How to Build Large Wood Train Playscapes

Cut 1-inch-by-6-inch stock lumber into two pieces, 2-foot-long. Cut two more pieces, 4-foot-long. Miter both ends of each piece to a 45 degree angle along the 6-inch edge.

Butt the 6-inch faces together to form a rectangular frame. Secure the four pieces together using bar clamps at each short end. Measure the outer corner angles using a carpenter's try square to ensure that they meet at 90-degree angles. Measure both diagonals to ensure that they are equal in length. This ensures that the assembly is square, meaning the corners make 90-degree angles.

Remove the clamps and apply carpenter's glue to each 6-inch face. Replace the clamps and measure the corner angles and diagonals again to be sure that the frame assembly is still square. Wipe away excess glue with a clean cloth and allow the frame assembly to cure overnight.

Position the four 2-inch-by-4-inch-by-2-foot long posts on their short ends in each corner of the frame assembly, with the 4-inch faces toward the short ends of the frame and the 2-inch faces toward the front and back. Secure each post to the frame 1-inch from each short end and two inches up, using 2-inch long, #8 drywall screws. Use four more screws 1-inch from each short end and four inches up.

Turn the entire assembly over to stand on its legs with the length facing you. Lay the plywood sheet on top, with all corners flush. Secure the top to the frame assembly using 1 1/2-inch long, #6 drywall screws every four inches, beginning one inch from the right-front corner, around the entire perimeter of the top.

Sketch an amoeba-shaped area with a maximum diameter of eight inches somewhere on the tabletop to represent a lake. Draw roads coming from the four sides of the playscape tabletop, running up to and around your lake.

Using one color at a time, paint the lake blue and the roads dark gray and allow them to dry. Children can do this step themselves. Outline the edges of the lake and roads yourself after the children finish painting, to fix any fuzzy areas. Paint dotted yellow lines down the center of each road.

Paint at least one of the unpainted spaces near the lake tan to look like bare ground. Sprinkle it with dry coffee grounds while the paint is still wet, to look like dirt. Allow it to dry overnight.

Brush the area closest to the lake with white glue and sprinkle it with sand. Sprinkle random piles of small, sharp-sided gravel at the water's edge to look like rocks.

Have the children paint all remaining spaces bright green. Help them glue small bunches of Spanish moss near the lake and anywhere you think a bush might grow.

Cut construction paper to fit your cardboard food boxes. Have the children brush glue onto each box and cover it with construction paper. Use a black crayon to draw windows and doors on each to make them look like buildings.

Help your children arrange the train set and the buildings as they wish.