Build A Bear Workshop - Bears and Clothes:

Build-A-Bear Workshops are stores (over 250) where kids can "bring teddy bears to life". If you look in your local mall you will probably spot one of these teddy bear factories that seem to be gaining in popularity. The concept behind the stores is to let customers "build their own teddy bears" and personalize them. You pick the bear (or other animal), stuff it, put a small heart inside, and make a birth certificate for authenticity purposes. The stores are open for everyday shopping for bears, bear clothes, and other accessory items but the most popular use of the Build A Bear Stores is to have a birthday party where the whole crowd gets to build their own special bear. The parties start at $10/guest and go up according to what category of stuffed animal you are allowed to choose along with the add-on items. If you have 6 or more in your party you get: a party leader to entertain your guests, an autographed bear for the guest of honor, party favor for all party guests, and printable invitations and thank you cards online.

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Just last year we took our daughter there with her group of friends for her 4th Birthday party. We had made an appointment well before the scheduled date and had an wonderful time. All the kids were treated like "guests of honor" and amazingly enough no one cried, pushed, or shoved. Each girl picked their bear (or unicorn) and was able to be a part of the building process. I think we spent about $240 for the 10 girls which is a bit pricey, but then again how often does your daughter turn 4. I still find the idea of having a birthday party where I buy gifts for all the guest a strange idea, but it does seem to work Build-A-Bear. The store has done a good job of expanding well beyond just bears, now you can get unicorns, horses, cats, rabbits, and some even offer specialty items like Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street (Big Bird & Cookie Monster), and Hello Kitty. Check with the store beforehand to see what they carry before you promise any youngster anything. Most animals run about $10-$25 with a few costing more. The genius behind this whole process is that kids want to keep coming back to the store for Build-A-Bear clothing over and over again. The clothes are by no means, although they do fit well and look great. They offer bear clothes like dresses, pajamas, cheerleading outfits, swimwear, NFL uniforms, and underwear. You are going to spend at least $10 for these build a bear outfits in the store. I was able to find some quality used clothing items on Ebay for my daughter at discount prices.

Build a Bear Website:

Build a Bear Workshop is a great idea that was started some time ago. The concept is that kids either come in individually to the stores (located in malls) or plan a birthday party so that more kids can create their own teddy bear. When my daughter turned 4 we held her birthday party at the local Build a Bear store and I must say the kids had a great time. They get to pick out their favorite bear from a limited selection on the wall. They then proceed to actually stuff the bear using a machine in the store. You can choose clothing items, accessories and more to customize your bear and make it yours. The store clerks help all the way through the process and even have the kids say an oath at the end of the production line that they will "love, cherish, take care of, ... the bear forever". It's cute for kids and a little expensive for parents. All in all it was a good time and experience, but expect to spend about $20/kid if you plan a party there. As to their website, well there are plenty of fun items to be found online at http://www.buildabear.com/play/default.aspx?pageID=printables. Play online games, download printables with bears on them, get high quality desktop wallpaper pictures of various Build a Bears on your computer. They have over 40 background images to choose from and all are free. There is also a Build A Bear screensaver available.

Build A Bear Coupon:

One thing many online searchers want are Build A Bear printable coupons they can redeem in stores for savings on parties or bears/cloths. At the time of this article we did not find any coupons but we did see listings on Ebay.com and Craigslist.org for people selling coupons and coupon codes for online purchases. If you do a search on Google for "Build A Bear Coupons" you should be able to follow all the top coupon sites for up-to-date offers.

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