Encouraging your baby to get those motor skills moving — your kiddo’s trusty pull-along buddy is ready for a little adventure.
Make it eco-friendly with natural wood and a pull rope. Non-toxic and toddler-exciting, with modern eco toy technology, for zooming from room to room.
Let your wobbly walker roll. Let your kiddo lead the way!
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Top 11 Wooden Pull Toys for Babies and Toddlers
Fun, colorful and stimulating way to get your baby zigging and zagging with hand-eye coordination. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors — with blocks or toys for playing with — with a character your kid will fall in love with.
Oh boy, lots to choose from — like zoo animals, birds, dogs, dinosaurs — to fast-track your child’s motor skills and build sporty life habits.
For the “Baby to Toddler Transition” — typically best to start at 9 to 24 months — to go from crawling on the floor to wobbly baby steps to full-speed toddler jogging.
Here’s your quick list of wooden push-along toys.
Once walking, the walking won’t stop!
- (01) Hape Pull Along Toy Dog, Snail, Elephant & More
- (02) Brio Modern Classic Wooden Pull Along Toys
- (03) Papa Don’s “Made in USA” Wooden Pull Along Toys
- (04) Melissa & Doug Wood Pull Along Train (Animals & Blocks)
- (05) Janod Euro-Nursery Baby Pull Along Toys
- (06) Green Toys 100% Recycled Plastic Pull Along Toys
- (07) Orange Tree Toys “British Fairytale” Pull Along Toys
- (08) Friendly Toys Whimsy Pastel Pull Along Toys
- (09) Plan Toys Sustainable Rubberwood Pull Toys
- (10) Ark And Animals Heirloom Wooden Pull Toys
- (11) Classic World Budget-Friendly Pull Along Toys
Pull Toy vs Push Toy: What’s the difference?
A pull along toy is a crawling and walking toy usually with 2 or 4 wheels and a long rope to pull the toy along the floor behind you.
A push along toy is a walking toy usually with 2 or 4 wheels and a long wooden handle to push the toy along the floor in front of you.
Both can be pushed or pulled — you won’t break anything, so go for it!
What’s the appropriate age for a pull toy?
Generally speaking, pull toys are appropriate for 9 months and up — since they can be played with all in one place on the floor.
Pulling with a rope is an activity your baby can do before they walk — while crawling or lying on their stomach. (Push toys start around 9 to 24 months. Pushing a handle while standing takes a lot more full-body coordination than pulling a cord while sitting.)
With “click click”, “moving parts”, and “wobbly wheels” models — most will write 1 to 3 years on the box. Watch out for small parts that babies might try to swallow.
(01) Hape Pull Along Toy Dog, Snail, Elephant & More
The Hape company makes a multitude of pull toys and push toys — all sorts of bright colors and playful things to choose from.
Snail with removable shape sorter shell — with colorful wooden blocks — square, triangle, circle? Interactive puppy in your choice of red or blue? These are just two examples of Hape’s ultra-popular pull toy collection with thousands of 5-star ratings (at the time of writing).
Some click, some clang, some tick, but they are all loads of fun and a joy for any child.
Hape recommends their toys for children from 12 months and up and is one of the largest manufacturers of quality wood pull toys.
(02) Brio Modern Classic Wooden Pull Along Toys
Bold Black Beautiful Brio. Famous for their wooden toy trains —the Brio company has been around for decades.
You may have even seen their famous dachshund with the “spring tail” and wobbly head and ears. Black on yellow looks good on Brio.
This classic toy (and others) remain to be very popular — a timeless design that gets rave reviews year after year (it’s 2022 at the time of writing). A few people even admitted to buying this for their grandchildren due to fond memories of their own childhood memories years ago playing with Brio brand pushers and pullers.
Timeless toys that apparently even some grandparents enjoy!
(03) Papa Don’s “Made in USA” Wooden Pull Along Toys
Papa Don’s Wooden Toys on Etsy
Papa Don kind of sounds like Grandpa doesn’t it? We’ve known good ol’ Papa Don for a while now — for his heirloom quality wood-on-rainbow handmade wooden toy collection.
100% Made in the USA — classic toys at their finest!
Don himself takes meticulous care and love — as a hoppy crafted from his love for one of his own grandchildren.
TLC included — expect all kinds of eco-healthy, kid-safe design choices. A natural hemp pull cord, alder wood, non-toxic paint, and food-grade mineral oil to bring out the beauty of this extra sturdy wood.
The wheels on their duck pull toy are made to “wobble” so it looks like the baby duck is bobbing on the water. Tons of sporadic fun-tastic!
(04) Melissa & Doug Wooden Pull Along Train (Animals & Blocks)
Melissa & Doug always does their research to develop educational toys for specific children’s learning objectives.
Their animal-themed wooden pull train and other fun pull cord characters inspire hands-on engagement, imagination, and interaction as Melissa & Doug’s millions of customers have come to enjoy.
Trains are a toddler classic. Pick from a building block pull train (in white or primary colors). Or pick for a handful of by-your-side buddies — like their popular hopping pull frog.
(05) Janod Euro-Nursery Baby Pull Along Toys
From soft pastel pull rabbits to bright colored porcupine and centipede pals — these folks know how to make toys to excite your child and appeal to their kinesthetic senses.
Wood plus waddling flaps, spinning balls, ringing musical chimes, and more — Janod often incorporates multiple materials such as suede, wood, or metal so the child gets stimulated through the motion, materials, and sounds of their toys.
One of my favorites — the wooden animal train is like a children’s woodland storybook — full of fun!
Janod is a European-based company — where child safety regulations are up to snuff with IKEA-type standards — Euro-safety stringent and built to push and pull for years.
(06) Green Toys 100% Recycled Plastic Pull Along Toys
Just as the name implies, these are made of 100% recycled plastic — probably the only type of plastic that’d pique a wooden toy connoisseur’s attention.
With wooden toys, muddy outdoor puddle play and a rub-a-dub bubble bath time would be out of the question. But with eco-friendly plastic, it’s welcome!
With a 100% cotton pull rope, there are no sharp edges, small, loose, or removable parts making them quite safe — like an all-terrain eco baby pull toy. Such a chunky design means lots of parents feel comfortable giving this to their babies as young as 5 months old.
Disney fan? They have a very recognizable Mickey Mouse Airplane Pull Toy which gives your children instant color and shape recognition.
Take this ultra-fun Pilot Mickey plane for a spin — as the mouse himself skillfully pilots his plane to infinity and beyond (Wait, is that Disney/Pixar?).
(07) Orange Tree Toys “British Fairytale” Wood Pull Along Toys
Designed for babies 12 months and up — some childhood classics such as Jemima Puddle-Duck from Peter Rabbit and Paddington are just a couple of the pull toys from the whimsical Orange Tree Toys company.
Meticulously painted and adorned with cute hats. Many have different contours such as the shark and the crocodile to stimulate your child with different textures. Felt baby bonnets and thick cotton frayed pull rope for a delightfully “British Appeal”.
These provide hours of fun — and go with afternoon “Tea + Storytime” just brilliantly.
(08) Friendly Toys Whimsy Pastel Pull Along Toys
Natural, whimsy, pastel — Friendly Toys adorable collection of eco-made, hand-crafted pull toys can be ordered personalized and gift wrapped. (Extra care from the folks at Friendly Toys. Add that to my registry!)
Unicorn, wiener dog, poodle puppy loving time! Skillfully crafted from all-natural materials, making these toys an amazing addition to any “Montessori & Waldorf Fusion Environment”.
(09) Plan Toys Sustainable Rubberwood Pull Toys
Leave it to the environmental protagonist Plan Toys to lead the way in top-quality rubberwood pull toys — in creative style with their most popular “Click-Clack” noise green Alligator.
This one’s best for pure natural wood without paint. Popular models like the alligator and snail come unpainted for your naturalists out there.
There’s nothing more precious than when a child gets ‘the giggles’! The dancing alligator and slithering snake will invoke more than a few giggles every now and then.
Got the slithers instead? The colorful snake winds back and forth behind your child — stirring up excitement and laughter with every fine motor movement.
The dancing reptiles from Southeast Asia’s Plan Toys are rich with culture — encouraging your child to move and dance along with them.
Baby will learn body balance and gross motor skills when two-stepping on two feet!
(10) Ark And Animals Heirloom Wooden Pull Toys
Hailing from New York state, these folks have been making these whimsical wooden pull toys for more than three decades with pieces that are part of the permanent collection of the Toy Museum in Nuremberg Germany.
They have a few classics and a very popular dragon with a well-articulated body, spinning wings, and a fiery red tongue.
Here’s one for you “Shop Local” toy purists. More power to you!
(11) Classic World Budget-Friendly Pull Along Toys
The “Classic World” brand is new under my radar — probably a “Factory Brand” that’ll disappear after several years.
Brand name doesn’t always matter. These are a good low-cost option for people on a budget or when gas prices go up — again.
Classic World’s most popular wooden pull toys include the colorful and playful wooden snail. Its ‘shell’ is transparent and filled with colorful balls that tumble as it rotates while being pulled — making a soft and gentle ‘tumbling’ sound as it goes along.
Or how about the full-equipped pull train? With a pull string in hand, it’s me and my trusty buddy for an interactive pull along activity. Animals, Alphabet, Blocks, Buttons — won’t you take me with you!?
And we can’t forget about the adorable puppy with a ‘wiggly’ tail and a bone in his mouth — just precious.
