There are hundreds of pull toys for toddlers available today. In this article, we share the best wooden pull toys for toddlers, all of which are made out of wood and very highly-rated by parents and kids alike. Our hand-picked selection includes toys made by many of the top wooden children’s toy brands, including Janod, Hape, Melissa & Doug, and PlanToys. They are organized by type: either string style toys or wooden handle pull (or push) toys. Read on to see the curated selection of our favorite wooden pull-toys, and learn the pros and cons of each style, and why we believe that a wooden pull toy is a fantastic gift option for a toddler learning to walk.
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*Read our Favorite Wooden Push Toys article for larger, push style toys that are designed to help children with stability while learning how to walk. We recommend larger push toys for babies ages 6 months to 1.5 years old.
Janod Duck-Family Pull Toy
This Janod Duck-Family Pull Toy features two adorable, colorful ducks with leather feet that look like they are walking when pulled.
What do we like best about it?
We absolutely adore this duck family Janod pull toy. The ducks are brightly colored with cute details. We think this pull toy is so cute, it could function as nursery decor and then become a pull toy once is older and learning to walk, making this pull toy a great baby shower gift for a multi-use decor pull toy.
Style: String style pull toy
Hape Walk-A-Croc Pull Toy
Hape’s Walk-A-Croc Pull Toy is a bright green alligator pull toy with bright orange wheels and natural wood scales. It wiggles side to side when it is pulled along.
What do we like best about it?
We love how this happy crocodile Hape pull toy wiggles tail side to side as it is pulled along. We like the bright green and orange contrasting colors, and that the wheels include a rubber traction ring and little details like white claw details.
Style: String style pull toy
Melissa & Doug Playful Puppy Pull Toy
This Melissa & Doug Playful Puppy Pull Toy is a classic style pull toy made of wood. It features a cute, brown, tan and white spotted puppy.
What do we like best about it?
We like the classic style of this puller dog toy. We think it would make a great pull toy for little ones that love dogs and would have fun walking their own little puppy. A unique feature of this toy it that the puppy’s paws are connected to the wheels hidden underneath, making it look like it’s walking as it’s pulled along.
Style: String style pull toy
Hape Snail Wooden Pull Toy
This Hape Pull Along Snail is a multi-colored pull toy made of wood that features a shape sorting shell that rotates as the snail is pulled along.
What do we like best about it?
We like that this Hape pull toys shell is removable, making it a two-in-one pull toy and shape sorting toy. We also love how the shell rotated while it’s pulled along.
Style: String style pull toy
Janod Fox Pull Toy
This Janod Fox Pull Toy is a colorful, wooden pull toy with thoughtful details.
What do we like best about it?
We like the design of this cute little fox Janod pull toy, including it’s felt ears, the little bell on the start of pull string, and the felt tail. We also like that the foxes head is on a metal spring, enabling it to bob a bit as it’s pulled to and fro.
Style: String style pull toy
Hape Push & Pull Lawn Mower Toy
This Hape Push & Pull Lawn Mower Toy is an award-winning, colorful, wooden ‘lawn mower’ pretend play push and pull toy.
What do we like best about it?
We like that this Hape push toy is a pretend play lawn mower that is both a push and pull along toy. The wooden handle style also makes it a more sturdy style pull since the toddler can lean on it a little to help them balance as they pretend the lawn. We also like that the colorful wooden blocks click-clack as the lawn mower is pushed along.
Style: Wooden handle style push and pull toy
PlanToys Push Along Duck
PlanToys Push Along Duck is a toy that features a classic style wooden duck. Toddlers can push this duck in front of them as they walk.
What do we like best about it?
Although this wooden handle style such is for pushing instead of pulling, we still consider it more of a walking toy than a push toy for stability, which is why we still included it on our pull toys list. We like how it’s feet flip flop as it walks along.
Style: Wooden handle style push toy
Every pull toy shown above is between 15-32$ and available for purchase through Amazon. Click on an item’s image to learn more about it or click on the ‘View Price’ button to view it on Amazon.
Even More Adorable Wooden Pull Toys for Toddlers:
Take a look at the additional wooden pull toys that we like below. That are so many adorable options, it’s hard to narrow them down! We’ve added a bunch of Brio pull toys because we like the classic style of their toys (see the duck, hot dog, and bumblebee below) as well as some other Melissa & DOug pull toys that *almost* made out top pull toys list, and some other more different styles by Manhattan Toy, Petit Collage, and other high quality children’s toy company’s as well. To learn more about any of the wooden pull toys shared below, simply click on the ‘Shop Now’ button to be brought to the pull toy’s listing on Amazon to view the product details and place your purchase.
What Age is the Best for Gifting Pull Toys?
Pull toys are perfect for little ones who are honing in on their mobility, especially toddlers ages 2-4 years old. We share wooden pull toys in this article because wood as a material, is a more sustainable option than say plastic or other materials that cannot be broken down and safely deposited back into the earth once the life of the toy is over. Not to mention, wooden toys are more natural, nicer to hold and handle, and more aesthetically pleasing, at least in our humble opinion!
String Pull Toys versus Wooden Handle Pull or Push Toys
The pull toys we share in this article fall into two different categories: String Pull Toys and Wooden Handle Push Toys. I.e., Pull toys that are pulled by a string, and toys that are pulled (or pushed) by a wooden handle.
Our favorite pull toys for toddlers are probably the string type pull toys since they are best suited for travel, smaller spaces, and double as nursery decor. Below are the biggest merits of string style pull toys:
- Double as Nursery Decor. String-style pull toys can serve as nursery decor until your little one starts walking. Especially Janod’s Duck Family – they would be so cute as a display piece!
- More Packable. Although string style pull toys don’t collapse until they are flat, they are more transportable than their wooden handle counter pull toys, making them easier to travel with you and your little one on the go. This can come in handy when you, your little one, and their pull toy get to the park and then you end up carrying said little one and their pull toy home.
- Store More Easily. String style pull toys store more easily than wooden handle pull toys as well, since they are smaller and less oblong.
I have gifted each of my nephews a pull toy when they turned 2 or 3 years old. Pull toys are thoughtful, colorful little animal or play toys that can be pulled along as toddlers hone in on their latest form of locomotion – walking, waddling, and running. I love how some pull toys are so cleverly designed with unique pull toy mechanisms that enable the toys to move when pulled along, mimicking the motions an animal actually makes when walking.
Children really enjoy pretend play. Pull toys enable them to pretend play have a pet alligator that comes with them to the living room, or a duck that needs to be walked to the park once a week. Walking a pretend pet is a fun activity, especially for little ones who just learned to walk. Plus, most children likely want to carry a toy with them when they waddle to the kitchen or walk down the driveway. Who doesn’t, right? I try to bring my dog with me everywhere and I’m 28 years old. Somethings never get old.
For more gift ideas for toddlers, visit our Toddler Toy section, which shares toy, book, and gift pairing ideas for children ages 3-5 years old. Below are the latest additions to our toddler toy section.
