This Sunday my boys were in for a treat as we took them to make Promise Pets at Build A Bear Workshop. I will be totally honest with you, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Build A Bear. I love that your little one can choose a soft toy, stuff it to their required amount of hug-ability and then create the birth certificate. I am not so keen on the fact that I am left wondering whether it should be dressed in sunglasses and roller skates. I have put way more thought into the wardrobes of bears than I have my own in recent years. My biggest tip for the shop is to set a budget before you go in. They have thought of everything. Sounds, vibrating hearts, scents and anything a cool soft toy could possibly want to wear.

Anyway I digress. We were there to review Promise Pets and I have to say I love them. More importantly so do the boys. Firstly, they look like real animals. Secondly, there is a free app that goes with them, which is an added bonus to keep the kids in love with them. Thirdly, although you can buy a million accessories for them, like leads and dog bowls, you don't need too.

Here is a selection of the Promise Pet accessories you can purchase if you wish.

In my opinion the Promise Pets are great as they are and you don't need to buy extras if you don't wish. Infact the whole idea is similar to a Furby but you have the added bonus that they don't require batteries and wont talk you in the middle of the night talking.

When we arrived, the boys hurried over to choose which pet they wanted. I have to say I was pleased that they all chose different pets. I thought it was lovely that our helper got down to the children's level to talk to them and make them feel they were important.



Next we were taken to the stuffing machine to help stuff the pets.


The machine was a bit low in stuffing so the boys were more than happy to help fill it back up.


They then took a heart for their pets, kissed them and made a wish before they were tied up. There were cat and dog sounds for the pets if you wished to pay extra but we chose not too.

Next the pets needed a quick groom.


Then it was off to sort out their birth certificates, before placing in their special carry cases to take home.



The promise pets are £19 each. As I said earlier, there is also a free app (Android and Apple) you can download. As soon as the boys were back they wanted to see what it was all about.

Once the app is downloaded you can choose the pet that you have purchased to appear in the games. in effect you are caring for your pet by making sure that it goes to the toilet, checking for fleas and feeding. The games are simple but engaging and middle man who is 5 is extremely taken with this aspect of the toy.



All in all I was really impressed with the service in the shop. Whilst our store is quite small and pretty busy, the children are always made to feel special. The Promise Pets look nice and the added element of the app makes them more entertaining.




We recieved the Promise Pets for the purpose of this review but the opinions are my own.