Our family recently discovered Build-A-Bear Workshop and we love it! We have been there long ago and have seen it many times walking through the mall, but to go with young ones is a whole new adventure.
In this blog, I'll share how we turned our second trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop into a budgeting lesson for our young ones. I want to help you be a mom (or dad) boss so you can help your child be the smartest kid on the block with plenty of real world applicable learning.
We first went to Build-A-Bear a few months ago and found out about the "pay your age" special. This means that your child can choose a birthday bear and pay $1 for each year old she is. For example, we got one for my daughter and it was only $1 because she turned one! This is something we will do every year!
Now that my daughter and two nieces had their birthday bears, we planned a second trip and I gave them each $10 to spend. (My nieces got some more money from their parents.) But knowing the amount before going to the store help them be in a mindset of picking and choosing what they would want. My eight-year-old niece did really well with this concept!
If you're going to Build-A-Bear Workshop, here are some tips to make it an enjoyable experience! Check out our videos and watch our experiences from our first trip and from our second trip!
Before
- Watch our video on YouTube to have an idea of what to expect in the store! Here's a video of our second trip there.
- Check out their website. If you're budget conscientious, you can go at a time with certain promotions and during your child's birthday month.
- Set a budget and help your child understand how many items it might buy. If they are too familiar with monetary concepts yet, let them know how many items they get to choose (for example, one outfit and one other item).
- Take a tour of the store and show your child all that there is available to buy. There are several stations in the store and LOTS of up-sell options. You can add outfits, accessories, voice boxes and scents just to name a few.
- Have a piece of paper with the total budget on it and subtract the items as your child picks them out. If you have a child in at least first grade, they will have a better idea of this concept and might grasp it easier. For preschoolers, you may have to say they get to pick one outfit and one toy for the bear.
- The first time we went, my eight-year-old niece got a voice box and this second trip, my five-year-old niece wanted the voice box with her budget. This company is great for allowing stuff to be added to the bear after the fact, like new stuffing, voice boxes and of course the clothes and accessories. Having already bought our bears last trip helped us save money this second trip.
- Be present and help your child make choices. It can be such a fun experience to enjoy together.
- Play pretend together with the new Bear your child has picked out.
- I love watching my one year old pretend to feed dolls. After this last trip, she was pretending to feed with a baby spoon, blew on the teacup to cool it down and actually folded her hands to pray like we do when we sit down to eat! My one year old learns a lot from her two cousins. Your baby will benefit from pretend play with you too!
- Letting your child have a Bear or any dolly for that matter is teaching your child responsibility and taking care of something. This is also teaching life skills, how to care for others, being aware of others and using her imagination.
