Homeschool Mom’s Journal: Lessons from Thomas the Train

“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.” -Leo Buscaglia

Thomas the Train has solidified his place in our family.  That little blue steam engine is almost always planted firmly in Jack’s hand and when he manages to escape it is only because Jack has grabbed onto Percy or Charlie or one of the other little engines whose names I have learned in the past few weeks.  We’ve gotten a little off track (who doesn’t love a good pun?) with our regular lessons because Thomas really has taken over just about every waking moment in Jack’s days.

And I’m not at all worried about it.  Jack is learning just as much from his Thomas toys as he does from him books, his flashcards and his lesson books.

Thomas the Train as a counting device.  Jack has about twenty-five Thomas the Train cars, and he loves linking them up in different configurations.  As he clicks the magnetic train cars together, we count them: one, two, three, four, five.  As we take cars away, we count them too.  We’re a little early to start addition and subtraction lessons, but I don’t think the concept is lost on him as we add and remove cars to our trains.

Thomas the Train shows the importance of sharing.  The Thomas the Train layout is set up on a 6 foot by three foot train table.  Jack loves to play with his trains, but above that, he loves when he can play with his trains with his parents.  Doing so requires a little  sharing of the trains, and a lot of sharing of the track.  While at first he got really upset whenever a parental train was in his way, he has started to realize that if he wants to play trains with us, he needs to give us some room for his trains.  It seems like a simple lesson, but it is a big thing for a two year old.

Thomas the Train teaches problem solving.  Having a whole pile of interconnecting track and twenty-plus cars going in all different directions has given Jack some problems to solve.  Some of his train cars are a little too tall for some of the bridges.  Some sections of track don’t connect as well as other sections.  Some of the train cars are very light and consequently don’t take corners well when when placed in the middle of a train link.  As adults, we’re only mildly aware that these things are problems – our years of experience allows us to easily modify our behavior to avoid these stumbling blocks.  But to a toddler, each of these issues is a challenge that requires observation, analysis, and a lot of trial and error.  I love watching the little gears turning in Jack’s head as he works on these problems and comes up with solutions for them, and I love the glee he so freely expresses when he is victorious.

Thomas the Train encourages imagination.  The depth of Jack’s play has increased by leaps and bounds lately.  His train cars “talk” to one another (usually the conversation goes, “Oh no! You okay?”  ”Okay.”  *kiss*).  They carry little Fisher Price people to other destinations, and they play with Disney’s Cars.  There’s a whole busy little community on that train table and Jack is becoming a fine puppet master over them.

Be it Thomas, or Cars, or the Fisher Price Little People, Legos, Star Wars, or any other toy, the line between learning and playtime is fluid, and seeing Jack learn through play is such a wonderful thing.