Vtech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Train Station Playset Review

Editor's rating:
9.2
Reviewed by Bobby Brower
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We like

  • Teaches the Spanish, French, and German languages 
  • Exposes children to numbers and letters
  • The brightly colored tracks and pieces introduce your child to the color wheel 
  • The train comes with its own batteries
  • Plays music and helps your child understand and learn the English language
  • Promotes parent/child quality time through interactive play 
We don’t like
  • May require new batteries shortly after opening

How it works

The best way for children to learn is by being immersed in play. Play teaches children a variety of skills and allows them to use their imaginations to recognize shapes, sounds, and colors among other things. The makers at VTech have created a train set that allows children to use their imagination to become fully immersed in a world of their creation while exposing them to colors, numbers, letters, languages, hearing, and seeing. Through brightly colored pieces and music, the VTech Go Go Smart Wheels Train Station provides all the stimulus both aural and visual that your child needs to begin their journey of learning. The set teaches the most basic of knowledge, but that basic knowledge is the foundation for what your child will continue to learn through their educational journey and into adulthood. Priced affordably and crafted in the most simple of ways, the VTech Go Go Smart Wheels Train Set is the perfect buy for the parent who wants to not only provide a good educational toy for their child, but a toy that will also allow parent and child to play and learn together. 

 

Age Range

Age Range

The VTech Go Go Train Station is recommended for children from the ages of one-year-old to five-years-old. The skills and lessons taught through this toy are developed for the youngest of children. At one-year-old, your child will be able to move and hold onto objects, which is essential for successfully playing with the train set. Your child will need the dexterity necessary for holding the train, moving the movable parts of the set and pressing the buttons that are found on the set. After five-years-old, your child will have outgrown the lessons being taught in the set and will need to move on to more advanced toys.
Design

Design

The VTech Go Go Train Set comes with 32 pieces of track that are all brightly colored. The tracks easily snap into each other making creating a course easy. Most of the pieces of the set are the three primary colors of yellow, red, and blue. These colors are the basis for learning all the other colors of the color wheel. The other colors found on the set are purple, green, and orange. There are also interactive areas of the train set like the cargo tower where your child can load cargo onto and off of the train, there is the station where you can either begin or end your journey, and there is the crank mountain where your child can use their hand to crank the train up to the top of the mountain so that it can continue around the track with its cargo. The tracks also come with an orange intersection where you design the track in whatever order you wish and create new paths and turns for the train to take as it makes its way to and from the station.
Language Development

Language Development

One of the most advanced features of the VTech Go Go Train Set is that it allows your child to hear four different languages. The main language of the set is English. When the train is in the station tower, there are three buttons on the tower. Each button is a different color and each button represents a different language. The red button represents German and the button has the German flag on it. The second button is the green button, which represents Spanish and the Spanish flag, while the third button is blue and represents French with the French flag. When you push the button, the voice of the set will say a phrase in English and then immediately repeat the phrase in the language of that button. Each phrase is indicative of train travel and will sound something like, “Have your tickets ready” and “Have a good trip!” By pressing the buttons and listening for the phrase, your child will begin to hear other languages and begin to develop the skill of not only understanding English better, but being aurally exposed to other languages, which will help them if they choose to learn another language when they get older or if they already speak another language at home.
The Station Tower

The Station Tower

The station tower is one of the most interactive of all of the areas of the train set. The tower has the three language buttons along with other interactive things to do. On the top of the tower is a flag that your child can rotate around as if the wind is blowing. Underneath the flag on the top of the tower is a window that swings open and closed. When opened there is a picture of the conductor in the tower. On the front of the tower is a clock that lights up when you press on it and then the clock will sing a song about the train, which will then get your child fully involved in playing with the toy through music. Listening to the lyrics and repeating the song to your child will help them learn how to speak and understand the English language.

The rest of the tower is decorated with the letters of the alphabet and numbers. Your child can see the tower and you can point out the letters and the numbers and begin to teach them all about the alphabet. This is a great way for parents and children to learn together.

The ticket window is located on the side of the tower where your child can pretend to buy tickets for the train. Hanging from the archway of the tower is the welcome sign. When pushed the welcome sign will either say two different kinds of phrases. If the train is waiting in the station to go, the tower will repeat a phrase about beginning the journey and getting ready to board the train. If this is the case, you have to lift up the gate and then the train will go. If you are pulling into the station after a long journey, then when the welcome sign is touched by the train, it will say a phrase about ending your journey and all passengers must get off of the train.
The Cargo Tower

The Cargo Tower

One area of the set is the cargo tower. When the train runs passed the tower it will stop and the train will say a phrase about loading up the cargo. You can manually open the cargo tower and then a green bundle of cargo will roll out and onto the bed of the train. Once the cargo is on the bed of the train, the train will start to roll again along the course that your child set up. The cargo area is the place where your child can load and then unload the cargo back into the tower to be picked up on their next trip.
The Gates

The Gates

Along the route of the train set are several gates. When a gate is down and the train comes to the gate, it will stop. The train will then begin to speak phrases about getting on and off the train and opening the gate so that the train can continue to the station tower. Once you open up the gate, the train will continue on. The gates can represent station stops where imaginary passengers can get on and off the train. This type of scenario is what helps your child to continue to develop their imaginations. In these moments, your child can create an entire story about the passengers and where they are heading and where they are getting off of the train. This type of storytelling through imagination will help your child when it comes to problem solving as they can imagine the scenario and the possible outcome and choose the best solution. Children who are able to fully use their imaginations in this way are better at sports and other activities that require a creative thought process to problem solve and hurdle obstacles. This is just another perk to the VTech Go Go Smart Wheels Train Set as it helps your child foster these skills early in their development.
The Crank Mountain

The Crank Mountain

Along the way, the train will come to a mountain that is too steep to climb. When the train gets to this area, your child can use the crank to pull the train up to the top of the mountain. At this point is where your child can work on their dexterity skills. Your child will need the coordination and strength to use the muscles in their hand and arm and shoulder to rotate the crank and pull the train to the top of the mountain. Although your child will need to be older than two-years-old to do this, they will have the opportunity to practice and eventually turn the crank on their own. This physical and coordination development goes along with the visual and listening development already provided by the train set.
The Train

The Train

The most magical part of the train set is the train itself. The train is like the guide that will take your child on the journey they have created for themself. The train runs on three AAA batteries, which are included with the set. As always, make sure you have a fresh set of batteries on hand in case the batteries that come with the train are drained or not fully charged. If the train does not work then the set is pretty useless on its own as it just becomes a toy where you press buttons. The train is the main star, so make sure you have all that you need to make it fully operational. The train is what speaks to your child and plays songs. The train will repeat the letter “T” throughout its journey to teach your child that train starts with “T”. The train has a sensor on the front that allows the train to stop whenever it gets to a gate and the train contains sensors that tell it to stop at the cargo tower and to stop rolling when it is on the crank mountain.
The Walls

The Walls

There are a few walls that come with the train set that can be placed around the tracks to direct the train where to go. The orange tracks are intersections and when you put up one of the walls you can direct the train to turn where you want it to turn so that it doesn’t fall off of the tracks.
Price

Price

The price of the VTech Go Go Smart Wheels Train Station is pretty low considering what you get with the set. With so many interactive pieces and areas of play along with language development, music, and coordination development, the price seems almost like a steal. It is worth buying and it is worth having as part of your little one’s toy collection as they will learn a lot about letters and numbers and speaking from this train set.

Conclusion

The VTech Go Go Smart Wheels Train Set is a great buy for younger children who are beginning to develop their language skills and coordination skills. Your child will have full freedom to use their imaginations to build different courses for the train to go on while hearing music, learning other languages, learning numbers and letters, learning colors, and using their bodies to crank the train up the mountain. Your child will get a fully immersive play experience that can be shared with parents creating a bonding time for parent and child while the child learns. Through imagination and quality time the VTEch Go Go Smart Wheels Train Set provides everything your child needs to start learning and start growing.
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