The All Around Chuggington Interactive Train Set

Despite putting on a brave face, my son Sandy was pretty devastated when he was told at the start of the summer holidays that he would not be able to run, climb or jump for at least six weeks.  BORING!!!  Imagine his delight when I informed him that he had been chosen to play with a Chuggington train set!  As he said, “Mummy, I’m lucky aren’t I”!

If you’ve managed to escape, Chuggington is the current train based kids’ TV programme on CBeebies.  A computer animated modern update on the classic Thomas the Tank Engine, with adventures and subtle "real-life" lessons on everything from valuing friendship to listening carefully. 

With the Chuggington train set Sandy got to play with his favourite “trainee” trains or “chuggers” (as they are known): Wilson, Koko and Brewster. Needless to say he thinks it’s brilliant. In particular Sandy loves that the trains all recognise and talk to one another using phrases from the TV show.  It really is clever! 

Also there is a talking Vee (responsible for organising all the trains in Chugginton) who gives the trains jobs to do – not that Sandy necessarily follows the instructions.  Instead we have a lot of emergency runaway trains and bridge collapses in his Chuggington!

Not only has Sandy had lots of fun with the train set, it has also been a hit with his friends (both boys and girls) who have been over to play.

On the downside, the track was a bit tricky to put together the first time, although there are assembly instructions to follow.  And once you realise that the pieces of track are numbered (oops!) it’s pretty straightforward. But it isn’t something that your average three or four year old could do unsupervised. The "easy" coupling system was also a bit difficult at first for small hands but I think this is mainly because it was new.

The All Around Chuggington Interactive Train Set includes interactive Wilson, Roundhouse with Vee, tunnel, crane, bridge and 39 pieces of track. The Smart Talk really is impressive, the voices and catchphrases are exactly the same as in the show. In addition Sandy also played with the interactive Koko and Brewster, which can be purchased separately. All are available from Amazon:

Learning Curve Chuggington Interactive All Around Chuggington Set

Learning Curve Diecast Chuggington Brewster

Learning Curve Diecast Chuggington Koko