Vilac Wooden Pull-Along Coach with Shape Sorter

Two toys in one box — and the passengers have to go in the right way round

Pulled along, it's a first walking toy. Emptied out, it's a shape sorter. Three animal passengers sit in the coach, and each one has a differently shaped base, so getting them home again means working out which shape goes in which hole. That's the bit that keeps this useful long after the wobbly-walking stage has passed.

🔺 A cat, a tiger and a bear — circle, square, triangle

The cat's base is a circle, the tiger's is a square and the bear's is a triangle. Three shapes is exactly the right number for a first sorter: enough to be a puzzle, few enough that a toddler can get all three right and feel pleased about it. And because they're animals rather than abstract blocks, they get named, carried about and put to bed — which abstract blocks never are.

🎨 Illustrated by Ingela P. Arrhenius

Part of Vilac's First Stories range, illustrated by the Swedish designer Ingela P. Arrhenius — the bold, flat, mid-century style you'll recognise from a good many nursery walls. It's the reason this looks like something you'd leave out in the sitting room rather than hide in a toy box.

🪢 The cord, and what Vilac say about it

It pulls on a cord, which is worth being upfront about: any cord on a toy is a supervised-play item and not something to leave in a cot or a playpen. Vilac state that the lead has a release system designed to come apart under tension for exactly this reason. We haven't measured the cord ourselves, so we won't quote a length we can't stand behind — ask us and we'll go and measure the one in the box.

🇫🇷 Designed and imagined in France

Vilac have been making wooden toys since 1911, from the Jura in eastern France. This one is designed and imagined there and manufactured in China — we'd rather tell you than leave you guessing. It carries UKCA and CE marking and has been laboratory tested to the EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC for use from one year.

What we like about it

• A pull-along and a shape sorter in one box, so it spans two stages
• Three passengers with three different shaped bases — cat, tiger, bear
• Animal characters rather than plain blocks, so they get named and carried about
• Ingela P. Arrhenius illustration, from Vilac's First Stories range
• Designed and imagined in France by a toymaker going back to 1911
• Laboratory tested to EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, UKCA and CE

Specification

• Suitable from: 1 year
• Contents: 1 wooden coach on a pull cord, 3 wooden figures (cat, tiger, bear)
• Size: 18cm x 10cm x 14cm
• Material: wood
• Designed in: France. Made in China
• Safety: UKCA and CE, laboratory tested to EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC
• Care: surface wash only

❓ Frequently asked questions

There's a pull cord — is that something to worry about?
It's worth knowing about rather than worrying about. Any corded toy is for supervised play on the floor, and it shouldn't go in a cot, a playpen or anywhere a child is left alone. Vilac say the lead has a release system built to come apart under tension. Keep it for downstairs play and put it away with the cord wrapped, and it's no more trouble than any other pull-along.

Will a one-year-old manage the shape sorting?
Probably not at first, and that's fine. At one, most children will pull the coach about and tip the animals out with great enthusiasm, and the posting-them-back part arrives months later. You get two toys out of it in sequence rather than both at once — which is rather the point of buying it at one.

How big is it?
18 x 10 x 14cm, so it's a hand-sized toy rather than a large ride-behind pull-along. Worth knowing before it arrives, because photographs of wooden toys rarely give you any sense of scale.

Does it make any noise?
No mechanism, no rattle, no batteries — just the sound of wooden wheels on the floor and three animals being tipped out.

How do I clean it?
Surface wash only — a damp cloth, and don't soak it. Painted wood doesn't like sitting in water.

🔍 Other pull-alongs, and other sorters

If it's a first walking toy you're after:

• Wooden Pull-Along Car by Speedy Monkey — a 60cm cord and a removable wooden bear, so it also has a piece to take out and put back
• Pull Along Friends (Rainbow/Cloud) and the Wooden Pull Along Snail — simpler and cheaper, with no sorting element

And if the shape sorting is the part that appeals, the Pounding Box and the Shape Matching Puzzle both do that job on its own, with more shapes than three.

❤️ From our family to yours

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