What: Build-A-Bear
Where: Various Locations
Who: All ages
Our view: Build-A-Bear is stuffed animal lover's dream. For parents whose homes are already over run with stuffed animals maybe not so much. There are plenty of animals, outfits and accessories to appeal to boys as well as girls. A lot of them can be kind of pricey, however. They only have about 3 animals available to make at the lower end of the price scale and those three never seem to change while the higher priced items are constantly changing. It can be hard to find inexpensive outfits and accessories as well. If your kids have a fondness for stuffed animals and their accessories and are prone to begging, you might want to steer clear. Otherwise, unless you have really little kids who wouldn't understand, we would recommend coming to an agreement before you get to the store about what they will and will not be allowed to get. It is actually much easier to stick to a budget if you are having a birthday part at Build-A-Bear. In fact, birthday parties at Build-A-Bear are quite a good not too expensive birthday party option. If you have a birthday party at Build-A-Bear, you choose options and a budget, and the staff will put together items for your guests to choose from beforehand. At the party, they will offer your guests only these items to choose from so your guests won't be tempted to pick out higher priced items that are outside of your budget. If you decide to allow your guests to pick out every item for themselves, chances are the costs will add up quickly. Another nice thing about a birthday party at Build-A-Bear is that since most Build-A-Bear's that we have been to are in malls and don't necessarily have a party room, there is no extra charge for use of the party room as there is in many other places. No party room, however, does present the problem of where to serve cake and other food you plan to serve at the party. Where we live, most people decide to do so either at Friendly's or the food court which are both located in the same mall as Build-A-Bear, but you can choose the option that is best for you depending on what is available at your location and what fits in your budget. For more information or to find a location near you go to http://www.buildabear.com.
And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for another Talking Topic.
