Build-a-Bear Workshops are like crack dens for five-year-olds

My son Ludo will be celebrating his fifth birthday this weekend with a party at the Build-a-Bear workshop in Westfield. Those of you who don’t have a small child will be blissfully ignorant of this new fad. Build-a-Bear Workshop is a toyshop-cum-factory in which children can construct their very own teddy bears from scratch. The stand-alone stuffed animal isn’t too expensive — they start at £9 — but add accessories and the price ratchets up. For instance, a Pink Beararmoire® Fashion Case is £24 — and Ludo is very keen on fashion.

Caroline and I used to pride ourselves on not letting our children become too attached to their stuffed animals or blankets. We know the trouble they can cause. Take the summer before last, when I invited John Cassidy, a New York-based journalist, to come and stay in the Hamptons with his wife and children. No sooner had he arrived than he discovered his eldest daughter had left a beloved toy animal in the 7/11 they’d stopped at on the way.