwork, sharing, and kindness.
Dr. Kathy Hirsh Pasek, Developmental Psychologist at Temple University, and quoted at the Thomas site, puts it this way, “Almost everything out there is 90% toy and 10% kid. Thomas wooden railway is different. It invites children to be experimenters and discoverers.”
Whether it’s experimenting to see the minimum number of track pieces required to make a figure eight, or counting how many other cars Thomas Tank Engine is “strong enough” to pull behind him up the steep grade he’s created, with simple play toys like these trains, you can be sure your child is truly discovering new things. He’s finding out for himself and developing a healthy love for independent learning.
The complex interactions of train-play are a powerful developmental tool no parent or educator would want to be without. Since children (like everyone else) learn best when interested and engaged, the high kid-appeal of the myriad characters, play sets and accessories makes them a valuable way to draw in children to the learning process.
Language development and memory is supported when children re-enact Thomas wooden railway stories, or tell you about the trains’ latest adventures today. Shy children may not normally want to talk very much about themselves or their day, but they will often get excited to describe to their mom or dad without any prompting “what Thomas Tank Engine did today.”
If you are looking for toys that engage children in real educational play, toys that stimulate cognitive development, social development, and other age-critical skills, try Thomas Tank Engine. You’ll be glad you did!
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