Recently on a rainy day, I decided to take my kids to Build-a-Bear. It was a perfect opportunity to get their little legs moving and out of the house while we all stayed dry!
Build-a-Bear has many ways of incorporating language concepts and math concepts into your visit. While my kiddos picked out their bears we discussed the size (big vs little), how many bears they had by counting them, and the colors of the different bears. My kids were excited to see they had Avenger bears. My son picked out Captain America and my daughter picked out the Hulk.
Next we talked about how our bears were EMPTY and what we needed to do to make them FULL. They each picked out a heart and a “voice” for their bears. An employee guided them on how to FILL their EMPTY bear and then tied their finished bear up.
Next came the cleaning. Our bears were DIRTY from “napping” in the bear bin. It was time to make them CLEAN. My kiddos were full of giggles as they gave their new friends imaginary baths and brushed them.
My quick-thinking son discovered a way to get me to buy their bears clothes. He told me their bears were COLD and clothes would make them WARM. Of course he was 100% correct, and I was pleased to see he had picked up on my embedded language lesson of opposites. So, of course I let them both pick out some clothes.
Finally they had the opportunity to name their bear. My son practiced his sounding-out skills to spell his bear’s name, while my daughter just banged away on the keyboard. Regardless of what their birth certificates looked like, they both enjoyed creating a certificate for their bear.
The employees were great about kneeling down to their level to help them place their bears in their box. We counted how many bears we had, cashed out, I provided a mini-money lesson to my kids while I was paying, and then modeled how to thank the employees for all of their help before we left.
It was a slightly pricey rainy day activity, but we were able to incorporate a lot of different concepts to extend our trip to Build-a-Bear!
Build-A-Bear Workshop in Kenwood Towne Centre
513-794-1333
buildabear.com
Mom Reporter Tina Pratt is the mom of two littles. She is a former PreK- 5 special education teacher that now works as a behavior coach. She enjoys being a tourist in her own town and finding ways to embed lessons into everyday fun!