Push and pull toy is one of the most classic toys. Till today, it is still one of the most popular toys. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, including crocodiles, ducks, dogs, trucks and even trains. Children love playing them because they’re easy to play yet offer endless fun and entertainment. On top of that, it helps children around 1-year-old with their essential development needs.

The primary goal of young children around that age is to coordinate their body developments, like to walk more smoothly, and explore their surroundings. These toys are designed to encourage exploration and movement, which is why they are good toys for children who are learning how to walk.

Moreover, they actually promote many different aspects of your toddler’s development: problem-solving, whole-body coordination, and fine motor strength. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of playing with push and pull toys.

Strengthening Muscles

Any physical activity will strengthen the muscles of your child’s arms and legs. Play with the push and pull toy will engage lots of different muscles — hand muscles to grasp the string, arm muscles to pull it, and legs and torso to balance. To us, a small toy seems like such a little feat to pull but to a child, it is a true exercise. Their arms are gaining strength each time they push and pull the toy. 

Increasing Coordination

At the beginning of playing with a push and pull toy, your child may topple the toy or even hit themselves in the leg or head because of the lack of coordination. As they grow, they will learn just the right tension needed to successfully pull the toy at the right speed to maneuver them around. As they begin to walk, the coordination becomes more intense. Now, they are having to learn to multi-task by walking forward while keeping the toy in an upright position.

Improving Spatial Skills

Spatial skills help toddlers understand where they and objects are in relation to each other. As they push or pull their toy, their brains use spatial skills to help them decide where to go, how far they should go, and what turns they need to make to get to their goal. As you play along with your toddler, you can also introduce directional words, like around, under, left, right. Bonus: Doing this boosts language skills, too!

Developing Fine Motor Skills

Anytime a toy can be manipulated by either pushing or pulling, helps develop their fine motor skills! As they play, they are grasping hold of a cord at the same time that they are learning to grasp these toys in ways that make them move effectively, which can strengthen their hands and grip, and refine their hand and finger movements. This fosters the growth of their fine motor skills.

Imaginative Play

Many push and pull toys are cute animals, and some kids may treat the toy as their first pet. It’s not unusual for toddlers or preschoolers to pretend to walk the toy animals, to cuddle them, and even pretend to feed them. It not only helps your child develop their creativity, but also helps them to model the responsibility.

Cause and Effect

Pull toys quickly teach kids a lesson in cause and effect. It doesn’t take a young child long to learn that if they pull on the string they can bring the toy close to them. While young children may not be able to verbalize what is occurring, their growing intelligence allows them to retain the information. So when they’re presented with another pull toy, they’ll know to pull on the string to bring the toy closer.

Tap to Shop!

We have a range of gorgeous wooden push and pull toys. They're available on our Classic World Store for you to choose from, to add to the toy collection for your child. Feel free to share your children’s experience of playing with our toys, and tag us on social mediums with #ClassicWorld.