Build-A-Bear Workshop

When Build A Bear arrived in the High Street I wondered what it was all about, so I went in to browse and see for myself, I thought it was a good idea to dress a bear and choose its own outfit etc but I did not have anyone to buy one for until my grandson was born. Then for his 1st birthday I thought I would buy him one as I had always wanted to buy one. I now have a little granddaughter who is 8 months old, so I wanted to buy one for her too but not for her birthday. This reason being is we took our grandson to the shop earlier this year to buy an outfit for his bear, he wanted to take a bear home for his little sister. We couldn't say no and so he chose a bear and he recorded a message for her. Was very sweet I must say.

When you first enter the shop, you choose a bear cover which and then you go to a salesman or woman and they stuff it with very fine fibre fillings, you can sit there which this is done, and you have options to add to each bear if you wish to do so, if you do not that is fine, the bear coverings range from about £8 to about £18 and there are different ones, bears, rabbits, monkeys, chickens and penguins and much more to choose from.

Once you have chosen the cover and had it stuffed you have a choice to have a heart beat placed into the bear, I think this was about a £1 and then you make a wish when they place it into the cover. They then sew it together with a safe kind of invisible string, once this is done, you have a choice to either record your own message for the receiver or if the bear is for yourself or just chose from a variety of messages which are pre recorded. I chose a happy birthday tune for my grandson's bear which sang happy birthday and it was quite catchy too. As I said for my granddaughter we chose the recorded message.

After the choice of bear is chosen you then choose the clothes it is going to wear, if you do not want to dress it, that is fine because the person who receives it or if it is for you, you or they can go back and choose the outfit at a later date. There is a lot of clothes and accessories to choose from, you could never go into this shop if you are in a rush to go to another shop quickly, unless you know exactly what you are looking for because there is so many clothes to choose from it can be difficult for a child to make its mind up lol.

The choice of the outfits is enormous, they have shoes, coats, underwear, hats, and accessories, it is like dressing yourself and all items vary in price, and some of them can be a little expensive. They also do outfits for a policeman or woman if it is a gift for a that profession etc. They are really cute though I think when they are all dressed.

They then ask you to give it a name and they even get a birth certificate for it and who named it and who it was from if it is a gift etc.

This shop even do children's parties so a group of children can go around the shop and choose their bears and the staff entertain them. I don't know how much this cost and if it is just the cost of the bear for each child or how many a party size they cater for but the party option is available.

The shops become very busy when they have these parties, so I recommend timing it just right to avoid them if you are in a hurry but if you are not, they are quite fun.

Lastly they place the bear into a nice cardboard box with a little handle to carry home.

My grandson loves his little bear and when he presses it's hand it sings Happy Birthday to him and he can keep it for life if he so wishes. My granddaughter loved her bear and the message which was personally recorded by her big brother. It was so sweet to see both their faces when they both heard it at the same time. These personal touches to the bear do make all the difference in my opinion. These bears are really well made and can last for a lifetime for a child or adult. I still even have a bear I was given as a baby gift over 50 years ago, it is very special to me and always will be and in the same way these bears can be cherished forever. They are ideal for a gift for a sweetheart, a christening, special birthday or any special occasion when you may be looking for a gift idea for someone you love. I am really pleased I bought both my grandchildren a bear from Build A Bear store. They are really good quality bears in my opinion and they look really cute too dressed in different outfits and look really trendy.

I recommend this store if you have small children or even for buying for a loved one as lots of men buy bears for their girlfriends and women for their boyfriends and say their own spoken message. Give someone that special bear that will remain with them forever. I think when my grandchildren grow up and hear the message inside the bear, they are going to laugh and have lots of memories of by gone days.

I give it 5 stars.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope it has been of some help.