In an attempt to gear us up for a train ride to the Baby Show this weekend, Dexter’s been reviewing a seriously cute train ride on toy from his friends at the National Rail Museum. As it’s a Bigjigs build, the quality is excellent and there’s tons of added interest for inquisitive littlies. In fact, its become one of Dex’s favourites and has been dragged, pushed, or pulled from room to room since its grand unveiling.

The ride on was easy to put together. I was warned beforehand that this was part-assembly, but in truth it only needed a few quick screws with an alan key. When finished, you have a beautiful brightly painted steam engine with a shape sorter, spinning disks, and a peg maze, so there’s plenty to keep little ones engaged both on and off the train.

Dexter (at nearly 18 months) is fairly new to ride on’s. He has a few at home, but has always preferred to push them across the lounge rather than jump on. I suspect this is due to a lack of confidence in getting his leg over, and being unable to reach the floor when mounted (he is a little on the short side) - he seems particularly happy on this one though. He simply loves it when daddy pushes him around and we’ve had some very cute squeals. To have added extras on the outside of the train for your little one to play with is therefore a great idea for children that are untested on ride on’s, or only just discovering their feet.

Furthermore, the train is great for early development encouraging hand eye coordination, problem solving, and early mobility. There’s also great attention to detail with the wooden blocks from the shape sorter featuring different types of cargo and train-related fun.

At just £55, it’s a great Christmas pressie for any Thomas the Tank Engine fan. It’s incredibly sturdy and robust so will last you a good few years (maximum weight 15kg), and one of those fabulous traditional toys that will look great in any nursery. The recommended age is 18 months +, which is fair considering the seat has wide proportions so smaller children might struggle to ground their feet when sat upon it - having said this, I would say you could buy this for a younger child and just encourage them to push, pull and play with all the extras on the sides.

All this choo choo action meant Dexter wasn’t at all daunted by his real life train ride yesterday. Although all the seats were taken, and he wasn’t best pleased about being confined to his pushchair, he did have warm up to the idea when daddy lifted him to see out the window…

I guess our little train fanatic will soon be ready for a trip to the National Train Museum to see a real version of his Choo Choo.

This gorgeous toy is available by telephone mail order from NRM (National Railway Museum) 01375 484 540.

DISCLAIMER: Dex was sent this gorgeous toy from the National Rail Museum. All thoughts and opinions are my own.