Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Marie Bauman, an Usborne Books Consultant. Please consider ordering your next Usborne book through her links and help build up Godly families. Thanks!!

train-fun-prek-first-poppins

I’m really loving participating as a hostess of the Poppins Book Nook. My kids have really looked forward to the theme each month and this month was no exception.

April’s theme was titled Planes, Trains & Automobiles and I picked trains to focus on. My youngest daughter LOVES trains. Seriously, she could watch YouTube videos of steam trains for longer than cartoons. True story.

usborne-big-book-trains-inside

The Big Book of Trains

We were sent this awesome Usborne book by Marie called The Big Book of Trains. I really liked this book for several reasons. One, the pictures were really big & engaging. My three year old was making up stories about who was on each train & where we were going. The pictures are very, VERY large. As in they fold out to be 4 pages each. Each page is sort of themed as they talk about the fastest, the different kinds, the longest and more.

The text is very sparse compared to the size of the illustrations, making The Big Book of Trains an easy book to read while wrestling the intrepid explorer (i.e. the 10 month old walking baby). It actually worked well to read it at the dinner table while I fed the baby. Everyone could see the whole layout & we had some great discussions with lots of interruptions. Interruptions in a story kind of bug me. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not :).

train-fun

Fun Train Activities

Thomas the Train

I had purchased several Thomas the Tank sets to add to our collection but just hadn’t given them to the kids yet. I dug them out for the first 1/2 of the month and spent two weeks with a living room full of Duplos. We have 5-7 Duplo Thomas sets now as well as 2 small (non-compatible–bah!) Take & Go Thomas sets. They had a blast with them!

train-lapbook

Train Lapbook

I also found this fun train lapbook that I had cut out & we started it. Unfortunately, we got this awful cold & fever combo that took out the whole house ( except hubby) for 2 weeks and counting. We didn’t get a ton completed, but we did some of the activities and sang “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” Lil Bit is looking forward to working on the rest of it later this week.

Other Activities

I found these cool train resources that I wanted to use, but never got to because no one felt well enough.

 

train-library-playground

In addition, I was hoping that by the end of April it might be nice enough to go outside. There is an awesome wooden train at the library that the kids love to play on. There is a park on the way to Al’s office with train-themed playground equipment that would have been fun, too.  (This is a pic from last year at the library.)

ticket-to-ride-train-game-app

Train Fun for Big Kids

Hubby & I have been having fun with trains this month, too. We have a board game called Ticket to Ride. It’s hard to play with babies. Imagine that ;). But you can play together on your iPhone/iPad for only $1.99. We bought Ticket to Ride Europe and have been playing together almost every night after the kids go to bed. It’s tons of fun and you learn US or European geography, too. Suggested age is 7 and up.

 

Want to know about other transportation books & activities? Did you you find & write about our theme this month? Check out all the hosts & link your post below!

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Poppins Book Nook main image 2014 - 2015

Clip Art by Melon Headz

Check out more Poppins Book Nook posts from around the world by these lovely bloggers:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God’s Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Faith and Good Works ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy’s Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy’s Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ The Kennedy Adventures ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom’s Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A “Peace” of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama


Jen S.

2 Comments on Train Fun {Poppins Book Nook}

  1. Jill
    14 May 2014 at 3:02 PM (10 years ago)

    My son is a big fan of trains, he would really like the Big Book of Trains! We have a dvd called “Lots and Lots of Big Trains” that he would watch over cartoons any day. Your little one would probably love it too!

    Thank you for helping to bring a spoonful of reading fun to the Poppins Book Nook this month!
    Jill´s last blog post ..Booking Across The USA California State Study

    [Reply]

    jen Reply:

    I’ll have to take a look for it. Thanks for stopping by!

    [Reply]

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