Thomas the Tank Engine Toys

Thomas the Tank Engine is a wonderful, wholesome character who continuously delights children and their parents. In the stories, Thomas, a young childlike and somewhat mischievous train learns all about caring and respect as well as doing the right thing and telling the truth. While Thomas is never really bad, he does have the occasional moment of cheekiness.

Kids love him. Some little kids with Autism Spectrum disorder obsess over him! A young child with autism who has hyperfocused on Thomas the Tank Engine may spend nearly the entire day, every day for years and years watching, playing and living Thomas.

Some theories suggest that it is the parts of the train and the predetermined layout of the train's destination that attracts so many children with Autism. The tracks provide structure and the children have the security of always knowing where the train is heading.

Whatever the actual reason for the special attraction, kids with autism who are hyperfocused on Thomas may benefit from the use of Thomas products in structured play and as rewards for focus during therapy as well as their own play time.

While it is ultimately desired to help the child expand their interests, it is ok to use those interests of extreme intensity to encourage growth in other areas for a while! We used Thomas for a few years to encourage speech, teach acceptable behaviors and even learning to read and write early to improve our ability to communicate with our son. Thomas was present for all sensory therapy in some way- we covered the Wilbarger Brush with Thomas stickers, we painted a giant Thmas on our therapy mat... we LIVED on the island of Sodor.

Eventually my son's speech began to improve and finally most of the focus on Thomas was shifted to Star Wars (although he still plays Thomas almost daily).

You can use the child's intense interest in Thomas to help model speech! This type of modelling is NOT a replacement for professional speech therapy, but is an excellent supplement.

Consider it homework!

Start with one word at a time, keep modeling just a tiny bit more than your child can do- if they have no words at all, then keep it at one word for a while until they at least attempt the word. This is how we use Thomas to model speech. During the modeling sessions, my son would push the train and I excitedly said the name of the train. As he began picking up words, I added. We had to practice each word for a few weeks, but this is how the progression went.

Thomas
Henry
Thomas goes
Thomas goes up
Thomas goes up hill
Thomas goes on track
Thomas henry crash
Thomas AND Henry crash
Thomas and Henry go up hill
Thomas and Henry go up hill fast
Thomas and Henry go down hill fast, CRASH
Thomas and Henry go down THE hill
Thomas and Henry on on THE track
Of course, for the words to be meaningful AWAY from the train table... when we got in the car we also did...
Car
Car goes
Car goes UP
Car goes UP HILL
THE car goes up THE hill
and keep adding! You can use this simple method during ANY activity as long as you start with tangible objects!

The Thomas Wooden Railway is in my opinion, the very best set offered. I love this particular set for a variety of reasons not the least of which is the fact that it is child powered (meaning the kid has to push it) and it strongly encourages imagination.

My son loves this set the most as well. He has always loved all of them, but he plays with this one the most. The other sets usually stay in their boxes and the floor is covered with the wooden railway sets! He does have the train table (I was tired of stepping on the trains at 3 am) but they always make it to the floor as well. Despite the fact that he has shifted his focus to Star Wars, this Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Railway set is still in use nearly every day and he still carries a wooden train in his backpack at 7 years old!

If I were to go back and specify a particular set to our family members when they asked what my son wanted for Christmas, it would be THIS set, hands down!

Take Along Thomas was beneficial for a few things such as practicing "put in!" and "take out" but it was also helpful when we went to reevaluations with the developmentalist as we were able to bring an entire activity from home each time so he was able to objectively measure progress in areas with a LOT of practice and help and compare the amount of progress to those skills that developed naturally without help!

I do recommend this set for families with autism as either a starter or travel set.

Take Along Thomas was our least favorite of the three sets but we still loved it! It did have a few important benefits though.

Some of the problems with the set were that children with poor motor control are able to damage the track when trying to separate it as the "male" piece of the track is very small. Another huge drawback was that the trains did not roll very well and the trains did not fit on either of the other two sets although the wooden railway and trackmaster trains did work on the Take along tracks.

The benefits to this track however were that it was portable which, when you have a child with a chronic condition or disability does become somewhat important with so many appointments and hospital stays. I did love that the buildings had more detail to them and that the trains are made of metal (which is not good if your child uses them as a weapon!) This particular track was available at more physical stores than the wooden railway- Target and AAFES for example carry them, but not all major stores.

The Take Along Thomas sets are fairly durable and I would recommend them for children who have serious health conditions requiring frequent hospital stays as they are easy to transport and Mom or Dad can easily fit an entire set in a small go bag and for kids who spend a lot of time travelling.They are also relatively inexpensive.

Military Families: These are invaluable during a PCS but we found that one or two of the sets was more than enough so unless your child falls in love with them, I don't suggest buying more than 2 sets and adding on the individual trains.

I LOVE the Thomas the Tank Engine Trackmaster sets! It is my guilty pleasure. I love that the trains can either be child powered OR battery powered (but then the overly responsible me says "child powered only is best"). These trains work on BOTH of the two other tracks usually (they don't like wacky track or the drive though engine wash or the "stuck in the mud" track.)

I love that they were less expensive than the wooden railway and more durable than the take along sets.It can be a little bit more challenging to get the track just right as I have not yet found a wacky track to compensate for the odd angles created in Tidmouth Sheds but otherwise it is a great set!

The thomas the Tank Engine Track Master Set does require a little bit more floor space than the other sets however.

No, these are not Thomas the Tank engine- sorry, I don't have the rights to draw him, BUT I did draw a cute black steam engine and have placed the image on reward tickets (above), coloring page (below) and a chore chart (see link)! After I made them I remembered this article and if your little boy loves trains as much as mine, well, I just had to share them here as well! If you think your child (or a child you know) might enjoy them, please feel free to print them -they are completely free- just save as image and then print!

If you like the reward tickets, please feel free to drop by for a matching chore chart (also completely free)!

These are free for you to print and use as many copies as you like (schools as well) I do ask though... if you are considering posting these online anywhere PLEASE provide a link back to my original on
http://www.squidoo.com/free-printable-chore-charts