Construct a Fun Wooden Pull Toy for Toddlers

One of the most classic toys for toddlers consists of a cute wooden or plastic animal or vehicle that is pulled around on a string. Some of them have bells or clackers, but most are simply pretend pets for the toddler to enjoy walking. You can construct a fun wooden pull toy for the toddler in your life.

Materials Needed

To construct a fun wooden pull toy for your toddler, you will need a two-inch thick piece of wood and a scroll or skill saw to cut it with. You will also need a 2 inch nails with large heads, and one and a half inch diameter round wooden beads. These can be spheres or cylinders. You will probably want white primer paint and colorful acrylic, non-toxic paints to decorate the pull toy.

Choosing the Design for the Wooden Pull Toy

You can construct a fun wooden pull toy in almost any shape that you think your toddler will like. Some great ideas include a truck, car, horse, dog, duck, or other animal. To get ideas, you can look through craft pattern books or even children's coloring books. You will want a pattern with a flat bottom or at least two flat-bottomed legs to attach the wheels to.

After you have the design for the wooden pull toy, you have to trace it onto the piece of wood. You can do this by using carbon paper layered under the pattern and simply drawing over it.

Cutting and Painting the Wooden Design

Cut the pull toy shape out of the wood with a scroll or skill saw. After you finish the cutting the wood, sand it with sandpaper to remove all splinters and rough patches. You might like to round the corners a bit to make it extra safe for your toddler.

You should paint the wooden pull toy first with a coat of primer paint. After that, you can paint it in any way you'd like. If you are working from a pattern with details on it, you can trace these right onto the basecoat paint layer and then paint over them.

Wheels for the Wooden Pull Toy