Find out what MNers and their DC’s got up to at the Build-A-Bear Workshop! NOW CLOSED!

[AaronMumsnet]

We were asked by Build-A-Bear Workshop to find 150 Mumsnetters to visit the stores closest to their homes in order to trial their bear-building service. Read on to see what they thought of the in-store experience.

Here’s what Build-A-Bear have to say: “CeleBEARate Easter with Build-A-Bear! From birthdays and holidays to good behaviour or an A+ at school, there are so many moments to #celeBEARate with a new furry friend from Build-A-Bear Workshop! Help us #celeBEARate Easter this year.

As we approach the Easter holiday and half term break, parents are always looking for fun, unique and personalized activities and traditions for the family. Bring your kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop to share a fun, heart-filled experience. Document your experience in photos and let us know about your experience with your kids and what made it memorable and meaningful.”

Testers, please share your photos and answer the following questions on the thread below:

1. Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.
2. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?
3. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?
4. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

Everyone that shares their feedback and fills in a short survey as required will be entered into a prize draw where one tester will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

1. Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.

We went to the Fenwick concession in Brent Cross.

1. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?

This is Pinky Bear - not sure why? DD (4 1/2) chose her which surprised me as I was expecting her to choose a unicorn or a Sky. As she was a ‘cheaper’ bear we had plenty left for accessories. DD chose bubblegum scent, a beating heart and a my little pony song. She also got 2 outfits, glasses and shoes. I paid £5 extra after the gift card which I was happy with, for a special treat.

1. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

Yes, although obviously it’s expensive. I like the freedom that the child gets to choose exactly what they want (within reason!)

1. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

We liked it, there were only 2 staff working on Good Friday lunchtime so it did get a bit busy at one stage. DD liked the process of making the bear and following the instructions. She loves the scent! She walked around all day telling strangers “this is my first build a bear”

Thank you so much for the opportunity to treat my child!

Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.

1. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?

My Dd has named her bear Gracie-Belle, she then decided it was going to be a Frozen bear, then a princess bear, then a bride bear then finally settled on a ballet bear!! She does ballet herself.

1. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

I'd recommend it as my Dd did absolutely love the whole experience but I would point out how expensive all the extras can add up to.

1. How did you aand your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

My Dd has often walked past the shop and wanted to go in which I've avoided so far as one she has loads of soft toys and two I thought it was expensive. I found the overall experience to be positive as my daughter loved it. I also found it to be quite confusing, there didn't seem to be any guidance. We didn't know about the scents or sounds until we'd picked our bear and was waiting for it to be stuffed so it was a bit late at that point. I think it would've been helpful to have a step by step guide at the entrance. Staff are very child friendly and helpful though. Highlight for me was seeing how happy it made my daughter.

Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.

1. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories? My daughter chose the name Dewdrop, I'm honestly not sure why! She absolutely adores dogs and she honed in on this toy, looked at none of the others! She really wanted a sparkling outfit for the dog but unfortunately the clothes choice for anything other than the bears were limited, which was a shame. She loved the skates though, they were a must!
2. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why? I would totally recommend it. We had never been before and it was a magical experience for my dd. The atmosphere was happy and friendly, and lots for the children to get involved with, so much more fun than picking a boxed toy off a shelf.
3. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights? We loved it, was a lot of fun (apart from paying, as we went a bit over the £50 spends..), the staff were wonderful and so helpful, and really treated my daughter as their customer, which she loved. She was delighted to be able to pick everything to make her toy unique. Thank you so much for the opportunity MN!

my daughters bear is called caramel- after her scent, she chose a dog as she is obsessed with them. we got the heart beat and the dress and a bag which was a great idea.
i would recvommend build a bear to friends and family. a great gift for family to buy a child if the age and a great experience

we had an amazing visit. the staff were really friendly and worked within our budget and really made my daughter feel like a princes

my daughters bear is called caramel- after her scent, she chose a dog as she is obsessed with them. we got the heart beat and the dress and a bag which was a great idea.
i would recvommend build a bear to friends and family. a great gift for family to buy a child if the age and a great experience

we had an amazing visit. the staff were really friendly and worked within our budget and really made my daughter feel like a princes

pic from the visit

We went to the Build-A-Bear store in Bluewater, Kent.

Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?

Both my sons are really into Star Wars [the films, tv shows, lego sets and figurines] and were delighted to see the Star Wars inspired bears and accessories.
My 7 year old DS chose the Kylo Ren bear and decided to name him 'Kylo Ren'... He chose the lightsaber accessory to go with his bear because it lights up and he could engage the bear in lightsaber battles!
DS wanted his 8 year old big brother to share in the Build-A-Bear experience with him. Brother chose the Captain Phasma bear with blaster accessory.. He named his new friend 'Eddie' just because he liked that name! Big brother chose Captain Phasma because he liked the bear's colour and cape and 'cool details' on his outfit. He chose the blaster as it was the accessory that matched the character and made cool shooting noises!

As a parent I liked that both these bears came with their own outfit so there was no need to purchase these extra.

Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

My boys both said they would recommend Build-A-Bear to friends and family as they found it fun and enjoyed choosing their own bear and accessories.

From a parent's perspective I would say that the staff were smiley and helpful but the shop was hellish on the bank holiday Friday... very crowded and noisy with long queues for the till. I also thought that £28 per bear was a bit expensive and to be honest would not have purchased them at this price nor £8 per accessory without the benefit of the £50 voucher. I paid £20 extra overall on top of the value of the voucher.

How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

Both boys really enjoyed their in-store experience. Highlights were choosing the bears and accessories, stuffing the bear, the heart song.
As a parent, again I found the experience to be mainly noisy and crowded... that said I did enjoy seeing the boys excitement around choosing their bears and accessories, naming their bears, stuffing them and doing the heart song bit. Both my boys were really engaged by the experience and found it fun and stimulating.

I have 3 daughters so they each picked a toy. They called them Hops/Flopsy/Jazzy. Flopsy was named she is a bunny but the others were quite random. They all wanted the multi coloured rainbow type! They enjoyed filling them up and putting in the hearts. The most time by them was spent deciding on accessories and clothing. They had no interest in sounds/scents but just wanted clothes.
My eldest insisted she wanted roller skates even before we went in - we have never been before so she must have seen these somewhere! My middle child liked looking at the ones all ready dressed on display and used these to decide what outfit she wanted for her bear.

Yes I think I would recommend it but I would be weary of the cost. We spent £96 in total so a very very expensive 1 hour ish of entertainment! (Funded by Xmas gift cards the girls had and the mn voucher)

I’m looking forward to going back and letting them pick out say a new outfit or similar.

My eldest said it was “amazing” and even at bedtime said “we’re so lucky mummy”. The 3 of them loved it.
Personally I found the store experience a bit chaotic and confusing. I asked quite a few questions and made it clear it was our first visit but didn’t get helped around or anything. I didn’t really “get” the route through the store with the stages. Having 3 kids didn’t help as they were going all over and picking up lots of stuff. It was quite hard to manage this from a budgeting perspective. I would have liked the accessories etc to be grouped by cost or type rather than theme as I think this would have made it a lot easier.
Having said that, the staff were lovely and they really helped us at the checkout so the girls had roughly equal things and suggested alternative products so we didn’t overspend. We told them what the max spend we would do and they helped the girls stick to this.

My eldest clocked the birthday parties - there was one on at the time! Knowing how hard it was managing 3 kids in the shop I wouldn’t be keen on this!

Thank you for the voucher!
DC had a lovely morning making his bear. He made Bat Bear as he loves batman. His brother also made "Super Monkey" as we went the day after his birthday.
He chose a teddy and a batman outfit.
I would recommend Build a bear to a friend as a special treat as it is a unique experience choosing the bear and helping to make it.
DC liked looking at the outfits best.
All the members of staff were very friendly.

Today we visited Build-a- bear at the Metro Centre. We have never been before and the boys were so excited to go! First you choose which teddy you would like. There's so much choice and a range of prices but eventually we settled on 'Promise Pets' at £19.50 each. There are lots of optional extras to add inside. There are sounds to choose from which again range in price and you can even add your own voice. We didn't add a scent but did opt for a heartbeat which you can feel! You then take your teddy over to the stuffing machine and the boys were able to press the pedal to operate it. Each teddy gets a heart sewn in and the children were involved in a lovely process including rubbing the heart on their arms so their teddy gives good hugs and making a wish. A really lovely touch is that the barcode from your teddy is also sewn inside, so if it ever gets lost they can scan it and send it back to you!
Once the toys were complete we were invited to give them an airbath and brush to fluff them up, and you then create their birth certificates. We decided on the name Green for the cat because he has green eyes and Zeus for the husky.
There were a lot of accessories available, and whilst there was no pressure from staff there was certainly some from the boys! I'm sure we'll be back to buy some.
We had a great experience and found staff very helpful without being pushy. I love that the toys are so personalised although I do feel that it is quite expensive. I have a feeling that these new pets will be firm favourites and are already tucked up in bed with sleeping, happy children.

My daughter, age 4 and I visited our nearest store which was Basingstoke. Our local one has sadly shut down.

Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?
This is Pinkie Pie. She decided to keep the name as she said "that's what she's actually called mummy!". She is from the My Little Pony collection at Build-A-Bear. My little girl is going through the biggest MLP phase at the moment, so although she entered wanting a Skye Paw Patrol bear, as soon as she saw the Pinkie Pie one Skye bit the dust. DD was told she could choose a sound to go into the bear and she decided to add the song from the My Little Pony movie. She chose a rainbow tutu and magic light up fairy wand to accompany her new little friend

Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?
I would absolutely recommend Build-A-Bear! There are not many places a child can go and make their own toy and be physically involved in each of the processes it takes to make a bear. I found the store to be very inclusive, there were no "boy/girl" sections just bears and accessories all mixed together. This meant the bear was personal to the child, there's no reason why Pinkie Pie couldn't be a fairy princess one day and Jedi knight the next. I also felt that any child could be made to feel special with the amount of thought that had gone into the accessories available, including glasses and even a wheelchair! I also found that the experience need not be expensive, there were cheaper bears there which were still brilliant quality.

How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?
I cant count the times that I have been dragged into Build-A-Bear by my daughter and to finally say today that she was getting one absolutely made her day. She loved the whole experience. I found the staff there very happy and engaging. My little girl is quite shy and they managed to bring her out of her shell a bit and get her involved in each process. The queue for the stuffing was very long. DD loved being able to press the button to release the stuffing. The store assistant did do her best to involve her in putting the heart in asking her to hold it and put it here and there. I found this part very long and drawn out and with the queue growing ever longer felt that if this was cut down they would get through it a lot quicker. The accessories was very tidy and well organised. Felt there could have been a member of staff at the registering process as I had NO idea what I was doing and spent a few minutes looking for the birth certificate not knowing its printed behind the till. Paying was easy and we loved the box it came in, spending the evening colouring it in. Over all brilliant experience and my DD has had the time of her life.

I took both my children along for them to choose one each but (predictably) they couldn't be persuaded to chose different ones so we have two rabbits!

One is called Jenny and the other Ray Ray for no particular reason. My 4 year old wanted to call it after herself but I encouraged her to chose another name. They had the sole attention of a staff member called Jessica (Bracknell store) who was lovely with them and showed my all the things they could have without being too pushy. We chose some sounds for each and they enjoyed listening to the options. They particularly liked getting the heart ready and Jessica had them jumping and doing all sorts before putting it in. They both chose an outfit but wanted a lot more and that is my only negative - the bears are reasonably priced for the experience involved but the clothing is expensive.

I would recommend it as a special treat and am considering it for a birthday party.

Bracknell store is a concession on Fenwicks next to the toy department so apart from losing them to those toys a few times it was a great experience. Jessica was very good with them.

Thank you mumsnet and Build-a-bear!

1. Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.
We visited the BAB outlet at york designer outlet.

2. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?
DD chose a bunny which she has named 'Poppy' because 'i love the name Poppy' -fair enough! DS chose a dog toy who is called 'Terry' short for pterodactyl....... he is dinosaur mad! Both children chose the hide and seek sound boxes, strawberry scents and an extra sound box- friend box for 'Poppy' and puppy bark for 'Terry'. DD chose a dress, top and skirt combo and sequin shoes for 'Poppy' whilst DS picked a lead , collar and dog bowl for 'Terry'.
3. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?
Definitely. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were with the kids and there was none of the hard selling I had imagined. The children had a great time making their own toys and have something personal. We took DD who is almost 5 to choose a bear along with DS who is 3. We fully expected to buy DS a bear aside from the voucher but actually only spent £10.10 in the end on top of the voucher. We did visit an outlet store so I expect this is why we got so much for the money. I'm not sure I would fancy paying full price too often though.
4. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?
The kids had a great time, the staff were really great and involved them in all of the process. The little ritual before putting the heart in was a nice touch.

Thank you for this product test, it has come at the perfect time for DD, she really needed a little treat.

1. Please upload a photograph of your bear and any other photos of your in-store experience.

Photos are below.

1. Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?

My son choose a husky dog.

He loves puppies and has three already (not build a bear ones) so as soon as he saw the dog he was walking round the shop with the display one His puppy has a beating heart beat in it and a brush as my son pointed out he could use it for 'all his puppies'

His little sister is currently really into Peter Rabbit so she quickly recognised 'Rabbit' selections they have in for spring Easter. The bunny has the find me game in it.

My son also chose a bear to share with his sister and was influenced by his dad with the clothes choices (Guardians of the galaxy and transformers 😂)

1. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

I would but I would recommend going early as it got very very busy during our visit which as we had youngest with us who is under 2 it became abit much.

1. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

My son found it quite daunting initially but quickly realised how things worked.

Staff were very friendly - We took our time to walk the store and take it all in first and think every member of staff tried to help Maybe we were easy to spot as 'first timers' hehe

The highlights were brushing them and fluffing them up once they had been stuffed as well as making the birth certificate. Both kiddies really enjoyed this together.

It was very pushy for buying the 'extras' which was a shame from a parents perspective.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit - we have some very much loved new additions which I know will be treasured and loved for years to come. We look forward to buying more clothes in the future.

Really appreciate the chance to product test as we havnt been to a build a bear before

We visited the Build a bear concession in Bentalls at the Bentalls Centre in Kingston. It was not immediately obvious that the shop was a concession rather than a separate shop so we spent ages trying to find it.

The children chose rabbits to make because it was Easter. They are called Hoppity and the pink bunny remains nameless but I am sure will acquire a name in due course.

I am undecided as to whether I would recommend. The experience itself was engaging as the lady who was operating the stuffing machine was particularly fun and let the children "help" with the pedal. However, the cost of choosing outfits and accessories could easily get out of hand and I dissuaded my daughter from a £14 dress for her bunny so she could end up choosing more. I found the sales quite pressurised and at the till I was asked to buy a further gift card - which I would normally have just said no to but as I was distracted by two over excited children I said yes before I realised it was an additional charge and had it removed. I also noticed that the free hide and seek noises on offer had been charged at full price until I queried it.

I think it might have been a better in store experience had we been to a proper store as there would have been more space. The first couple of sales assistants were very engaging and welcoming and sensibly pointed out that the rabbit my little boy was about to choose was about 5ft tall and therefore not suitable!

We did enjoy it and they children had fun, but had we been spending our own money it's quite an expensive way to spend 45mins.

I should also say that the (free) cardboard carrier boxes are also a massive hit

CheeseEMouse we might have been there at the same time! We’re not long back from the Bentalls Centre one - there used to be one outside Bentalls in the actual centre which I agree was better and more spacious but I’m not very well and didn’t have the energy to investigate so we went to the first one we saw!

I have a 10yo dd who was eaten up with jealousy when she found out about this so I did let her get a bear as well. I spent another £20 on top of the voucher so they could both get one.

Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?

DD2 (6) chose a pinky purple rabbit called May. This was one of the names suggested on the screen so she went with that. DD1 chose a white cat called Kelly, another name suggested on the computer. They weren’t in a very original mood today! I was hoping to steer them towards a more traditional bear/rabbit etc but they both choose something that made my eyes bleed. But that’s kids for you! They each got an item of clothing, a passport (we’re going on holiday next week and they’re bringing the bears) and a couple of accessories each. I did steer them towards the 2 for £28 deal otherwise the cost really does mount up. We were entitled to the hide and seek thingy because we bought a rabbit but neither of them wanted it! And DD1 didn’t want a sound. DD2 had the ‘I love you’ sound.

Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

The girls love it so I would recommend BAB. However, it is very very expensive. £70 for two average sized bears and a couple of outfits is a lot of money and it would have to be for a very special occasion before I took them there myself, much as they loved it.

How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

Mostly it was good. Like CheeseEMouse I found it pretty cramped especially when there were two or three other families trying to choose as well. Staff were attentive and friendly, possibly a little too attentive although I have awkward children! The girl on the stuffing machine (sorry, didn’t catch her name) was very good with them. Friendly but not in your face and she got them doing all sorts with the hearts before they went into the bears. My girls loved this and had been begging me to take them all week, hence dragging myself out of my sick pit! They’re still downstairs playing with the bears - I think the bears are currently at school...

Thank you so much for the chance to do this MN and BAB. I have two very happy children downstairs!

My daughter chose the white horse as she loves horses and does horse riding as a hobby. She named the horse Arabia as she thought it looked exactly like an Arabian horse. She chose some pink glittery shoes for the horse and a saddle with a bridle. Then she also chose the stables for Arabia. She didn’t want to have any sounds.
She really enjoyed today and she was so happy about the whole experience, she had been talking about this all week prior and today she hasn’t stopped playing with her new horse. My daughter is a bit shy so I’m not sure if she actually liked the stuffing part, she was also getting very anxious about the waiting time as the store was very busy. Once the horse was stuffed she really started having fun trying out different costumes for the horse! She would have liked to have a dress for it as well but none of them seemed to fit. Luckily she came to the conclusion that horses don’t wear dresses and that she should really get it a saddle instead!

I would definitely recommend the build a bear experience to family and friends if they can afford it, now that I know the prices I know some of them couldn’t.

The highlight was the choosing part; first picking the teddy then the accessories. I think my daughter wasn’t actually interested in building the teddy but she absolutely loved choosing the accessories for it!
For me personally it was too busy there, I wish we could have had the chance to go there at a quieter time. We’ve never been before and we didn’t know what to do when we walked in. I flagged a member of staff down who explained the process so that we got started. Then we had a quite a long wait to get the teddy stuffed. Only afterwards we found out that we could have chosen the teddy from the shelf that was already stuffed. The staff was very friendly and helpful but it was so busy in the store I understand they didn’t have much time.

Overall I think it was a nice experience for my daughter and I definitely would consider going back, due to it being a bit pricey it would have to be a special treat. Hopefully in the future they would have a larger selection of horses in the store so that we can go get Arabia a friend.

Is there a link to the survey? [blush]@AaronMumsnet - or How do we find the survey please?

My little man got Rey and kylo ren. He got the Rey bear for £28 then second star wars bear for £5. He took his time deciding between star wars and charmander (Pokémon), seeing a bear is for life! He loved hearing all the starwars sounds which is what helped him decide. He loved helping at the stuffing machine. Opted for regular heart as had sound already. After blowing the fur he was amazed by all the star wars accessories. But he picked a light saber appropriate to each bear.
At the naming he opted for they prober names ( as why would you call them anything else!).
He found the whole experience very "loveable". " I loved making my own bears".
I enjoyed the experience with him but it would have to be very special occasions as I would find it very expensive. The staff were lovely but at each opportunity they were trying to encourage kids to have more- a beating heart, a smell, sound, and as a parent you'd be pressed to spend even more to not not see their disappointment.
I would recommend experience to others but again only as special treat.

DS age 7 chose from the ‘two for 28’ range so he could get more for his money! I think he liked the colours of these bunnies and their big floppy ears. After much deliberation he chose some bed time outfits for them and they look nice and cosy in them. He also picked a back pack for them. We worked hard to spend exactly £50! They are called Harry and Ginny as DS has recently become a big Harry Potter fan.

I would recommend build a bear to others, and we have considered going before but I think it is really quite expensive and couldn’t justify the cost. I was pleased to have this opportunity to visit.

Overall it was a really enjoyable experience. The staff were all friendly and helpful and I liked the layout of the store which guided you through each section. A special mention to Sean in the Cardiff store who was lovely with DS.

Many thanks to mumsnet and build a bear!

Please tell us all about your DC’s new bear. We would love to know the name of the bear, the reason that your DC chose this name, in addition to any other background details regarding your child’s bear selection process such as their reason for choosing particular clothes, scents or accessories?
Our bear is actually a rabbit, my dd struggled to choose and she almost went for the Skye from paw patrol but we convinced her to get something different as she already has a cuddly Skye and we said the outfits would be better for the bunny! She chose a strawberry scent. Then she chose a tutu as seen in the photo and shoes, she also has another outfit a beauty and Beast dress and two other accessories a yoga mat and a wand. My dd was very insistent about the yoga mat! She chose to call her Scarlett as that was one of the example names and she liked it.

1. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why? I would for a special occasion yes as the staff are really lovely and make it a proper experience. My dd was really excited about helping to stuff the bear and choosing outfits. Also gives good idea for future birthdays etc as we can buy more outfits.
2. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

She loved it and has been playing with her new rabbit ever since getting her dressed and undressed and she loves that she smells of strawberry! Her highlight was getting to stuff the bear herself and being able to choose from all the little accessories.

Thank you MN an build a bear!

We visited Build-A-Bear for the first time at the Exeter store. It was quite busy but we didn’t have to wait long for a very helpful member of staff.

My son chose a fluffy dog teddy bear and took it to choose a sound. My son loved pressing all the sound buttons and chose the dinosaur roar! He then helped to stuff the bear by pressing the foot pump. We had purple and red hearts which we put inside him to make him magical. My son also chose the strawberry scent because he loves strawberries.

After the bear had been made we took him to the grooming station and gave him a “wash” and brush. We then took him to the dressing room and chose him an outfit. As it was Easter we chose the happy Easter tshirt with some shorts and boots. My son loves the glasses and suitcase that he chose to go with it.

At the end we sat down to make the birth certificate. My son called him Doggy (!) because he’s a dog!

The staff were all amazingly helpful and friendly and my son left a very happy boy.
It is not cheap but I would definitely recommend the experience. I was really impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff and the wide range of accessories that you can buy for your bear. A very enjoyable morning.

We took our son 4 years old to build a bear in merry hill centre Bham. He couldn’t wait to get through the doors and brushed passed the young lady who greeted us he loves machines and buttons to operate.
She explained where every thing was and for us to have a great time, but he was already drawn in by bright colours and vast numbers of different animals. He went through them at least 5 times before choosing a purple unicorn. We moved onto the stuffing machine he was transfixed by it churning cotton wool stuffing, the machine did give off a lot of heat and by the time we had stuffed unicorn he felt very warm. The young lady asked if he would help her to fill the unicorn asking him how he wanted it filled, soft for cuddling, or harder for standing and cuddling playing with. He want for 2nd option and she gave him the foot peddle to start filling the unicorn whilst she manoeuvre it around when she had finished she asked if it was how he wanted it. It was she was told, he was the offered a small red heart which was free and asked him to kiss it and make a wish which he did she then got him to put it inside the unicorn. We were then offered paid options a beating heart, different noises, smells. He chose a beating heart as he had already tried these out before we started stuffing. She asked if he would put it into the unicorn which he did. The unicorn was then sewn up and she presented him with new best friend he thanked her and ran off to look for clothes, so many colours and choices finally found trousers and padded jacket. We moved onto pretend washing area and made unicorn clean and tidy, we moved onto computer area for birth certificate but he was now getting bored so got a name off him and let him do what he wanted have a run round the certificate took a bit of time to come through at pay desk, we were asked how we wanted to take unicorn we chose a box . Overall experience for son good and a new best bed buddy, age wise maybe 6 and up as to many choices to be made for younger children. Would definitely recommend

DS decided to make a bear for his little sister as it was her birthday this week. He picked a pony and had great fun adding in the sounds (he wanted the matching pony sound) and strawberry scent as that is DDs favourite. He then went round the shop trying out various accessories and clothes to see what looked best, and decided on the name 'Princess Rainbow Heart' to show he had put all his best love into making it.

1. Would you recommend Build-A-Bear Workshop to a friend or family member? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend BAB to others. Although it is a bit pricey, you get a completely individualised bear made with love, and as long as the shop isn't too busy and you can take your time, it is a wonderful experience - totally worth what you pay.

1. How did you and your DC find the overall in-store experience? What were the highlights?

The experience was brilliant - the staff were amazing, they talked us through what to do (as we were a bit clueless) and when it came to stuffing the bear and adding the extra touches, they were really patient with DS as he tried to explain what he wanted and they made the experience so magical by showing him how to fill the heart with love, and opening the scent packs so he could choose what he wanted. The range of accessories was really good too and we liked that you could mix and match to your heart's content. Thank you so much for letting us try BAB out. (and DD loved her present!)