Being part of the bear making process makes it special for kids
Written: Aug 11 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: kid friendly store, high quality products, unique idea, friendly staff
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: The whole experience is wonderful and being involved in the special process of building the animal gives a child a sense of pride and accomplishment.
|
|
|
| lirpa's Full Review: Build-A-Bear Stuffed Bear |
I didn't even know about Build-A-Bear Workshop until last year when my two sisters took their children(ages 7-9). When they got back the kids were just beaming with joy and showing off the special animals that they got to make themselves. It sounded like a great idea. My child is now 3 1/2 years old and my husband and I made an hour and a half trip to visit one of the stores. As soon as we walked in to the colorful store we were greeted by a very friendly girl who asked us if we had ever been to Build-A-Bear and then explained the whole process to us, step by step. The store itself is amazing, very bright and cheerful with merchandise lining every wall from top to bottom and kids running everywhere. The child gets to pick whatever animal he/she wants to stuff and there is a huge selection to choose from that vary in price range from $10 to $25. There aren't just bears to choose from, but many other types of animals, including dogs, cats, horses, elephants, etc. After the animal is chosen you take your child to the stuffing area where an employee helps your child through the process of stuffing the animal. The machine is clear and you can see the stuffing rolling around inside and your child presses a pedal with her foot while the employee holds the animal on a rod that sends the stuffing through. My daughter than got to hug her leopard and see if it was soft and fluffy enough, thereby deciding if she wanted more or less stuffing. Also, you can choose from several sound boxes to put in the animal for making animal sounds. Then my daughter got to choose a special cloth heart that she then blew a wish on and placed inside of the animal. The animal is then pulled and laced together with long threads that are already inside the skin. Then my daughter got to "give her animal a bath". This is also a fun process where she could step on a pedal and let air blow out through a faucet and brush her animal off. The comes the best part: choosing clothing and accessories. There are so many to choose from that it really is difficult. They have sports outfits, career wear, formal wear, pajamas, shoes, socks, boxers...the list goes on and on and that doesn't include hair bows, glasses, etc. My daughter chose a formal lilac colored dress that came with matching panties, hairbow and purse. It was so adorable and then we picked out some white mary jane(actually, they were beary jane) shoes to match. The last process is where my daughter got to choose to create either a birth certificate or story for her animal, which includes naming it. That is printed out up front when you pay for the completed animal. With the animal, sound box, shoes, and outfit we spent around $50 but it was worth every penny. We could have spent a lot less because Build-A-Bear has items for every budget. Some outfits are only around $8 and some of the less expensive animals start at only $10 so you can get out of there without spending a bundle. When you purchase an animal, the price includes the animal skin, the stuffing, the heart that goes inside, and sewing it together. The animal sounds cost only $3 more. This is a terrific place and everyone should take their kids at least once. Once you have bought an animal and the spent an initial large sum of money, you have the option of buying more outfits, accessories, etc. for birthday/Christmas gifts at a relatively small amount of money. You can order these from the website, as well. I love this place and plan on ordering more outfits for my daughter's birthday. Also, all of the products are high quality, not cheap and flimsy. The animals are well made, soft, and durable and even the little outfits have great detail and are very high quality.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Type of Toy: Stuffed Toy
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
lirpa
|
|
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.