Walker Wagon for the Ages

From Cruising to Walking, Running, and Transporting

• What: Kids Indoor Wagon
• When: Starting to walk until you get tired of it
• Why: Durability and longevity
• Where: Unknown

We scored a walker wagon for $5 at a local preschool sale of used toys. I didn’t know it at the time, but it would become one of the quintessential purchases for our household. I also have no idea of its origins.

We had recently added some new hardwood floors in a small area of our home when we acquired our wagon. I, foreseeing the future, had my husband shore up the bottom with a leftover strip of hardwood floor. That’s because I took one look at the wagon and clearly pictured my kids sitting and standing in it. Turns out I nailed that. They love to push each other around as well as anything else they can find. They now bring in our four gallons of weekly milk delivery in it, and fight over who gets to load and unload it.

The handle works well for kids learning to walk as well as older kids who go full speed ahead. It is not a nice height for an average sized adult, so don’t spend too many minutes bending over it if you can avoid it. But it works great for multiple sized children, and you can usually convince them to push it themselves. (If you’ve got an only child and no alternative pusher, maybe another choice would work better for you.) Because all four wheels stay fixed forward parallel to the sides of the wagon, it takes some trial and error for kids to master turning it. This wagon has good traction on the wheels thanks to the lack of spin and a rubber type ring around each one. Both features work out in your favor for kids using it to motor around before they learn to walk, as it doesn’t twist and turn away from them or get out of control picking up speed. We’ve used it on hardboard floors for years, but I imagine it works as well, if not better for beginners, on carpet or rugs.

The front bumper prevents the worst of collisions as well as marks on your furniture and walls. After five years or love and regular use, our wagon sports a few flakes here and there. It works well inside, but I’d never try it outside. The solid wood wheels don’t seem like they would handle sidewalk irregularities or pavement bumps well.

I can’t speak to how long it would last without the extra support underneath, but it has held its own in a household of three very active and not at all gentle children. If you can figure out where to get one, I highly recommend it. If you recognize it, let me know who makes it! Otherwise, look for a walker wagon that resists tipping, has good traction on the wheels, and sports a high, heavy and wide base for stability and ease of pulling up for beginning walkers.