Keeping a Build a Bear party "cheap"?

[PixieDustandEeyore]

make sure to let us know how the party goes!

 

[Kit'smommy]

Wow! I can't believe the number of people on here who think it is cheap or weird to not include an outfit. DS has gone to a few build a bear parties and has never received anything other than the animal. We have purchased five other animals and the only time we have dressed one was when we dressed a bear up in a marine uniform for his daddy as a gift. All those naked animals on my son's bed - gee I never knew we were missing out by not buying clothing...

I would say to pick the party package you can afford and know the children will have a great time.

 

[adisneymama]

Maybe a post hi-jack... but I have a question...



As leader, I am now thinking of asking my parents *not* to buy extras at the party. Until this thread, I never even assumed that parents would consider that, in the first place!

The girls are paying for the bears through their collective hard work selling cookies. Just like the girl who sells one box of cookies has equal say in the money as the girls who sell 100 boxes, I think they should all share in an equal BAB experience.

Can't they go back later and buy all the extras, not in front of the rest of the children?

This is exactly what our troop did with the money they raised last year and the leaders said no extra money! Worked out great! Yes they can go anytime they like and just buy an outfit.

 

[tikilyn]

I just wanted to post that this week I received in the mail a BAB book that had a free bear coupon in it. Dh and I went and picked out a bear for one of our kids but we didn't have it stuff. Now I'm just looking out for another coupon or discount code. I also received the same coupon back in November but I forgot to use it, dang it!

HTHs

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Hi - Thanks so much for the posts. I was going to have my dd 5th birthday in May at Build a Bear. Just saw the coupon. So everyone feels that boys would like this as well, correct? I have the 20% coupon and the$5 coupon. So if I understand correctly - you buy the animals ahead of time and bring them back? If you stick wth the $10 to 12 animals are you really only paying $5 to 6 per animal. Then the day of the party they go stuff the bear and pick out an outfit? I have never been to build a bear. So I am not sure how it works. I am running out to party places around where I live so I thought this would be a good idea. Another questoin for all my dd other parties the parents always stayed. I would prefer that. I certainly don't want to be responsible for an children running off in the mall. The King of Prussia Mall in PA is large. I will have to look into the food court idea because I live about 15-20 minutes from the mall and would not want the spend time driving back and forth not to mention having to pick-up after the party. I had my last two parties at Romp N Roll and Gymboree. They were great. Two hours. Kids had so much fun running around and then they each had a room for pizza and cake. Anyway, any suggestions would be great. Thanks so much.

The food court at KOP sounds like a good solution, it's a sneeze away from BAB. Even if you snagged a few tables in the bottom recessed part of the food court, that would be ideal!

 

[justwinnie]

If anyone has a 20% off party coupon they aren't using, could you PM me the code or mail it to me? I would really appreciate it!

Thank you in advance!

My daughter had her 4th birthday party there and it was so well run! She finally settled on having her 7th birthday party there this year. The mall will allow us to save an area of seats in the food court so we'll do pizza or Wendy's meals there. If I go with Wendy's, I'll probably make up order forms and ask the kids to fill out at the beginning while they're waiting for everyone to arrive. Then I'll send my husband over to save seats and order the food.

 

[mamaLori05]

We did this when dd turned 7, and though it was a fun party, I had 3 kids cry/beg for the more expensive bears. I set the limit to be fair, and two of the moms offered to pay the difference, and the one dad of the other girl told me that his daughter "deserved" the more expensive bear and he stuck me with the difference. I was appalled at the rudeness at my dd's party! My dd's have always been thrilled to be invited to a Build a Bear party and would never have asked for anything more. At the time we were in a different region of the country and their manners are just NOT there. Good luck.

OH MY!! I can not believe that!! If he wanted to upgrade his dd's bear, then fine,whatever, but to make you do it? I think I would have told him no way and flat out told him he was being rude!

 

[mamaLori05]

What happened to having our children appreciate what they are given and not expect more? I don't think it is "wrong" as implied here to not pay for clothing for the bears. If that is the party you want to have then by all means do so. I am not doing anything "wrong" by not. Just because I am inviting you to a birthday party does not mean I have to go all out for it. Again, if you want to do that then by all means do so. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the outfits if you can and or want to, just that I am not obligated to do so. Last year after paying for all the kids at DS party to not only buy a bear and an outfit, one child very rudely asked where the goody bags were! My friend handled it perfectly and reminded said child "that bear in the box there is the goody bag!"
All that said to say I don't think there is a wrong or right way to do a party. It should be up to each parent and what they are comfortable with.

I totally agree. I think the Bear is an awesome party favor, which is what it is. I can't BELIEVE people think someone else should buy their kid something better. It's not THEIR birthday!! If we went to a BAB party and clothing was not an option, I would simply tell my child sorry, but no. Kids do need to hear NO once in a while! Yes we do have some BAB clothing, but honestly, my dd and ds have fun dressing their bears in their own clothing. Does it fit perfect, no, but they enjoy doing it. Nothing wrong with a little imagination!

 

[mamaLori05]

Fair enough May I ask then, if you were in my troop, would you agree to comply with my rule? Or just do your own thing anyways? Please, this isn't meant to be a snarky question, just trying to gain from a different perspective than my own.

I just ask, because it is my hope that parents will follow along, even if they would otherwise choose to buy extras at another event. Kind of want this to be a bonding event for the troop too. Where, you may have all kinds of other BAB's but *this one* you made with your sister Girl Scouts... not just another BAB

When I was student teaching, we took our Kindergarten class to BAB for a field trip. The parents were told that NO extra's would be allowed to be purchased, and to not send along extra money. They were building the $10 bear and that was it. The chaperones were also told to not buy any extras, as it would cause hurt feelings amoung the other children. The parents did follow the rules, and everyone was fine.

 

[Priorityonecb]

We've done two parties at BAB, but always on our own. Once dd was allowed to invite one friend and we let them buy anything and everything they wanted. They went all out and we encouraged it fully. They had a blast!

The second time dd invited two friends and we put a limit on the cost. I told each child they could spend $25. If they wanted an expensive bear and just a tshirt, they could. If they wanted a cheap $10 bear and a nicer outfit, they could. Their choice. They too had a great time!

Both parties were a success.

 

[mamaLori05]

I have to say, if I had a BAB party and any of the parents were that rude about what I was giving them for a party favor, they definately would not be invited to another party. I am just amazed at the rudeness!! Seriously, you would tell someone that they did not give YOUR child enough??? That is just unbelievable!!! I think "just" the bear is very generous. I'm sorry, flame away, but parents who think like that should be ashamed of themselves. WHAT are you teaching your children??? And yes, I am a mother of 2 young ones.

 

[drcmk]

When my daughter had a build a bear party, I found a place on line that sold plain (or colored) bear sized tee shirts. They were way cheap (maybe $1 each) and we took along some fabric markers and personalized each shirt with the bear's name.

I first saw a build a bear store in my area about ten years ago. I'm amazed at how busy the stores still are, now that the idea is far from a Novelty. How many bears can each kid have?

 

[scrapbookingmanda]

How does prebuying the unstuffed bears work? Do they ring it up differently so that on the receipt it shows you only bought the shell? If I can get ahold of enough of the $5 off $10 coupons this would be a great deal, but it expires Feb. 28 and I wouldn't be doing the party until April.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have never done a party as we did not have a store nearby when DS was little and we are just getting into the party thing with DGS3.

We have done the bears many times however and the reality is I like dressing them more than the kids do!!!

I would not have ANY issue with the host only doing a bear but my issue would be doing the party and having parents buy extra stuff for their child when some of my guest's parent may not be able to do that. I think it is very rude of the parents to buy more, almost like saying what you gave us is not enough.

I would like to do a BAB party as DGS loves the place. Has anyone ever put anything on the invites such as "please avoid extra purchase during the party time"???????

 

[ceecee]

We did a BAB party for my DD with 9 kids, I told them I wanted to spend $15.00 per child and the party coordinator was terrific about helping the girls decide. The condos had in them a $5.00 coupon, a little paper book, stickers and the certificate with lots of extra bows. DD got an autograph bear pillow and a Birthday CD with 4 songs on it. We had cupcakes (with bears of course) and juice at the food court. One of my best (easiest!) parties ever!