This morning my children were literally bouncing off the walls with excitement! To be honest I was pretty excited too. Today we went to Build-A-Bear, and since I’m basically just a big kid myself we were all looking forward to the experience.

Build-A-Bear is more than just a shop where you buy bears, it is in fact the birthplace of the bears and an experience for the whole family. When we arrived we met the lovely Amy who helped the Purple children choose and create their very own bears.

First the difficult choice of which bear to love:

 

All the children spent a long time looking at all the bears, and deciding which one was the perfect bear for them. Reflecting their personalities Super Kid went for a simple light brown bear, Robo Boy chose a camouflage bear, and Wonder Girl chose a brightly coloured bear with pink, red, yellow, blue and green fur.

Then the bear needs a sound:

 

Wonder Girl loved the catchy Smurfs theme tune, Robo Boy had to have the Star Wars noise.  Then Super Kid chose “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, a great choice as it’s his favourite song at the moment. The sound gets put in the paw so that the children can squeeze their bear’s paw whenever they want to hear it.

Bear gets his heart:

 

The children each pick up a red satin heart and Amy leads them through the ceremony which gives the heart love and makes it beat. They enjoy it, they have to jump three times and give the heart a kiss before Amy puts it inside their bears.

Next we make him extra cuddly:

 

The children each take their turn to stuff their bear. They have to press the pedal and watch as their bear comes to life before their eyes. It really is magical for the children and I saw each of their eyes light up when the bear was finished.

Every bear needs a little pampering:

 

The bears visit the hair salon. Super kid, and Robo boy put their bears under the bear hairdryers. Wonder Girl carefully grooms her bear with a brush.

Bear dresses for the occasion:

 

The children are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to dressing their bear. The range of clothes and accessories available is amazing. We spend a long time on this part as the children want to look at absolutely everything before making their choice. In the end Super Kid again keeps it simple putting his bear in a hat and Sketchers trainers. Robo Boy goes all out and his bear dons a leather biker jacket with matching trousers and biker boots. Wonder Girl chooses a Hello Kitty t-shirt and bunny rabbit slippers.

The bears also get suitcases to carry their very own passports, which can be stamped with a different stamp at each Build-A-Bear store.

Bear gets his name:

 

The children create individual birth certificates for their bears complete with bear names. Wonder Girls bear gets named Sparkle, Super Kids bear is Fudge and Robo Boy follows his brother naming his bear Fudge 2.

Bear gets his very own mobile home:

 

The bears and their birth certificates go in lovely house shaped boxes to be carried home. I’m sure the children will keep the boxes and have some fun with the bears homes too.

Bear arrives home:

 

We had a wonderful time at Build-A-Bear. The children love their bears, they are well made and I’m sure they will be treasured for years to come. The bears range in price from £9 up to £17 and the accessories are priced individually. For more details take a look at the Build-A-Bear website here.

*Disclosure: The children were each given a bear for the purposes of this review. My opinions are, as always, my own.