TrainDad

With “grand­par­ents” writ­ten all over it, the Thomas Track Rider set and acces­sories are about the best toys a Thomas fan could get. The ride-on battery-powered toy comes with a 6-foot cir­cle of track. Of course, if you have $250 to spare for the train, you might as well spend a lit­tle extra to get things like the track expan­sion set, Annie and Clara­bel add-on car, and the bridge and cross­ing expan­sion set. Oh, and another site sells a tun­nel and track expan­sion set. Your lit­tle engi­neer dri­ves the train by push­ing a but­ton — a prob­lem for chil­dren that are too lit­tle, since it only dri­ves as long as you hold it in. It also can’t hold up to very wig­gly chil­dren, since they can tip it over or make it jump the tracks. I think it’s ideal for ages 3–5.

Not a big Thomas fan? That’s okay! The man­u­fac­turer, Peg Perego, has made a John Deere train — and it’s much cheaper, to boot — as well as a Santa Fe Express and another Santa Fe Express with caboose. These sets also have a figure-8 expan­sion track set available.

If that’s all too rich for your blood, you can always step back to the Thomas Pop-Up with Annie and Clara­bel for $45 or, if that’s too pricey, just the Thomas Pop-Up by itself for $19.72.