When friends and relatives started asking me what my daughter would like for her second birthday, I flicked through the Early Learning Centre catalogue and my eyes fell on happy land. Happy land is a 'small world' set of toys and has grown to include almost every type of vehicle and shop you could think of. There are also many residences and a fairground. The train set is one of the best parts of happyland, as it comes with the train, carriages, driver, track, car, crossing and station it is a great way to start a collection as it can be used on it's own before you have bought any more of it.

Happyland can only be purchased from Early Learning Centre, in store or on line and this particular set reatils at £35, although they often have offers on Happy Land so you can sometimes buy it for less.

The greatest thing about this train, and the thing that sets it apart from others in the happyland collection is that when you sit a figure on the train, it pushes down a button which makes the train go. It will either go in a straight line or round a curved track. No other vehicles in the happyland collection have battery operated movement. It also makes train noises (i.e. like steam being released from an engine with the occasional 'choo,choo'). It comes with 2 carriages (one that can sit a passenger and one that has coal in it) which can be attached together, although my daughter cannot do this for herself. The battery life seems to be pretty good as I have never changed them and we have it out a lot in our house.

Their are 6 pieces of track, made out of durable brown plastic. They fit together to form a small oval and can be fitted together by the hands of a clumsy two year old, as they simply click into place like a jisaw. The set also comes with a car (ours is green with stripes) and an extra figure for the car. One of the track pieces is a level crossing so you can attach road pieces to either side to use this with part of a bigger happyland set. If you don't have road then this set comes with two 'end' pieces to cap the level crossing with. This piece also has the level crossing barriers that can be lifted and traffic lights. There is also a separate plastic station which can be positioned anywhere around the track and features a station clock.

The happyland collection is suitable from about 18 months, which I would consider pretty accurate, however this toy can grow with your chil'd growing imagination so I can easily imagine 4 and 5 year old still playing happily with this. We have added to our collection with some second hand bits of ebay and the condition of these pieces supports my feeling that this is a durable toy that really is built to last.

At two, my daughter cannot set this up alone. She can fit the track pieces together, but not in an oval and she can't attach the carriages to the train. Once an adult has set it up for her she can access it independently for a while. She particularly enjoys putting the people in and out of the train so that the movement starts and stops. It is also good as a 'play together' toy though, as you can help scaffold their imaginative play.

I would recommend starting a happyland collection to any parent of young children, and I would particularly recommend starting with this train!