Clip & Go Giraffe

Clip and Go Giraffe — a long neck is the easiest thing to hold

Every soft toy you take out of the house gets thrown on the floor of a bus. This one clips on. The attachment fastens to a buggy bar, a car seat handle or the strap of a changing bag, and once it is on your baby can let go as often as they like — which they will, roughly every forty seconds — without anybody having to stop and pick it up.

At 21 x 7cm this is the tallest and by some distance the slimmest of the four Clip and Go animals, and that shape is the reason to pick it. A long, narrow body is the one a small hand can close right around.

🦒 Narrow enough to actually grip

Early grasping is a whole-hand business — fingers curl in and the thumb follows later — so width is what defeats a three-month-old. Seven centimetres across is well within reach of a hand that size, which makes this the first one of the four most babies manage to hold on purpose. It also hangs straighter than the chunkier animals and swings less.

🦷 There is a teething ring built in

A textured ring sits on the toy, so there is something firm and chewable in reach without a second item to carry or lose. It earns its place around four to six months, when gums start to hurt in places you cannot reach from the driving seat. The ring is also the part you can clean properly, which matters — more on that below.

♻️ Recycled filling, and it pays for conservation

The stuffing is recycled material rather than virgin polyester. The range is made by Make Believe Ideas with London Zoo, a ZSL conservation zoo, and ZSL state that every purchase supports their conservation work in the UK and around the world. Giraffes are on the at-risk list, which is why they are in the range.

What we like about it

• It clips on, so it cannot be dropped, thrown or left behind in a car park
• Only 7cm across — the easiest of the four for a small hand to close around
• Hangs straight and swings less than the chunkier animals
• A textured teething ring built in — one object instead of two
• Suitable from birth, so it goes on the pram from the first week
• Filled with recycled material
• Made with London Zoo; every purchase supports ZSL conservation work

Specification

• Suitable from: birth
• Size: approx. 21cm x 7cm
• Attachment: clip for a buggy, pram, car seat or changing bag
• Features: soft plush, textured teething ring
• Filling: recycled material
• Care: surface wash only
• Range: Zoo Crew by Make Believe Ideas, made with London Zoo, a ZSL conservation zoo

❓ Frequently asked questions

It has a teething ring but it is surface wash only — how does that work?
Fair question, and the honest answer is that the two parts get treated differently. The ring is the bit that goes in the mouth, and it wipes clean properly with a damp cloth. The plush body is surface wash only, so you spot clean it and let it dry — no machine, no soaking. In practice a clipped-on toy stays a lot cleaner than a comforter does, because it lives on the buggy rather than being carried everywhere. If you want something you can sterilise, buy a silicone teether as well and keep this one for the pram.

Will the clip actually hold?
It is a plastic clip of the usual kind — fine on a buggy bar, a car seat handle or a bag strap, and it will take a baby pulling on it. It is not a carabiner and we would not hang it off a moving pushchair axle. Clip it where you can see it and it will do its job for as long as you need a pram toy, which is about the first eighteen months.

Is it too thin to cuddle?
For cuddling, yes — and we would rather say it than have you find out. This is a toy shaped to be gripped and chewed, not hugged. If what you want is something to cuddle, the full-size Giraffe Plush Toy is the same animal at proper cuddle size, and its neck is still the part small hands go for.

From birth? What does a newborn do with it?
Watch it, mostly. For the first couple of months it is a thing that hangs where they can see it and moves when the pram moves — which is plenty. Grabbing arrives around three to four months, and because of the narrow neck this is often the toy they manage first.

Does it make a good gift?
A good one, and the most useful of the four to give to a brand-new baby, because the grip arrives earlier with this shape than with the others. No batteries, soft enough to post, and the conservation link gives you something to write in the card.

🔍 Which Clip and Go?

Four animals, and they are not interchangeable — the shape changes what a small hand can do with it:

• Giraffe — this one, 21 x 7cm. The tallest and slimmest, so the neck is a natural handle and it dangles best.
• Elephant — 20 x 16cm. The biggest and chunkiest of the four, with the most to hold on to.
• Red Panda — 19 x 12cm. The long tail makes it easy to grip, and the animal nobody else has.
• Lion — 18 x 12cm. The smallest and lightest, with a mane for texture.

If your baby needs more to do on the pram than one toy can offer, the Jungle Activity Spiral wraps right round the bar with a mirror and a teether on it. And the rest of this range sits in our Zoo Crew collection — eight full-size plush animals, four hand-puppet cloth books and two board books.

Our guides to when soft toys and comforters are safe to introduce and travelling with a baby go into more detail.

❤️ From our family to yours

Carefully chosen products for babies, toddlers and parents. Browse more cuddly toys and the rest of the Make Believe Ideas range — free UK delivery on orders over £25.