Reply to "Dad of 7 year old budding train enthusiast in need of help"

I can share that my 8 year old loves switching operations.  We make a game of it.  My layout is pretty simple - a few interconnected loops with sidings and a passing track. We’ll pull out an assortment of freight cars and create a simple index card for each one. We’ll shuffle the cards and that’s the train he has to build.   I don’t have scenery or buildings but we will designate the different sidings as a destination.  A passenger train will sit on the passing siding and every so often I’ll tell him to pull over and let the passenger train through. 😝  I have a CAB1 that he knows how to control pretty well but being a technology kid, he likes the Bluetooth app on the phone.   I have zero accessories but he thoroughly enjoys our little running sessions.