My younger daughter turned 4 recently and as a special surprise her sister really wanted to take her to Build-A-Bear Workshop to celebrate. It seemed like a fun idea, however, we were surprised to find that there are only a few stores in the Chicago area - Navy Pier, Oakbrook Center, and Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumberg. Since it was a holiday weekend we opted to skip Navy Pier and went to the Woodfield Shopping Center. Since my kids live in the City, we don't normally get to malls so they were super impressed to see so many stores in one building!
If you are unfamiliar, as we were, the general gist of Build A Bear Workshop is that you pick the outer shell of a stuffed animal, help stuff it and then customize it. The stuffed animals range in price from $10 for a plain teddy bear up to $25 for slightly larger or more specialty type items. Once you have selected your creature it is time to have it stuffed. As extras (they range in price from about $3 to $8), scent or sound can be added into the stuffing of your animal and every friend gets a little heart included in the middle. The kids get to push down the peddle to have the stuffing fill up their bear and a store employee stitches the animal together. At the store we went to the employees who interacted with our children were very friendly and definitely enhanced the experience for them. In addition, the stitching was done well and we haven't had any problems with it coming apart.
After your stuffed creature is put together, it is time to accessorize. There is a wide multitude of outfits you can purchase as well as glasses, hats, sports gear, houses, cars ... really just about anything you can imagine. The last step, before you pay of course, is naming your bear and creating a birth certificate for him or her. There are a couple of computers in the store where you can enter the information and then print out the certificate. The bears are packaged in a great carrying box but my girls wanted to take them out immediately so we ended up carrying the bears and these big boxes throughout the mall.
We let our girls add a scent and pick out a dress and shoes for their animals to wear. I have to say I was a bit taken aback by the price of everything. It ended up being about $50 per bear. I guess you are also paying for the experience, and the girls really did enjoy picking out everything for themselves. We had a great time but given the price it will probably be a once or maybe twice in a childhood experience.
