{"id":581393,"date":"2026-04-02T20:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581393\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T20:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:31:09","slug":"8-year-olds-sweet-monsters-drawing-chosen-as-winning-design-to-decorate-real-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581393\/","title":{"rendered":"8-year-old’s ‘Sweet Monsters’ Drawing Chosen as Winning Design to Decorate Real Train"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Phileine next to her Sweet Monster Train \u2013 credit, NS released<\/p>\n

Now from the Netherlands comes the delightful story of an 8-year-old\u2019s dream design made reality on the carriages of a very special train.<\/p>\n

Hosted by the national train operator NS, the NS Drawing Competition invites children all over the country to submit drawings to be used as an exterior design for one of the operator\u2019s trains.<\/p>\n

8-year-old Phileine from Zutphen, near Utrecht, won the competition\u2019s 2025 edition which experienced a record number of entries: over 1,200 children took place.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom jungle trains full of animals to flying locomotives and fantasy creatures that move along the track, all drawings combined humor, fantasy and adventure,\u201d NS wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Phileine\u2019s concept was the \u201cSweet Monster Train,\u201d which she got to see first hand at the competition\u2019s conclusion in Utrecht\u2019s Maliebaan station.<\/p>\n

Phileine worked with a professional illustrator Jip Piet to cover the train cars in friendly monsters, deliberately designed to be impossible to scare anyone as they crawl and slither along the exterior.<\/p>\n

\"\"Phileine\u2019s original design \u2013 credit, NS released<\/p>\n

Her entry was presented as an ingenious design that would allow the operator to print the design out at scale on large decal stickers, no paint needed.<\/p>\n

GOOD RAIL STORIES: Officer Converts Old Train Car into \u2018Hospital on Wheels\u2019 to Bring Healthcare to Remote India<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, Phileine arrived with her family to cut the ribbon at the opening of the intercity train next to competition judge Daan Schutt, a board member of NS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the drawing competition, NS wants to inspire children in a playful way for train travel,\u201d the translated statement from NS said.<\/p>\n

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Dutch Bringing Back Risky Play\u2013in Parks Where Kids Climb, Sword-fight with Sticks and Build with Hammers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cChildren often experience a train journey as an adventure, much more than we sometimes realize as adults. By focusing on their imagination and really bringing one dream train to life, we show how special travel can be through children\u2019s eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH young Phileine see the train for the first time\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

SHARE This Child\u2019s Imagination Made Reality On A Special Train\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phileine next to her Sweet Monster Train \u2013 credit, NS released Now from the Netherlands comes the delightful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,502,5428,460,134,284817,36698,16255,5689],"class_list":{"0":"post-581393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-children","14":"tag-contest","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-great-kids","18":"tag-imagination","19":"tag-netherlands","20":"tag-transportation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}