Build-A-Bear Is Having A "Pay Your Age" Day This Month — Here's How It Works

Does anything compare to the rush you felt when visiting a Build-A-Bear Workshop as a kid? There is truly no place in the world like it. The stuffed animal workshop and boutique allows kids and kids-at-heart to create and customize their own plush friends. Before Build-A-Bear, a stuffed animal owning a complete, extensive wardrobe of its own was unheard of. If you haven't stopped in to one lately now is the time to go. This Thursday, July 12, Build-A-Bear is celebrating "Pay Your Age Day" nationwide.

If you have yet to visit a Build-A-Bear, bear in mind it is not merely a shop, but an entire experience. Once you enter, you choose a deflated, unstuffed animal shell. You take it to a fluffing station, give it a fabric heart, a press-able sound if you prefer, and fill it with fluff until it is huggable to your heart's content. You then craft, and give it a birth certificate; no stuffed buddy is legitimate without proper documentation. Once it is fully birthed you can take it to the boutique and outfit your new friend in any array of getups — from business casual to beachwear. The plush possibilities are endless, and on Thursday they are inexpensive, too.

The first "Pay Your Age Day" works exactly the way it sounds. When you visit any location of BABW on Thursday, you can create and snag any stocked stuffed animal, and pay whatever age you are. Have s group of toddlers you need to occupy for a few hours? Take 'em to Build-A-Bear and let them make an animal for less than five dollars. For this price, you can even snag and stuff any number of licensed characters that typically carrier a heftier price tag. Characters available right now include a Tyrannosaurus Rex from Jurassic World and and the Sunshine Shimmer My Little Pony. The promotion maxes out at $29, so if you just celebrated the big 3-0 or above, don't hesitate to stop in anyway.

This all sounds too good to be true. So, what's the catch? Well, it is not so much of a catch as it is a condition. To participate in Pay Your Age Day, you (or your guardian if you are under the age of eighteen) must first enroll in Build-A-Bear's free loyalty club program. As it only requires a name and an email address, enrolling in the program is a pretty low price to pay for an inexpensive stuffed friend.

Plus, Build-A-Bear understands just how poppin' this event might be, and wants to ensure all those who wish to cele-bear-ate are able to do so. If you arrive, child in tow, to the workshop on Thursday only to find it is overflowing with people, you have the option purchase just the animal shell and return to stuff it at a later, less busy date. So, really, there is no excuse to not get in on this promotion.

Build-A-Bear first opened in St.Louis, Missouri in 1997. In the 21 years since its founding, the company has sold millions of stuffed animals at its more than 400 locations worldwide. Founder Maxine Clark credits the brand's success with approaching the creation of each bear as a personal, intimate experience. Per the Build-A-Bear website, Clark emphasizes this by, "...delivering a consistent approach to creating emotional connections with Guests through a unique high-touch service model delivered by our very important Bear Builders."

This attention to detail will come as little surprise to Build-A-Bear veterans. Customers can tell that no detail is overlooked in the bear production process. Everything is special — from warming and kissing the heart that is to be inserted into each animal, to giving each one an air-pressure "bath." Even the boxes customers carry their bears home in are highly detailed.

You're probably overdue for a nostalgic visit to Build-A-Bear. Head on over to your nearest workshop this Thursday to relive the magic once again.