This is a store that I have always resolutely walked past, largely because of my predilection for cuddly toys. Myself plus teddy bear shop usually equals spending money. For some reason my husband thinks this is a bad idea. I really can't for the life of me work out why.

Suffice it to say that one day, teddy bears won out and I found myself walking into this teddy bear shop. Now, it must be noted from the outset that this is a teddy bear shop with a difference. All teddy bear shops feature a range of cute and cuddly toys, designed to tempt the hardest heart. This shop focuses on the fun of teddy bears, squarely aimed at the most easily tempted target audience - children. What strikes you about this shop, apart from the obvious range of teddies, is that it is filled with bold primary colours.

Their promotion bear is Pudsey Bear, the Children in Need bear. If you need a motive for buying a teddy from Build-A-Bear, this is probably it. For £15, you'll have a teddy to love, or more probably for your child to love, and you'll have a warm fuzzy feeling inside because they donate £5 to Children in Need.

The range of teddies is quite good, not too small, but not so large as to make it impossible to choose. I very quickly found a bear to love. (My penchant for soft toys is already noted above, but I am quite fussy about my teddy bears actually.) They don't only have teddy bears, they also have dogs, cats, bunnies and wild furry friends, which include a wolf and a snowy owl among other things. As a discerning bear lover, my teddy of choice was Endless Hugs who can only be a she, because while I consider most teddies to be male, pink teddies are definitely female. To salve my conscience for buying myself a present I bought my husband the present of a wolf. He loves wolves and I figured that although he is not a fan of cuddly toys, he would more readily be won over by this cute wolf.

Amongst other choices, there are Hello Kitty, Read Teddy (£1 will be donated to the Build-A-Bear Workshop UK Foundation to support literacy - a good idea in my opinion), Peace & Hugs (blue with lots of peace signs on - if you like that sort of thing) and a recent introduction in the form of a polar bear complete with a pink fairisle scarf and hat, imaginatively named Cuddly Cute Polar Bear.

What you'll notice if you're buying from the shop is that the teddy bears are not complete. The heads are stuffed, but the bodies are still unstuffed with the back loosley sewn together. This is because the fun of Build-A-Bear Workshop is in the build work. First you choose your teddy, rather obvious really I suppose. Second you get to choose a "cool" sound. If you are like me you will find most of these sounds rather annoying, but you do have the option of recording your own sound if you so desire. These cost from £2-£4, or online you have an option of a download song from a Singing Contest Winner - Let's Talk About Love for 72p. To record your own sound is £5. It's probably best to listen to the sounds first without kids, then allow your kid to only try out the sounds that will be bearable played over and over and over again.

Once you've chosen a sound, or moved swiftly on, you then go to the stuffing station. Here a very helpful Bear Builder Associate will help you with stuffing the bear to your specifications. This is done using a great big machine which fluffs up the stuffing. You can see into the machine and again bold and bright colours are used to make it appealing for little people. In my case, I was asked to stand on the pedal which blows the stuffing into the bear, while the Bear Builder Associate pushed my bear onto a tube and very adeptly filled the bear till it was the right degree of squidginess for personal taste. You then get to hold/hug your bear to see if it is as soft or as firm as you like. Next you get to choose a heart. You either get a free red or red check heart, or you could pay £2 for a silver heart (money is donated to Children in Need - cue very warm and fuzzy feeling), or a red beating heart for £4. Once you've chosen your heart, you get to put it in the bear, at which stage your Bear Builder Associate pulls the stitches at the back taut, ties a neat knot and snips it. I forgot to mention that in the process of stuffing, the barcode is taken off and stuffed inside the bear. The importance of this will be explained later.

For some people, many of them little, your teddy bear will not be complete without the perfect outfit. They have a wide range, so if your teddy supports Manchester United, he/she can be kitted out in their very own teddy bear sized Manchester United Old Trafford T-shirt. If they prefer Liverpool, they are also catered for. You can have a biker bear, dress them in fairy outfits, or maybe you prefer a Scottish kilt. You name it, they're pretty much all there. Depending on how much you want to spend, a full sports kit will cost you £12, a Beefeater outfit will cost you £15 and then there are accessories as well.

Once you have kitted out your bear, you then head over to the Name Me station, where you get to name your bear. Most likely your very helpful Bear Builder Associate will have written a name on the barcode which was inserted into your bear. If you had any choice in the name you will likely wish to keep it. If however just any old name was written, in my case Pinkie and Wolf, you may decide you want something more imaginative. The benefits of registering your bear are quite obvious, especially if the bear is for a little person. It's fun and exciting and you get a birth certificate you can take home and treasure. There is also the Find-A-Bear ID program which you can register with at the same time. The idea is that if your teddy accidentally gets left behind in a hotel, then it will be returned to Build-A-Bear Workshop who can use this information to return your teddy safe and sound. How well it works in practice, I'm not sure, but they've teamed up with Embassy Suites Hotels for this service so there is at least one place where you should be assured of having your teddy returned to you.

The other benefit of registering your bear is that your child will have access to Build-A-Bearville, the online place to play with their teddy bear. You also get Bear Bills to spend in this wonderland. For parents, this site has notice saying it has received a Socially Safe Best Practices Seal of Approval. There is a tab entitled Parent's Info, with a letter from Dave Finnegan, Chief Information Bear assuring you of it's safety. As always, you will want to keep an eye on your child's internet activity at all times to ensure their safety.

Once you have gone through the whole process, it's check out time. Here you can choose to take your teddy away in a teddy friendly box, or like me be slightly boring and purely take it away in one of their bags. I think the staff were a bit bemused that I wasn't quite getting into the spirit of things.

I have put speed of delivery as good, purely because I had to choose something although I haven't used the online option.

Value for money is good, especially if you include the experience. At £15 for a well made teddy and £18 for the wolf, which was equally well made, if all you go for is the teddy you will get a good deal. As far as clothes and accessories go, including sounds, you pretty much get what you pay for, and the outfits I saw looked liked they could stand up to children's play. So if you like it and you can afford it, you will get good value for your money.

If you just want a fuss-free selection however there are ready made and dressed bears along with miniature versions of some of their teddies. Another option is to go online and it will all be done for you. If however the teddy is for one of your little people, they will likely enjoy the whole experience of choosing, dressing and naming their very own teddy.

As an adult who has made her own bears, I am very happy with the product they offer, but personally the whole experience is somewhat lost on me. I may be young at heart, but I guess I'm not really that young at heart. Unless I were going with a child, I would probably do it all online in future if my husband could bear it.