Amy and I had a very special mummy – daughter date this morning. We braved wind and rain and ventured into town to create Amy’s very own furry Valentine on invitation of the lovely people from Build a Bear.

Amy had been talking about making her own teddy for days, but once we arrived in the workshop and she was presented with the massive shelf of cuddly toys, she got quite overwhelmed by it all. Luckily, we had Lucy by our side. Lucy is one of the chef bearmakers at Build a Bear in Bristol’s Broadmead Galleries and showed Amy the Valentine’s range before helping her to build her very own furry friend. Much to my surprise, Amy didn’t choose the pink Hello Kitty or cute little elephant that I had secretly eyed up when checking out the range at home. Nope, my daughter built the most random creature the workshop has ever seen.

Roar, that’s what she named her new friend, wears beige Safari trousers, a black and red Heart Throb t-shirt with hood, red sequined pumps and a pink handbag. Oh and do you know the cute sound buttons that you can at to the paws of your cuddly toy? None of that for Amy! Her lion plays the Star Wars theme tune when you press his paw. Don’t ask me why she was drawn to the Star Wars theme tune, she has never even watched any of the movies, but it had to be this sound and no other!

The next step was filling Roar’s belly with lots of with fluff and Lucy really got Amy involved in this part. Amy loved pushing the pedal down and sending lots of fluffy stuffing into her lion’s belly and when it came to giving Roar a shower, she was in her element. The shower made Roar’s fur really soft and fluffy and Amy loved brushing it to make him look extra pretty. Amy got so excited by it, she was still talking about it when I took her up to bed this evening.

After stuffing, showering and dressing Roar, Amy also made him a birth certificate, which I think is a really lovely part of the experience. Amy is still a little young to understand the whole meaning behind it, but it’s fun touch that makes the experience extra special for older children.

Would I take Amy again? Absolutely! Admittedly, Build a Bear toys are a little more expensive than your average stuffed animal, but Amy really had a magical experience that I am sure we’ll repeat again over the coming months and years. The quality of the toys and the fun little and not so little ones have when creating their special furry friend really makes the extra pounds well spent.

If you want to build a bear or any of the many other animals available in Build-a-bear workshops, make sure to support the Starlight Children’s Foundation by buying one of the special purple silk hearts available for a £1 donation in store All proceeds go to the “Million Hearts, Million Wishes, Million Ways to Help” campaign that supports seriously ill children.

Another way to get involved with the campaign is using social media. Make a friend and share a photo of them on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram using #shareukbabwishes. For every photo shared, £1 will be donated to the campaign! Find more about it here.

We were invited by Build a Bear Workshops to create a Valentine’s friend free of charge. Our views are 100% honest.