Gina the Pull Along Giraffe

Gina the Pull Along Giraffe — the one a toddler picks off the shelf without being asked

A soft-bodied giraffe on four wooden wheels, with a 60cm cord and a safety link that snaps apart if it is pulled too tight. At 23cm she is the taller of our two Little Big Friends pull-alongs, and a long neck on wheels is a proper silhouette — which is most of why she is the one that gets noticed.

🦒 Built for the stage where everything is about walking

Somewhere around the first birthday, walking stops being an achievement and becomes a hobby. Gina gives it a point: something to tow from room to room, something to look back at, something to collect from under the kitchen table. No batteries, no tunes, no buttons — just a toy that goes where it's taken.

Her height is the character of the thing. She reads as a giraffe from across the room rather than a shape on wheels, and toddlers reach for her unprompted, which is not true of every pull-along we have sold.

⚖️ What the height costs, said plainly

A taller toy carries its weight further off the floor, so Gina goes over on her side more readily than Vincent the elephant does — particularly on a sharp turn or deep carpet. She rights again in a second and no toddler we know has minded, but if you want the steadier of the two for a child who has only just started walking, that is Vincent. If you want the one with presence, it is Gina. We would rather set that out than let you find it on the hallway floor.

🪝 The cord, and the bit of it that matters most

It runs to 60cm in full, a proper towing length — enough for Gina to trail behind rather than catch a toddler's heels. It's a two-part cord, so it can be run shorter while they're still unsteady and lengthened as they get confident.

The important part is in the middle: a small plastic safety link that snaps apart if the cord is pulled too tight. That is deliberate. It is what stops a taut cord staying taut, and it is the one thing worth knowing before buying any corded toy for a one-year-old. Both cords detach entirely as well, so Gina turns back into an ordinary soft toy and the cord needn't be anywhere near a baby who isn't using it.

🚶 What pulling a toy actually teaches

More than it looks. Towing something means walking forwards while minding something behind you, adjusting your grip when it snags, and backing up when it catches a chair leg. That's balance, grip strength and early problem solving, dressed up as a lap of the hallway. There's more on this in our guide to push and pull toys.

What we like about it

• Soft-bodied and cuddly, unlike most pull-alongs — she works as a soft toy with the cord off
• The taller of our two at 23cm, and the one that reads as an animal from across the room
• Real wooden wheels rather than moulded plastic
• A 60cm cord with a safety link that breaks apart under tension
• Two-part cord, so the length can be shortened while they're unsteady
• No batteries, no sound, nothing to switch off
• Retro styling that earns its place in a nursery
• PVC free
• A first birthday present that gets used the same day

Specification

• Suitable from: 12 months
• Height: 23cm
• Cord: 60cm, detachable two-part cord with a plastic safety link that separates if pulled too tight
• Wheels: wood
• Materials: soft-touch fabric body with wooden wheels. PVC free
• Safety: UKCA and CE marked
• Care: wipe clean with a damp cloth and allow to air dry. Not suitable for the washing machine
• Range: Jungle, by Little Big Friends

❓ Frequently asked questions

Will she roll properly on carpet, and does she tip over?
On hard floors and short pile she rolls easily. On deep carpet she'll drag, and because she's the taller of the two she's the likelier of the pair to go over on a sharp turn — she rights again in a second, but it's worth knowing. If your floors are thick wool throughout, Vincent the elephant is lower and steadier, and a wooden pull-along with bigger wheels is steadier still.

Is the cord safe?
This is the question everyone asks, and the answer is better than most: the cord has a plastic safety link in the middle that snaps apart if it's pulled too tight, so it can't stay taut. Both cords detach completely as well, so the cord can be off and away when Gina goes in the pram. None of that replaces supervision — a corded toy should never be left with a baby unsupervised or near a sleeping child — but the design takes the worst case seriously.

How long is the cord?
60cm in full, which is enough for her to trail properly behind rather than get under their feet. Because it's a two-part cord you can run it shorter at first and lengthen it as they get steadier.

My little one isn't walking yet. Is it too early?
She's rated from 12 months, and a baby who isn't up yet will still get use out of her: cord off, she's a soft toy, and crawling after something on wheels is a good game in its own right. Towing comes once they're upright and confident.

Can I wash her?
Wipe clean with a damp cloth and air dry — the wooden wheels rule out the machine. A wipe down after a few trips round the garden path is usually all she needs.

Can she go outside?
Yes, on a patio, path or decking. Grass and gravel will stop the wheels, and wet grass will mark the fabric.

Is she a good first birthday present?
One of the better ones. She suits exactly what a one-year-old is busy doing, needs no setting up, and works as a soft toy as well as a wheeled one — so she isn't wasted on a baby who's still a few weeks off walking. Our best toys for a 1 year old has the rest of our picks for that birthday.

🧸 Which pull-along?

We stock two of the Little Big Friends pair. Both have the same 60cm safety cord and the same wooden wheels, so the choice comes down to presence against steadiness:

• Gina the giraffe — this one. 23cm, the showier of the two and the one a toddler spots on a shelf. The long neck costs her some stability, so she tips more readily on a sharp turn.
• Vincent the elephant — 16cm, low and wide, so he carries his weight near the floor and stays on his wheels. The better bet on thick carpet, and the one for a brand-new walker.

If you'd rather have wood than fabric, our wooden pull-along snail and wooden crocodile have bigger wheels and cope better with deep carpet — they just don't double as something to cuddle.

Gina also belongs to the Little Big Friends jungle cast, alongside Vincent the elephant, Tim the tiger and Jackson the lion, so she sits happily with Tiny Friends Gina, the musical Gina with her mechanical music box and the jungle pram spiral. Our guide to the jungle collection runs through what each piece does.

See them all in our Push & Pull Toys collection, everything by this maker in Little Big Friends, or the jungle theme in the Jungle Collection.

Safety information

Adult supervision recommended. Not suitable for children under 12 months. The cord's safety link is designed to separate under tension — check that it is intact and correctly joined before each use, and never replace it with a substitute cord or string. Keep the cord away from a baby's neck, and remove it before the toy goes in a cot, pram or anywhere a child sleeps. Inspect the cord, link and wheel fixings regularly and stop using the toy if anything is damaged or loose.

❤️ From our family to yours

Carefully chosen products for babies, toddlers and parents. Browse more push and pull toys and the rest of the Little Big Friends range — free UK delivery on orders over £25.