Now that you have a train, you need a train table. This one from Melissa and Doug is perfect.

OK – you don’t need one, but here’s why I recommend having one. First, your child will use his or her train set all over the floor, building tracks that extend in length down the hall and out the door. This is good.

You do NOT want to shape your tracks into some elegant pattern that stays nicely in place because you’ve nailed it to the train table. Nailed down tracks belong at bookstores, toy stores and other retail establishments that do not want children running off with their trains. In your house, you want to encourage imagination and allow your child to make whatever fantasy route that he or she desires.

But, at the end of the day, it’s nice to have somewhere to stash your train and train materials. It’s nice to have a small place to make small set-ups. It’s nice to have a train table because…it does great double duty as a craft table!

Note those high sides? Great for keeping glitter and open bottles of glue off your floor. See that low profile? It’s just the right height for kids big and small to gather around on their knees.

I told you, you needed a train table. You’ll keep it long after your child has outgrown the actual trains.