Push and Pull Toys

Wooden pull along toys are companions for toddlers who have just found their feet: a snail, a sheep, a horse or a unicorn on a cord that follows them from room to room. Most are suitable from 12 months, when walking turns into exploring.

Why a 1 year old often starts by pushing

Before the cord, there is the push. A ladybird or a crocodile on wheels, pushed across the floor on all fours or at a wobbly walk, shows straight away that a movement of the arm makes the toy travel. The crocodile's jaws flap as the wheels turn, and the farm tractor rattles its beads, so every push gets an answer. These are the wooden Montessori toys that leave the play mat and follow your child around the house.

Animals, cars or a bead maze on wheels?

Pulling is harder than pushing: your child has to walk forward while glancing back to check the toy is still following. The best choice starts from what your toddler already enjoys:

• Moving parts: a butterfly with flapping wings, a rainbow caterpillar that changes shape, a snail whose spiral spins.
• Something to do when they stop: the lion and the snail with a wire bead maze, or the geometric train whose blocks stack and sort.
• Little cars: chunky beech play cars with rubber tyres or a squeaking horn, easy to grip in one hand.
• For ages 2+: the cement mixer truck with a drum that turns.

How to introduce push and pull toys

Keep the cord short at first, and show the toy rolling behind you along the hallway: most toddlers want to try within seconds. Hard floors make the wheels run more freely than a thick rug. Once pulling in a straight line is easy, add a turn around the sofa or a doorway to get through.

A wooden push along toy, like the ladybird or the whale, suits a child who prefers to keep the toy in sight in front of them; a pull-along suits one who already walks with confidence. If the bead-maze models are the ones your toddler stops to fiddle with, our bead mazes and baby abacuses carry on that game at the table.