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

Just to update - I think every member of staff and child in DC school knows about their trip to BAB! Eldest 2 concentrated on the experience in their "what I did over the holidays" type work, and all 3 have been talking about it a lot

They all want to get more outfits for it in the future, it's been played with daily over the holidays and then before and after school each day since they have gone back

I think we've already had more than our money's worth (including if I had spent £50 rather than voucher) based on the joy it's created and how much it's been played with. We will definitely be going back!

I seem to be having trouble posting photos, so will try and add them in another post ...

We went to Build-a-Bear in Kingston - it's a concession within the Bentalls department store.

The girls chose a monkey - named Charlie the Chimp by DD1 - and a very bright pink rabbit, whom DD2 called Lily. DD1 chose a practical outfit of shorts and a rainbow t-shirt, the sort of thing she'd wear herself I think! DD2 was won over by the rabbit on display and decided she wanted her rabbit to wear exactly the same clothes, including a fluorescent green net skirt.

For their accessories Lily had a toy electric guitar, which plays music when you press a button - this very much appealed to DD2, who plays a mean air guitar! Charlie ended up randomly with one of the little snowmen from the short film 'Frozen Fever'. I think DD1 just thought it was cute

The member of staff on duty, David, was very welcoming and friendly - he did a great job of explaining the BaB process and making it fun for the kids, without being pushy or seeming like a salesman. He helped the girls choose what to put in their animals: DD1 chose a heartbeat for Charlie, and DD2 chose a scent. She enjoyed trying out the different scents, although we all thought the idea of a pizza-scented toy was pretty disgusting! She went for cotton candy, which does smell rather nice.

David showed the girls how to complete their toy's birth certificate on the computers in the store, and these were then printed out for us to take home, along with a cardboard house/box which the girls could colour in at home.

I would recommend BaB to friends and family as a special experience. I thought the clothes were a bit pricey so another time I would limit those, but the toys themselves were quite good value and it was genuinely special for the kids getting to choose what they looked/smelt/felt like - it definitely felt like more of a treat than simply picking a toy off a shelf in a toy store.

Thanks so much Mumsnet and Build-a-Bear, we felt very lucky to be chosen and really appreciated this opportunity

1. 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?

After a huge amount of deliberation (she's indecisive like her Mummy!), she decided on a cat (she's always wanted a 'real' one but as I work and live in rented accommodation, it's not practical) . The staff were really helpful and let her have a cuddle and play with the pre-stuffed ones. It was between a cat and a horse wearing rollerskates, which she wheeled round the store for 10 minutes... She named her new friend 'Ruby', after her friend at school. She bought lots of accessories (I had originally planned on her getting two 'friends', but she wanted one and the accessories). She got a little carry case for Ruby, a pet bed to sleep next to her, and a doctors set (she wants to be a nurse when she grows up). She also got the heartbeat and purr, (I think she enjoyed putting them in as she has heart problems - hence the nurse thing, she felt like she was helping - she's non stopped listening to it since. Woke up with her pressing Ruby on my chest the other night and thought I was getting palpitations - it's really lifelike!)

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

For us, it was a fantastic 'experience', and something that we will all remember. We went to the Trafford Centre and I took my Dad along to (okay he took us, as I don't drive that far! He was treated to lunch for his troubles... We made a bit of a day of it). It was very expensive and had I not had the voucher I doubt I would have considered it (I only have the one DD, so anymore you would be looking at £100 upwards). I think it's definitely a special occasion treat. I told DD it was for her persistence to overcome challenges (she got an amazing school report last month, and despite having learning difficulties and dyslexia has shown huge improvement - I cried!) It would be a great day out to celebrate an achievement or Birthday, and have something to remember that by, and yes while I say it's expensive, you're not just paying £60 odd for a 'stuffed toy', you're paying for the whole package. We spent well over an hour in the store, DD loved every minute of it (my Dad... Not so much!) she loved stuffing her new friend, and 'bringing her to life'. If you just want a 'teddy bear' go to a toy shop, if you want a day to remember (we took loads of pictures!) go to Build-A-Bear (with money, lots of money...)

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

We enjoyed every second (yes, even my Dad - he secretly enjoyed it!) As I mentioned it was a great day out, Build-A-Bear being the highlight. The staff were great, really amazing. I doubt you could work in this store without having a love of children (as much as I love DD, I don't think I could tolerate twenty excitable kids, all asking questions!). The staff were so attentive, they were happy, engaging and seemed to genuinely love their jobs. I think they are a huge, huge part of Build-A-Bear. It would be very easy to employ people who could operate a checkout and stuff a teddy bear, BUT they made DD feel so special (like the only child in the store, and we went on a SUNDAY!), nothing was too much trouble, they showed her let her touch the pre-stuffed toys, and I pretty much just watched. The only cross-selling was a drawstring bag, which I (okay my Dad) did purchase.

Perhaps we're not the target market.

The chosen bears

They are My Little Ponies - a Songbird Serenade (the yellow one) and a Rainbow Dash - so they already have names.

Before we went

I had seen the store front in the Arndale Centre in Manchester and vaguely imagined a quiet, artisanal experience where children pushed kapok filling into Steiffen-style traditional teddy bears. As a special treat they might do this as a small birthday party group at about £15 a head.

On the afternoon itself

I can't remember signing up for the voucher but was pleased to have it since I have a four-year-old daughter and £50 is a non-trivial amount. I was sent an email reminder and realised on Friday that I had only Saturday afternoon to cash it in - just before I am due to be induced, so DD seemed due a treat and pre-sibling gift.

DSD and Dear Niece were with us for the weekend too. I asked DSD 12 if she would like to come. She squealed - 'yes! It'll remind me of my childhood! I love Build-a-bear!!!' Bless...

Sadly DN had to go home just before the trip, and was bitterly disappointed at missing out. So we promised that we would bring a teddy bear home for her, or her own kit to make her own bear at home.

Finding the Store

We arrived at the Trafford Centre on a mid-Saturday afternoon. We were lucky to park very close by and the store was very close to the Peel Avenue entrance.

I have never been in a BaB store and was struck by the fluorescent colours, teddy bear outfits and the noise. It was very hard to talk to the girls who couldn't hear a thing. I decided to treat the experience as a subsidised exercise in seeing what would happen if I let child nature take its course, within a very effective marketing machine.

The choice

DD was immediately drawn to the My Little Pony choices rather than the '2 for the price of 1' slightly more tasteful bunnies and so forth. With a £50 voucher behind us, I wasn't too worried and it was to be a Special Treat.

We weren't quite sure what the process was and an assistant explained - she hadn't heard of this trial, but quickly gathered it was something to do with Head Office. She explained we could top up the teddy bear with smells and hearts, and a naming certificate.

We couldn't find make-your-own-at-home kits for DN which was a disappointment. DD chose the yellow pony who I gather is the Songbird Serenade (£23). For DN we chose a Rainbow Dash (£21.50).

I decided that as a Special Treat we would use the remainder of the voucher for extras such as sounds, smells and outfits. We chose a song 'sound', a beating heart, and some strawberry-smelling inserts. These seemed to be about £3 each.

We then queued for about 10 minutes for the stuffing machine. This felt longer than it really was - the noise was oppressive though and DSD and I both found it a little much.

The stuffing machine assistant was called Molly and really excellent. DD was able to use her foot on a pedal tool to fill the ponies, which was her highlight of the day.

We were then funnelled to the additional outfits section. It wasn't easy to find the matching pony outfits and not clear which outfit went with which pony. Rainbow Dash was pretty straightforward to match; the Singing Serenade less so. DSD became very annoyed when DD chose the 'wrong' matching outfit and refused to reconsider. 'But you'll regret it when you get home!' she protested. 'Oh just let her!' I replied. After all it was a Special Treat and DD was getting to choose what she liked; and we needed to leave.

We skipped the naming certificate - neither of the machines were free; I wasn't sure what the yellow pony was actually called; and since DD can't read it seemed too much and just additional tat for her bedroom, already filled to the gills with similar tat. So we moved smoothly to the till before she could notice.

The assistant at the till asked if we really wouldn't like a certificate. 'No time' I replied without a flicker (I had an evening appointment and needed to get going). She asked if we would like a paper bag, box or rucksack. In for a penny, in for a pound, so I left the choice to DD. She said 'wucksack'. So, two more of those, in delightful pink rainbow stripes. They will be useful for sports kits and so on too.

They were efficiently packed up with outfits in the bottom and the pony heads poking out, to take home.

At that point, DSD noticed that the 'build a bear at home' kits were stacked by the till, which we hadn't spotted before. This was a shame, but rather late for DN, who already had her Rainbow Dash packed up. I wasn't inclined to add to the purchases at that point.

The bill

The bill came to £85, so the extras had pushed the overall bill to about £20 per pony beyond the cuddly toy itself (and £35 on top of the voucher).

I was happy to do this as a Special Treat, but DSD was nearly in tears and called the experience Utter Hell. I'm afraid we cast a shadow over her childhood memories. As a reward for her patience we then had to go to Boots and Selfridges to choose, at great length and consideration, a bribe to minimise the impact of another sibling foisted on her when her parents are old enough to know better suitable and equivalent make-up treat in the shape of a primer, fixer and replenishing spray. Her skin is perfect, but then I don't understand young people.

In summary

Was it worth it? I was very grateful indeed for the voucher and glad of the opportunity to experience Build-a-Bear. But I had misunderstood what the experience would be like - it was the complete opposite of quiet children sitting quietly poking kapok into traditional bears with a crochet hook.

I was in awe of the birthday parties of small girls where parents were surely forking out upwards of £300. But then they were presumably knocking a birthday party commitment on the head, jobsagoodun, to make a change from soft play and with no need to have a tea party at home.

For me it was both inordinately expensive and the toys themselves looked very nylon. You are paying for the experience. DD loved it of course. On the bright side, I was aware that she has poor perception of time, and that getting through the store as quickly as possible was the priority. There are about six touch-points to provide children with a 'memorable experience': choosing the bear, the inserts, stuffing the bear, getting the outfit, the naming certificate, and then paying (and getting it packed up to take home). Whether these take 5 minutes each or 15 minutes each makes little difference to very small children. For her it was amazing and we were still out within an hour.

But as a parent I wouldn't choose to go again (that Special Treat is now done and dusted) and we won't take up the offer of their party hosting despite their extremely high level of customer service, concern with experiential innovation and ability to cope with all sorts of young customer needs. It's not for the price-sensitive or the noise-sensitive. This is for the time-poor and cash-rich; we are time-poor and cash-poor. There are other things we could have done for what people call a 'memory day' with £85 (or even £35) like a picnic, afternoon in the park and making buns at home.

I totally forgot to add the photos!

I had never neen indude a build a bear shop so didn't know the process to go about building a bear. Once inside I felt I should have done an initial visit first but our local store wasn't that close to home. My ds had a difficult time deciding which one to pick. There was one with star wars written all over it which I didn't like the look of so dissuaded him from picking that one.

He was having a difficult time deciding and the staff were very helpful in trying to give ideas such as trying to find out which stuffed toys he had at home to help guide him. We decided on a star wars bear in the end with pattern in his fur and changing colour ears and feet which he loved. Dark Vader is the name chosen after Darth Wader. He hasn't watched any of the films but has heard about the characters. He picked the imperial March tune to go into the bear. I thought it would be nice to have a sound plus we had 50 to spend so thought it was a lovely touch and would make the bear more special.
I hand wanted a scent 's didn't thu k it would last however up selling was done. This wasn't a nice part of the process.
He loved the part where he had to add skills to the heart to put into his bear.

I had promised his sister she could pick some accessories for her bear at home so was conscious of how much we were spending.
The bear is all made and the prices to make it quite fun. The accessories I found quite expensive. My ds picked a green star wars costume as it had a mask like he had at home.

1. I would recommend build a bear for a special occasion but I would recommend parents go in beforehand and get an idea about what is involved. They can guide their child better and also set a limit. I was glad to be chosen for this but probably would only have gone for a birthday. It's a fun process but quite expensive if you end up buying all the accessories your child wants.
2. My son loved being part of the bear making process and the staff were quite welcoming and helpful. He enjoyed playing a part in the skills that he gave the heart that was put inside his bear.

The different parts that can be added can push the price up and overwhelm as they did for my ds. He didn't know about the birth certificate but we saw other parents at the computers and produced one. It's about great reminder of the making day.

The box the bear was put in was enjoyed and he loved being able to customise it when home

This is Kelsia. My 5 yr old dd loves Frozen so was very excited to see Frozen outfits and chose the Elsa dress and shoes. She also chose the ‘Let It Go’ song for the bear to be able to play, much to our joy (not really. How many times can someone hear that song before spontaneously combusting?)
The bear was originally called Elsa but I think dd decided she wanted something a bit more original so came up with Kelsa which became Kelsia.
Dd was instantly attracted to the multicoloured bear and loves it. Even though there was an Elsa bear, dd wanted that multi coloured one.

We went to the Build a Bear store in Bracknell. We weren’t sure what was expected but the staff were really good. They talked to dd about what she was meant to do, showed her all the choices available and made the whole experience fun. They were really friendly with great humour.
Dd loved stuffing her bear and choosing the song. She also really enjoyed the experience of being the actual customer and making the decisions.
I’d definitely recommend it to others. It’s a brilliant experience and not just buying a cuddly toy from a shop.

The toy itself is very good quality and there are so many ways that it can be personalised and made special. Dd loves it and it’s her favourite cuddly toy.

The voucher I received by email had an option to purchase the bears online(I hold my hands up🤭) this is what I did as I thought It’d be much easier than try to find a parking space at the Trafford Centre (normally a complete headache) Unfortunately only a few days later I read an email from mumsnet advising the vouchers are to be spent on an ‘in store experience’ the bears arrived in a huge box which my daughter couldn’t wait to open and loves the bears very much. She chose a tiger and two cats. One of the cats she named care bear kitty and plays the care bear theme tune!😂
We will of course be visiting the store very soon to purchase some pretty dresses for her new fur friends.

Sorry, feedback late
unfortunately we were unable to attend a shop as our local one shut down very recently. We ordered it on line and my daughter loves it. The quality is not the best I have ever seen but no worse than any other make of Teddy.

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?

She chose a cat, a carrier and outfit, shoes and candyfloss scent. She loved the idea of having a cat in a carrier just like our pet cat at home. She called her daisy as she likes the name

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

Difficult one. She loved the whole experience, making a wish on the heart, choosing from all the clothing and accessories but.....I think it is widely over priced and not great quality. The carrier has already developed a hole

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

She loved the interaction between herself and the staff when making a wish and stuffing her toy

Thanks for giving her the experience that I would not be willing to pay for!

Sorry for the late reply

We had never been to build a bear. We went to the Trafford centre store on good Friday with my 3yo boy and 4 yo girl. When we got in store it was clearly laid out. We tried to steer the kids towards the 2 for £24 so 3yo got a beast (beauty and the beast but he just thought it was a bit grizzly looking) and 4yo got a pink bunny with big floppy ears (not my taste 😂) there was a bit if a queue but moved quickly and the girl who stuffed the toys was lovely and the kids really enjoyed it. I was impressed that even though it was busy she took her time and made sure both the kids had the full experience. Then on to clothes. We wanted them to be able to choose what ever but if I hadn't been using a voucher I would have found this bit in particular difficult. You want them to have free reign but clothes shoes accessories it all starts to get a bit silly . Though all felt good quality and there was a good range of stuff. The bunny got an Elsa dress and crystal slippers and the beast got a Jedi outfit and light sabre. The dress up stations where the bears could look in the mirror were great and allowed them to try different stuff and make more of our time in the shop. They were both named Elsa and Crusher. Will let you figure out which got what name. The bill came to £75 This was with the deal for 2 bears. Staff consistently lovely and helpful through out. Kids loved the boxes they came in. They have been coloured in and they still play with them. The teddies are adored. Cuddled and played with often. Feel good quality.

The reason we have never been is because I would regard it as expensive. I still think it's very expensive. We gently steered them towards the special price for 2 bears and didn't let them go to crazy with clothes and it was £75 it could easily have been over £100 and regardless of the quality and how fond they are I couldn't bring myself to spend £50 each on a stuffed toy. Our household income is around 50k Really glad we had the chance to do it though as the kids loved it and love their toys. Thanks so much for having us as testers

Our tips would be have something a bit less cute , more beastly , monster stuff.

Ohhh they both got scents too which have stayed pretty strong but not over powering the kids sometime smell of them when they get out of bed in the morning !

We visited Brighton.
Due to a technical problem I can’t upload the photo! Sorry!

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?

Did (6) got a lovely dawn coloured rabbit called Pawlette. She didn’t choose a scent or a voice but we did choose a sparkly silver heart which gave money to charity- the Make a Wish foundation. DD loved operating the stuffing machine and the assistant helping us was really friendly and even asked her how firm or how cuddly she wanted her rabbit.
Choosing the outfits took ages because there were so many but we settled on a carrot sleep suit, sparkly disco outfit with multicoloured sequins and a wedding dress!

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

Yes if you don’t mind spending a lot as it all adds up! It is an ‘experience’ though as opposed to just buying a toy.

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

The store is nice, clean and light and the staff are very helpful and friendly. I think the highlight was choosing the outfits but the stuffing machine and printing the birth certificate were great too!

Thank you so much for picking us! My DD had a really lovely experience at Build a Bear

Build a Bear has a huge selection of bears available and DD was absolutely spoilt for choice. Eventually she settled on a pink and white bear who she named Sugar Plum. This particular bear was already vanilla scented. DD picked her own sound from the sound machine which I thought was really clever... I think she settled on a La La Loopsy sound clip. She also chose a lovely little heart to put in her bear. When it came to choose accessories, once again DD was spoilt for choice but in the end she settled on a tutu dress, sparkly shoes, a flashing wand and a birthday cake.

We would absolutely recommend Build a Bear to family and friends. It was a really magical experience for DD (4yo) and her face was lit up the whole time. She loved helping put the stuffing into the bear and see it come to life l but I think she was most excited about choosing her bears accessories. She proudly carried her bear around in his 'house' box around the whole shopping centre and pretended to feed her whilst we were eating lunch.

Overall, we found the Build a Bear experience fabulous! We visited the store at the Trafford Centre and the staff were so lovely and made my DD feel really special. Not one member of staff looked miserable, they all genuinely looked like they loved their job! My highlight was seeing my DD's face light up and I think DD's highlight was getting to dress her bear up and choose it's accessories.

Our lovely Build A Bear is called DJ FAIRY :) We got the voucher and were so happy that we can use in this shop because my 6 years old daughter loves soft toys and she loves cuddles! We went to Bristol Build A Bear workshop. There is big variety of different styles and clothes, softness and fragnance! We were so impressed with the range of everything!
Person who served us was very kind and funny. My daughter loved the preparation of her Bear, stuffing, warming up heart, making a wish and cuddling her Bear when it was ready.
She chose 2 styles for her Bear. First one was Fairy dress, the second one was rock star outfit. That is why the name of her Bear is DJ FAIRY.
We loved our experience in Build A Bear workshop so much! Atmosphere was great, staff friendly and helpful, and all Bears are so lovely! It was our first experience with Build A Bear in Bristol and we highly recommend it to our friends, family and everyone!
Staff explained us stages of building a bear and showed us what to do. At the end we printed a Birth Certificate for DJ FAIRY and our little girl became a mum of her Bear :)
We are definitely going to come back there soon to buy some more accesories and maybe a sister for DJ FAIRY? :)

Meet Boris.
I took my youngest son to build-a-bear not knowing how he would react. He’s not one for teddies and, with 6 older siblings, he spends a lot of time gaming.
HE ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! From the moment he stepped into the store, he was buzzing with excitement. He was like a kid in a toy shop...literally. He ran back and forth looking and the different bears and accessories, deciding what would look best with which bear.
He eventually settled on the Star Wars bear. He’s not a massive fan, but yes I have made him watch every episode and he enjoyed the way he could change the colour of his ears and feet.
One thing my child is not and that is patient. There was a queue of around 8 children in front of him and with only one person stuffing the bears I knew we would be in for a long wait. However, my son was looking around deciding what accessories he wanted and didn’t actually whinge once. It was when we were queuing up my son stated he was going to name his bear Boris!! I asked him why he’d decided on that name and he said he’d heard it on telly and thought it was really cool.
When it came to my son’s turn to stuff his bear, the service from the staff was brilliant. She was really friendly and had my son at ease. She even allowed him to smell several different scented hearts until he found the right one. My son said he really enjoyed the experience of stuffing his own bear. He said it makes Boris extra special.
After Boris was complete, my son started to choose the accessories. To say he wanted one of everything was an understatement!!! He loved how he could get a complete outfit especially the boxer shorts. His only complaint was there was more accessories for the girl bears, however he wasn’t to put out by this. The finishing touch was creating Boris’ birth certificate. My son was a very happy little chap.
It had been a few weeks now since we took our trip to buildabear and my son is still really impressed with Boris. I would definitely recommend buildabear for a very special occasion - it’s certainly a lot of money for a bear. But the whole experience makes it extra special and will hopefully create a happy and long lasting memory.

How do I fill out the survey for this? I got a text saying I haven't done it but I already gave feedback on this post.

Found it. Ignore above comment :)

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

We visited Merry hill Build A Bear. It’s a bright clean store, if a little outdated with regards to fixtures and fittings.

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?

Our 4 year old son chose a Mario bear, he loves playing Mario games on the Xbox, he’s a typical little football and superhero loving little boy really.

He is now the proud owner of a Mario bear, who is named Luigi, smells of cupcakes, and sings the themes from Powerrangers whilst wearing a England football kit and boots... (he tends to like to mix things up somewhat!)

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

I would recommend BAB for a treat. We had a lovely experience, the staff were very friendly and engaged, they were brilliant with our son and his sister. They put effort in to making them feel comfortable and we loved the putting the power, strength and speed into the bears heart by rubbing it on his muscles, running fast on the spot with it etc.

I think it is expensive when it comes to accessories for the bear. Let’s be honest £5 for bear shoes, £10 for a bear outfit, further for bags jackets etc, certainly prices some families out from regularly purchasing the additional items. But in terms of the actual bear, the prices are reasonable and they seem robust and made to last. In fact my eldest son now 15 had one at the age of 4 that was taken everywhere and was passed down to the now 4 year old at birth, and is still in excellent condition.

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

Our son loved the process and particularly the stuffing of the bear. He enjoyed sniffing the different scents and was slightly overwhelmed with the choice of sounds available. Mario sleeps proudly on his bed and has been taken to visit his Nan and nursery for introductions!

Can only buy apologise for not leaving a review sooner, we’ve had a few illnesses in the house so things have been a bit bleugh.

I took my 4 year old dd to our nearest build a bear which is the Norwich one.
She was excited from the get go, she took her time and studied each animal and finally picked a bunny which is now called Hoppy.

The staff were lovely, very interactive with dd and let her help fill the bunny with the stuffing. She chose a silver heart and a strawberry smell to go inside the bunny but took a very long long making her wish on the heart.

The bunny then went to the grooming area where she had a bath and brush and then it was on to picking some clothes. Dd picked a party dress, a denim jacket and some Cinderella shoes.

For my dd this was an amazing experience and she loved every second of it, we almost had an upset when we took Hoppy shopping with us and she lost one of her Cinderella shoes but when we went back later someone had found it, sadly not Prince Charming though!

Update - one of our bears (the cat) has come unstitched already. Very disappointing.

Sorry, finally got our photos working!

Any idea who won the voucher? I’ve checked the winner’s corner and it doesn’t appear to have been announced.

I’ve reported your post @Uzma01 to ask mnhq

Hi @Uzma01 and @SillyMoomin, the winner of the £300 voucher was BirdsInTheAttic - sorry it wasn't announced earlier!