Thomas & Friends Games to Play

Train Station Split Coal

• Coal is the fuel needed for Thomas, and his friends need to make their journeys a success. Help Sir Topham Hatt load the coal into the coal bin so that the trains can access fuel and get on the tracks.

  Paint four boxes to resemble troublesome trucks. The boxes could be shoe boxes that you create to look like an actual dump truck. If you have plenty of large Tonka dump trucks, you could use those instead. Purchase several bags of standard-sized marshmallows and dye them black using food coloring. Make black food coloring by simply mixing all the colors in the food color packet together. Don't soak the marshmallows or they'll lose their shape. Quickly dunk them into a container of color and set them aside. Load the marshmallows into a large bowl or box once they are dry.

  Divide your group into four teams with an even number of players on each team. Line up the empty dump trucks next to a bucket or bowl of marshmallows. Give each child a spoon and ask them to fill the dump truck with "coal." The first team to fill their truck receives a small party prize.

Thomas Twister Game

• Thomas fans will love playing the game Twister featuring their favorite tank engine characters. Create a Thomas Twister game by printing out coloring sheets for James, Thomas, Duke, Percy and Harold. You can find free coloring sheets online at the Thomas and Friends website or at Early Childhood Links.com. Make your Twister circles out of skid-proof shelf liner. Create a large circle stencil using a large pot or pan. Trace the pot on a large piece of paper or poster board, cut out the paper and use as your stencil to cut out uniform circles from the shelf liner.

  Have your child color the pages corresponding colors before you throw the party. The colors are red for James, blue for Thomas, yellow for Duke, green for Percy and white for Harold. Cut out the coloring sheets, then glue them on the rubber shelf liner. You could also have the coloring pages laminated to the liner to create a more durable game for the future use. Place the liners in rows or create your own configuration. Use the spinner from an actual Twister game.

Cranky's Fishing Game

• Help Cranky the Crane retrieve the parcels he was lugging that fell into the water. Everyone's a winner with this cute game that's perfect for a crafty mom or dad.

  Recreate Cranky using three large appliance boxes covered in grey butcher paper. Use a long wrapping-paper tube to be Cranky's crane and use a sharp-tipped Sharpie to add Cranky's features. Create Brendam Dock by covering a large table with a large sheet of blue paper. Prop the table on its side so that the table top is facing out. Cover the entire front of the table with paper and draw waves and small fish.

  Create a special fishing pole for each child by painting a wrapping-paper roll a bright color and threading a long piece of fishing string through it. Attach the string to one side of the wrapping-paper roll and let the other side hang freely so the child can fish. Attach a cardboard hook to the end.

  Have two or three parents hiding behind the table holding bags of prizes. Give parents tape so they can attach the prize to the fishing pole. Position the kids a good distance away from the table so that they can't see what's behind it as they fish for parcels.

  Ask parents to attach something funny to the fishing poles during the first try, such as a cut-out fish or an old shoe. Have the kids keep fishing and then be rewarded when they pull Cranky's package out of the ocean.

  Each package could include birthday goodie-bag prizes such as Thomas stickers, candy, party horns and even a real Thomas the Tank Engine train!