Build a Bear Party Etiquette ?

THe store has it well organized that it's pretty clear what is included with the party. You can pick how much you want to give with the bear. Only a rude parent would expect you to pay for more. I'd keep it small though bc there is time just sitting there while each child picks a heart and gets their bear stuffed. 3 year olds could get restless very fast.

This is how I handled my daughters party...I talked with build a bear and found out how much for a bear, one outfit and a pair of shoes. (Because I felt it was rude to invite a child to a party where you come to make and dress a bear...but only make the bear and not get to dress it.)

I also thought it rude to have parents pay for accessories on top of coming and bringing a gift.

I calculated the number kids I was willing to pay for and...

Then I told my daughter who was turning five that if she wanted her party there...and she did she, could only invite four friends. She was four and only had about four friends to invite.

The kids had a blast and were mind boggled they got to pick out an outfit and shoes.

Then we all walked down to the food court and had cupcakes that my husband has brought to the mall. He had gotten the tables earlier and had put table clothes on them, etc. Then we opened presents. Everyone went home and it was a huge hit.

We later went to a party there and the kids were only allowed a bear...I went in prepared for this and knew I was going to fork over about $30 on top of getting the girl a gift ($20-25). I told my daughter now six years old that there would probably only be a bear no outfit and if that was the case she had a lot of clothes at home. IF the other kids parents were buying outfits we could look for one but we might not get the bear one. EVERY child there was begging and pleading with parents for the extras...parents were not happy looking. My daughter looked at me and I told her we could find one outfit but no shoes today. She was thrilled and I paid for it. But I knew ahead of time...the parents that didn't were ticked.

So personally I would calculate how much you are willing to spend and give the kids a great party building a whole bear and not expect the other parents to pay for half the party so to speak. Good luck.

Call the Build A Bear people and ask them what their party levels are.

You don't want to get too involved with 3 year olds! They don't have the attention span or patience or dexterity. Sometimes these theme ideas seem like such a good idea for the adults, and they are a total bust for little kids! If you really feel you have to have a "venue party" vs. a home party with a few basic games at this age, you have to be prepared for the cost. But I would do the most basic, simple version you can, with a truly limited amount of possible accessories.

I think it's totally rude to even consider asking parents to pay for anything. You are the host and you put on the party you can afford and that is age appropriate. You only put out the choices that are within the package you have paid for.

Please be sure that this party only has a few kids. A 3 year old should have a maximum of 3 friends. A 5 year old should have 5 friends. A 7 year old can have 7 friends. We used this rule and pretty much only had home parties with old-fashioned, simple games that the kids loved because so many of their friends did the big extravaganzas that 90% of the kids really hate! Go for something simple and stop breaking the bank on things that, truly, no one cares about. It's a birthday celebration, and too many families turn it into a competition to see who can spend the most. Resist that trend and focus on the kids. You'll be happier and so will they!

I don't know about your first question - and that may vary by region, so you should just call the store.

For the 2nd/3rd - say on the invitation "Creating one bear is included in the party package. Additional accessories are available for purchase in the store after the party is over."

The first step is to call build a bear to get pricing for parties and details as to what is included. I'm sure they have different levels of pricing and what's included.

In my opinion, if you extend an invitation to an event, you pay 100% of the cost. I would never invite anyone to anything and say "but you're expected to pay for ____? You can afford the party or not. Limit the number of guests in order to pay for what you can afford.

Be specific with your invitation so it's clear who is invited. "____ would like to invite _____ to her 3rd birthday party at build a bear at (location) on (date) from (time). Snacks and cake will be provided. You can put on the invitation exactly what the party includes if you want to be clearer ( Ex: the party includes 1 preselected bear choice and 1 outfit). Your selection of bears will most likely be limited to the price point of the package.... as in preselected menu choices at events.

Depending on the timing of the party depends on the food choices. If you have a party that is during a lunch time span... serve a light lunch including supervising parents. Same for a dinner time. If during an afternoon serve snacks and cake.

Most places that book parties will have a list of your attendees to check in with the guest name only.

The parties are fun but they can get pricey!!

I would call or check website to see what's involved, and figure out your budget.

My kids went to a build a bear party in preschool, and they made very basic bears. They had a very plain teeshirt that they wrote the bear's name on to decorate/identify it.

These bears were much less fancy than the ones they made with their Grandma when she took them. So I am assuming that there are different price levels to choose from.

I personally would not want to get involved in parents buying accessories etc. If one kid sees a parent buy a whole getup, and they don't get one, it's going to sour the party.

I would just do a bear, simple top (or similar) and that's that. If the kids see something to buy after the party - that's their own business. Party would have ended. Just keep it simple.

I think you would be best served by calling up Build-a-Bear and asking your first question. Find out from them directly what the packages include (I'm confident they have more than one package plan to choose from, and what you want to pay will affect what you get). I'm also sure they've had to address this issue before you, and will have a suggestion about how to handle it, or something to suggest you say/include on the invitation. Just ask them.

Yes, it is rude to extend and invite that notes your asking that the invitee pay for anything. If I received that kind of open build a bear invitation, I would be irritated because that stuff is expensive, and I'm pretty sure I'd end having to spend a whole bunch of money just so my child could participate in the fun with the other girls. It creates an awkward position because who knows how much the other parents are going to spend at the store at the end of the party when they come to pick up? It makes setting limits challenging. I don't have an issue saying no, but no one wants to be a downer at a birthday party. The best way to do this venue as a party is to keep in VERY small, so you can treat each girl to an extra or a few, for her bear, whatever is within your budget. I would go to the store and get an idea of how much things cost, and how they can work with you. If they have a minimum number and an official "party package" I'd really consider if it was less expensive just to take a few kids for a "birthday outing" and let them build the bear, but then go have cake at home or the food court, like someone else had mentioned, instead of buying a "party package"

I've had 2 build-a-bear parties...one for my son's birthday and one for our girl scout troop. There are distinct party levels for various budgets like others suggested. The bears are cute for the cheapest level but they are basically all the same.

For my son's party we let them get a bear and an accessory. The accessories were cute. They had like glasses, magic wands, hockey sticks, etc. It wasn't that much more, maybe $4/pp. For the GS party, we ordered bear-sized t-shirts from Amazon and had the girls decorate them for their bears. It was adorable. The shirts were like $3 a piece or so.

BAB does not allow you to have cake or anything in their store, so we used the food court in the mall where the store was located. It was perfect. If you go the amazon t-shirt route you could have kids decorate and dress their bear there. Fabric markers or sharpies would work fine.

No, it is not rude to ask guest to pay for extra items. The animal should be covered by you, but if they want extra cloths ect that is on them and IMO no reasonable person would expect you to pay for such items. I think itsacrazylifewith5's suggestion on wording is perfect.

That said, at 3 the kids might be a touch young for this kind of party.

Tell them on the invitation that the party includes one $19.99 animal that you will pay for and any/all accessories they wish to add will need to be paid for by them. Bring party favors and see if they'll let you bring in snacks for the kids.

Normally , I would say it is rude to invite people to a party and tell them to pay for something. However, for something like this I don't think it is. You can just include a note on the invitation that the party include a choice of a group of animals (I think they do limit which ones can be included for the party price without paying extra) and then stuffed. Additional outfits are not included but can be purchased after the party. A friend had one for her niece and the helpers at the store were great (10 4-yr old) but was glad she had extra help on hand with all the questions and excitement the kids had. Plus they were able to keep them focused on the bears and stuffing and away from the outfits.

Age 3 is super young but she will be excited because what 3 year old doesn't love stuffed animals! Yes it would be rude to ask the parents to pay for anything. You should only do what you can afford...maybe this means inviting your niece and 2 of her friends instead of a big party. I think they get one stuffed animal and one outfit. Check the website or call them to look up party packages.

I'm not sure about any of it. I think it's a sweet idea. Doesn't she have a little friend she could take and not invite a bunch of kids? I can't imagine it will be fun and low stress if there are a dozen kids running around acting crazy. That would also be very expensive.

I would word it like this:

"Girls name here is invited to attend a Build A Bear birthday party for Birthday girl's name here. This will include a bear of your girls choosing/a $XX price range bear. Unfortunately they only include one outfit for the bear with the party option.

If you'd like to come with your girls name here you are more than welcome. Thank you".

I think you should let your guys know what WILL BE INCLUDED. Some people may want to buy more for their child while they are there. Or they may want to build one for a child who was not invited.

"This party will include a bear and one accessory per invited child." You can have the Build the Bear host/worker tell your guests what is included in the party and let them purchase anything extra.

It is so obnoxious for guests to be greedy. A friend of mind said some guests were making more as christmas gifts on her dime (not at build a bear, a different make your own party store). Super rude. Your niece is only 3, so I am assuming the guests are your friends and family not just random classmate from school.