Wooden Wind-Up Train

House of Marbles Wooden Clockwork Train

wind-up toy

It’s appropriate that this is the first toy on my blog, because this is the first toy I bring when I start working with a child. This is because every young child of any skill level that I have worked with enjoys this toy.

Age Level: With supervision, this train can be enjoyed by little ones 0 and up (my girls love this toy!). If you will be letting the child play on his or her own, it is more appropriate from ages 3 to 5, due to small parts and the difficulty of winding it up.

Skills/Talents:

~Joint attention: This is for the pre-talking little ones. Joint attention is the shared focus of two individuals on one object. Does your child look at an object, look at you to see if you’re looking at it too, and then look back at the object? That’s joint attention! It is a necessary pre-cursor to language development. Something simple like this that does something “so cool”, like move on its own, is a great way to practice joint attention. Children typically develop joint attention between 8-11 months, but if your child is developmentally delayed you can work on this at any age.

~Language: For children that are just learning to use words, some great vocabulary to work on while play with this train is, of course, “go” and “stop”! Wind up the train, hold it, and say, “ready, set, gooooo!” while you let the train go. Repeat this several times and then say, “Ready, set…..” and wait. See if your child will say, “Go!” on their own. If they do, let the train go immediately!

Once we have done “go” several times, I will abruptly place my hand on top of the train as it’s moving and yell, “Stop!”. This always gets a giggle, and the children will often imitate both the action and the word “stop”.

~Fine motor: This is more for the 3-5 set. Being able to wind up this tiny device is a great way to practice that pincer grasp!

~Turn-taking: This can be incorporated no matter what skill you are trying to work on. Take turns letting the train go. This is also a great way to practice those pronouns (“my turn”, “your turn”)!

Rating: Four out of five stars. This toy would get five stars, due to the fact that it is so universally LOVED. However, it got the four star rating because many of the children in the age group that will play with this train need adult assistance to make it go.

Where to purchase this toy