The Build-a-bear experience

The morning started with excitement in the air as we got ready to take little Mr A to Build-a-bear worhshop for the first time. I had walked past the shop in Cardiff's St Davids many times but never really ventured in to see what it was all about. We told Mr A that he was going to see lots of bears and he was very excited by this prospect even though I am not sure he fully understood what the day entailed. He ran all the way from the car, through the shopping centre to the shop and then stood still as if slightly overwhelmed. The staff were so friendly that very soon he felt at ease and comfortable and made his pick of a little dog to call his own. After he picked what he was kind of soft toy he was going to stuff we had to pick a noise to go inside the dog, so of course we went for the barking sound, then it was off to the stuffing part of the experience.

Mr A was not fazed by the loud noise of the stuffing machine and watched with wide eyes as his dog started to come to life. He then got to pick a heart to put inside his pup, first he had to rub it on his tummy so his pup would never go hungry, then on his arms so he would be strong and then give it a kiss so pup knew he would be loved.

After he was all sown up Mr A decided on the name "Woof" for his new best friend. He walked over to the brushing table and got to stand on the foot pedal to make the wind blow on Woof and made him all clean and shinny. Mr A also got to pick out some clothes for Woof and wow was there a lot of choice from glasses to jackets to shorts, anything you could imagine but in the end he went for a little grey hoodie which has cute little slits for his ears to pop through and a pair of denim trousers with a tail hole. After Woof was all dressed and ready to go we registered Woof and received his Birth Certificate in a lovely box house along with a little colouring book.

It was love at first sight for Mr A, who carried around his box with a huge smile on his face for the rest of the day and told everyone about it. The best thing is we as parents got just as much out of the expierence as Mr A, we loved seeing his face light up and his fascination by the proccess and he really got into it and loved making his own special friend. It's a perfect expierence for birthdays and gifts for loved ones and I am sure we will be back again, highly recommended. We just want to say thanks to the lovely people at Build-a-bear Cardiff who invited us to review the experience for the blog and gave us Woof as a gift.

What we wore to Build-a-Bear

Little Mr A wore a Mini Club lumberjack jacket

Fred Perry polo shirt

Next chinos

Converse shoes

Laura wore a H&M sheer shirt

A thrifted W collection denim shirt over

Thrifted River Island trousers

Asos penny loafers

John wore a Ralph Lauren Jackets

Albam jeans

Jack Purcell Converse