About Us

Welcome to the magical world of Be My Bear, our award-winning childrens party company specialising in creative party kits.

Here you can find easy to make teddy bear, animal and raggy-doll kits, clothing and accessories for the ultimate in hands-on creative fun whether you are running a party or looking for a unique and individual gift.

It's so simple with our no-sew kits! Pick a skin, stuff and fluff, make a wish, name and dress your bear, and even record your very own special message. You don't need goody bags as each child goes home with a new best friend they have made themselves.

We give you step-by-step instructions on how to organise the best party on the block or book one of our party organisers to run it for you!

Each standard bear-making kit includes skin, stuffing, wish upon a star charm, birth certificate, deluxe carry bag and invitations. Optional extras include voice boxes, T-shirts to personalise and decorate and a fantastic range of clothing. Prices start from just £5.50 per head.

Make a Bear Instructions

Choose a skin from the huge range of Be My Bear products available. There is a choice of bears and animals for everyone's budget with creatures of different shapes and sizes to suit all tastes. Make your selection from the 8, 12 or 15 inch range of teddies and animals whether you partial to crocodiles or puppies, rabbits or flamingos, the choice is endless.

Stuff and fluff your bear or animal with our super-soft stuffing made from deluxe poly fibre. You can make ted as slim or as plump and soft or as firm as you like – whatever you decided you'll love him or her for ever! Tease out the stuffing, so that it is soft and fluffy. Begin by filling the legs, making them as soft or as firm as they like. Next stuff the arms; don't overstuff as this can damage the fabric, but make sure the stuffing is evenly distributed. You do not have to use all the stuffing provided, just as much as you like. Continue stuffing until the bear is nice and cuddly.

Rub the star charm and make a special wish, then place inside ted's chest. Picture 0061 The back has a zipper closure so make sure you have finished stuffing before you zip it up. Once you have done this, remove the thread from the zipper. This will now be secure and will not re-open. There is a Velcro fastening for a neat finish. A protective fabric strip may be attached to the Velcro which has to be removed before you can seal the animal. If for any reason you do need to re-open the back you can insert a needle into the eye of the zipper and ease it down. This must only be done by an adult.

Now for the naming ceremony, one of the most important parts of personalising your bear. Choose a name and fill in the birth certificate as well as entering the date and place of birth.

Give your bear a big hug and introduce him or her to your friends. Be sure to place your new friend securely in your Deluxe Carry Home Bag to keep them safe on the journey!

Record a Message Instructions

If you have ordered a voice box it is a good idea to record your message before zipping up your bear. If you make a mistake you can re-record but we recommend you only record a couple of times as this will use up the battery quickly and will reduce the number of play times. Follow the easy recording instructions (below), then place the voice box inside the bear either in the tummy or in the paw with the play button facing upwards. (For pre-recorded sound modules pull the tab from the back of the box to activate the batteries and squeeze to play sound).

Instructions:Rotate the upper part of the voice box until the recording button is exposed.

Then press and hold the recording button on the voice box to record your message (10 second recording time) - the red light will show as it is being recorded.

Press the outer button to play your message back. You can re-record following the same procedure until you are happy with your greeting.

When you are happy with your message rotate the upper plate until the black speaker is exposed. Place the voice box into the hand or tummy of the bear/doll with the play button facing outwards. NB. We recommend you only re- record a couple of times as this will use up the battery quickly and will reduce the number of play times.

Decorate a T-Shirt

Why not accessorise with a plain T-shirt which can be personalised using our fabric pens, or choose from a range of pre-printed T-shirts from pirates to birthday cakes to colour in.

Outfits & Accessories

We have a fantastic range of outfits and accessories for every occasion. Boys may like to dress their bear in our range of superheroes costumes while girlie girls always love the pink princess gowns and fairy dresses. Team with trainers or satin shoes or for a night-time bear opt for super soft snuggly slippers – there's something for every ted's wardrobe.

How to Order

You can order direct from our website or by telephone. There are friendly Be My Bear advisors on the end of the telephone line from 9am till 5pm Monday till Friday who will give you lots of advice on how to have the best party ever. We will send you the invitations ahead of time at no extra cost just email us your address along with the number of invitations you require. If you have a last minute urgent request call us on 01492 544666 and we will do our level best to get an order out to you within 24 hours.

We offer sale or return on all unopened kits as we know only too well how planning numbers for your party can be really difficult, often children are not able to come for whatever reason.

If you don't want to run your own party we have over 180 party planners in the UK who will come to a venue of your choice and deliver a great Be My Bear party experience, some may even throw in a few magic tricks.

Email us at enquiries@bemybear.com with your postcode for details of your local party planner.

Party Tips

The ideas below can be adapted to suit the age of the party-goers. If you are running a party for older children, make sure you organise a suitable activity instead of the traditional games aimed at younger children which we will include a list of with your order.

It's always a good idea to let the children burn off some energy with some party games. Try a teddy bear treasure hunt (organise a trail with coloured twists of crepe paper hidden in the garden or hall in which the party is being held). Place a teddy or doll at the end of the trail with a present or a message relating to the next party game or hide the bear or rag-doll skins for the children to find. Older children will also enjoy a treasure hunt; just come up with some cryptic clues and leave markers en route. What about a quiz – it could be bear-related or completely unrelated with questions on pop etc.

If you have purchased t-shirts for decorating, children will enjoy spending time creating the ultimate artistic creations with fabric pens, beads and stick-on jewels etc. They can also stitch on beads or buttons to vary the design.

You may have unusual ideas of your own and the internet is also a good source. Tell us about any particularly successful or novel ideas you have had.

You may also like to add an extra special ingredient to your party – decorated cupcakes to celebrate the birth of the new bears. Buy some plain cupcakes and a variety of cake decorations such as hundreds and thousands, jelly tots etc, ready-to-roll icing, candles and candle holders. Each child can then create their special cake and after the birthday girl/boy has blown out the candles on her cake, every child can do the same with the specially decorated cake for his/her teddy bear.

PARTY IDEAS:

Meet and greet. Give the children stick-on labels to decorate and write their names on (if you know their names, they're easier to control!) Allow approx 10 minutes for this; hopefully all the children will have arrived by then, and you will be able to start the party.
When you are ready to start making the bears, settle the children in a circle on the floor or around a table and create a calm atmosphere. The children must be quiet so that you can talk them through the process. Children react better when the organiser speaks quietly as they want to hear what you are saying. Distribute skins and stuffing. When they are ready to insert the star, make this step as magical as possible – let the birthday girl/boy distribute a star to each of their guests. Make sure the children are silent while they rub the star and make a wish before they place it inside the bear.
Have plenty of pencils and felt tips available to fill in the birth certificate. It is always a good idea to fill the details in pencil first to avoid mistakes – the children can then go over it with felt pens. Try to ensure that they choose an individual name, rather than copying each other. They can then call out the name they have chosen for their special bear.
These activities should take approx one and a half hours. Allow 30 minutes for the birthday tea - a teddy bear's picnic always goes down well and the children can take their bears in with them for tea.

Party Games!

CHINESE WHISPERS:

Sit everyone in a circle. Whisper a long phrase to one person. They, in turn, whisper what they heard to the next person, and so on. The last person announces what they heard.

PASS THE PARCEL:

Sit everyone in a circle and play a short snippet of music. Pass round a teddy. When the music stops, the person holding ted is given the parcel and removes ONE layer! Add a forfeit or a sweet in every layer if you wish.
NB. Children tend to get bored if there are too many in the circle, so allow for either two circles or two parcels going around the circle in different directions.

THE CHOCOLATE OR JELLY GAME:

Sit everyone in a circle and place a tray in the middle with a hat, scarf, gloves, knife and fork, dice and a wrapped bar of chocolate. In turn, players throw the dice. If they throw a 6, they must put on the hat, scarf and gloves before they start to unwrap the chocolate with the knife and fork, and then start to eat it. To speed up the game add a second dice and require a double 6. The jelly variation is to turn out a set jelly onto a plate and eat it with the knife and fork.

MEMORY GAME:

On a tray, place about 10 to 15 small items (e.g. pencil, watch, comb, shoe lace, spoon, toy car, etc.) and cover with a cloth. Sit everyone in a circle. Place the tray in the middle of the circle and remove the cloth for 60 seconds. Everyone has to remember the objects. When the time is up, replace the cloth. In turn, each person has to name an object on the tray. The first person to fail to name an object, repeat an object or name something not on the tray is out. The tray is then removed and some or all of the objects replaced, and the game re-started with the person following the one who is out. If the game is too easy for the group, add more objects or reduce the time.

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY:

Place shapes of teddy bears cut out of paper on the floor in a circle. Children walk around the circle while listening to music. If the music is loud, the children move fast. If the music is quiet, the children move slowly. If the music stops, the children stop on the closest shape. Young children like to play it this way. To make it more challenging for older children have one less shape than the number of children. Continue to remove shapes as the children are 'out'.

OR TRY THIS:

On the command (from the list below) the children have to do the appropriate actions. After a while, start removing the last player to comply, until one remains.
Honey (Run to one side of the area)
Winnie the Pooh (Run to the other side)
Paddington Bear (Stand to attention and Salute)
Marmalade (Lie on the floor)
Rupert Bear (Run on the spot)
Grizzly (Sit cross legged on the floor - ready for lunch)
Baloo the Bear (Climb a tree, stand on a chair - anything so that you are not on the floor)
MUMMIES: Split the party goers into teams of three and give each team a toilet roll. Two children then wrap the third in the toilet roll so that they look like an Egyptian Mummy. The winning team is the one who in a set time (say 2 minutes) have the neatest and most covered Mummy.

STATIONS:

Everyone stands in a circle (except one who is standing in the middle) and has been told to remember a different station name. The person in the middle calls out two names. The stations have to change places quickly, before the person in the middle can get to one of the empty spaces. Whoever is left without a place is the person in the middle for the next game.

PASS THE ORANGE:

Arrange for teams of about 8 to stand in a line, one behind the other. Give each team an orange which the first person should tuck under his chin. This should be passed to the person behind. When the orange gets to the last person, they come to the front of the line and start again. The winning team is the first one which gets their starting person to the front again.

BEARS BEWARE:

All the children (except one – The Grizzly Bear) sit cross legged on the floor in a circle. The Grizzly sits cross-legged in the middle of the circle, blind-folded, with a large bunch of keys on the floor in front of him.
A child is nominated to creep up and take the keys and then return to their place, without the Grizzly hearing them. The Grizzly has three goes to point to where he thinks the raider is. If he is successful, the raider becomes the Grizzly.

BALLOOON POP:

Place notes inside un-inflated balloons; one or two of the notes should indicate that this balloon is a winner. Inflate the balloons and hang them around. Let each child pick a balloon then pop it to see if their note is a winner.

BALLOON RELAY:

Divide the children into two or more equal teams and stand them in a line. Give each team ten balloons in a basket. The first in each line takes a balloon and runs to the other side of the room and sits or stomps on the balloon to pop it. After popping the balloon, they run back to the line and tag the next person who does the same thing. The game goes on until one team has popped all of their balloons. The winning team gets a small prize (like a ribbon) while EVERYONE gets a small toy.

BEAR WALK:

Have numbers on the ground for as many children (1-10). Walk on the numbers until the music stops. Have numbers on some small toys. If a child is standing on the number of the toy, they win the toy.

CAN YOU GUESS:

Put several small items into a brown paper bag. Blindfold one person and hand them one of the items in the bag. Give them a few seconds to guess what the item is. If they are unsuccessful they are out. The last one wins.

GROWLER:

Everyone sits in a circle except one who is given a pillow and blind-fold. They then go and place the pillow on a persons lap, sit on it and growl like a bear. The person can growl only 3 times. If the blind person guesses the name of the person, they should now be given the blindfold and the game run over again - after everyone has changed their places.

Fundraising Opportunities

Here at Be My Bear we know just how vital it is for schools and charities to develop winning fundraising ideas.
Very often, though it is the simple ideas which are tried and tested and run out on a regular basis that prove the most successful.
With that in mind we offer a very easy fundraising opportunity with our charity package. You can purchase any of our make a bear/animal packs from a very extensive range, along with clothing and accessories at very competitive prices.
You can either run a workshop with children/adults making the animals or sell them as takeaway kits at an organised event such as a Summer Fair or Christmas Market. If you are registered for VAT there is an added bonus of being able to claim back the tax, giving your organisation some much needed extra funds.
We find that schools and charities come back to us time and time again as the bear-making fundraiser is a highly successful formula and generates fun as well as funds!
Give us a call or send us an e-mail and we can answer any of your queries relating to the fundraising package.
Each of our basic bear-making kits contain the bear skin with a one-way zipper closure – so no sewing! - stuffing, a wish-upon-a-star charm, and birth certificate. Our fundraising packs come with information on the best way of organising a bear-making event, the actual bear-making process and lots of additional ideas.
So bear us in mind to help fund those bear necessities next time round!
Tel: 01492 544666
E-mail: enquiries@bemybear.co.uk

'Just wanted to thank you for our order and say that the bears were a fantastic success at our School Fayre. We sold out within half and hour and unfortunately left so many disappointed children! We would like to have the bears gain at our Summer Fayre next June and will be placing a much larger order as the children loved them so much. So that we can get organised, if our Fayre is in mid June when is the earliest time to order and still have the sale or return promise? I will be dealing with the order next time to relieve some pressure from our PTA members, I look forward to it!
Kind Regards,
Sarah Robins'

FREE Invitations

We are more than happy to send you invitations ahead of your party at no extra charge. Just email us at enquiries@bemybear.com with your delivery address and the quantity required.

Struggling for an idea for a party? Then why not consider a Be My Bear bear-making birthday party, a unique and creative idea guaranteed to appeal to all age groups. Do it yourself or book an agent for the ultimate creative party experience. No need for goody bags as each guest goes home with a new best friend they have made themselves! Each child stuffs and fluffs a bear, makes a wish with our special charm star and creates a personalised birth certificate for their furry friend. Voice boxes, T-shirt and visor decorating, and a range of outfits and accessories are also available for the bears as optional extras.
Our award-winning DIY party kits contain invitations, pre-sewn bear skin, stuffing, heart, birth certificate, deluxe party carry bag as well as step by step instructions and guidance on how to organise the ultimate children's party! If you opt for an agent, they provide all you need for the complete Bear Birthday experience including bear-related games with prizes included.
Our Teddy Takeaways also make the ideal creative gift and are perfect for keeping the children amused from a long car journey to wedding reception speeches.
So whether you choose a full blown birthday party or hand-picked gift, we’ll guarantee you’ll have bear-y happy children!

Struggling for an idea for a party? Then why not consider a Be My Bear bear-making birthday party, a unique and creative idea guaranteed to appeal to all age groups. Do it yourself or book an agent for the ultimate creative party experience. No need for goody bags as each guest goes home with a new best friend they have made themselves! Each child stuffs and fluffs a bear, makes a wish with our special charm star and creates a personalised birth certificate for their furry friend. Voice boxes, T-shirt and visor decorating, and a range of outfits and accessories are also available for the bears as optional extras.
Our award-winning DIY party kits contain invitations, pre-sewn bear skin, stuffing, heart, birth certificate, deluxe party carry bag as well as step by step instructions and guidance on how to organise the ultimate children's party! If you opt for an agent, they provide all you need for the complete Bear Birthday experience including bear-related games with prizes included.
Our Teddy Takeaways also make the ideal creative gift and are perfect for keeping the children amused from a long car journey to wedding reception speeches.
So whether you choose a full blown birthday party or hand-picked gift, we’ll guarantee you’ll have bear-y happy children!

Trading Since

2001