Look what I won at a Twitter party recently: a Thomas & Friends Adventures on Misty Island MEGA Bloks set. My preschooler was so happy when I surprised him with it! (Whoever thinks Twitter is a waste of time doesn't know how you can form friendships and connections with people -- and sometimes win something cool!)I just happened to see the Thomas & Friends Twitter party going on one night and joined in because my sons are completely indoctrinated in the cult of Thomas. We have several bins full of the Thomas Wooden Railway, Trackmaster and the Take Along lines of toy trains. And now, the boys can play with their new Thomas MEGA Bloks track.
My son wanted to play with the set immediately, and I took everything out of the box. I was a little intimidated setting it up because I'm just not used to putting together 101 pieces of anything while following directions in a booklet. I think it took me 20 minutes to put the set together.
I did a fine job, no?
My preschooler excitedly played with it (he had the set to himself because his little brother was taking a nap), but after about 40 minutes, he had dismantled most of it and wanted me to help him put it all back together again. I told him he should try to do it himself, and he found new ways of putting the set together. He got frustrated, but he did it.
So while a train set with lots of little blocks may be intimidating at first, the great thing is the MEGA Bloks set can be put together several ways. In fact, the layout shown on the outside of the box it came in is different from the way the booklet shows how to put it together. The downside is the little blocks come apart with play, but the upside is unlike some other train sets, kids can build and rebuild the track however they want.
It's a new world of trains -- and creative play -- for my preschooler.
