Kids & Teens Crafty Parties in St Neots

While we can cater for younger ages, we recommend our parties for school-aged children and older, as they’re generally used to being in a group setting without parents and have a better attention span for the activities we provide.

Pottery Painting Parties

• There is no minimum age for painting pottery, but do bear in mind that children under 5 may finish quite quickly as their attention spans are shorter.

• There’s no maximum age for pottery painting! It is a fun and relaxing activity enjoyed by all ages, including adults. However, the maximum age for our kids pottery party package is 16. 

• We find teens tend to want to select from our studio range of items which incurs a studio fee on top of the price of the ceramic piece, or we offer a mug, plate or bowl option at £18 a head based on a minimum of 8 attendees.

Build a Bear Parties

• The minimum age is 3 years old, as some of our bear skins carry a CE mark with this age guideline. We do allow under 3s to participate under the premise of supervised play until they are 3. That said, aged 4 and under may find the activity challenging without additional support and they would be better doing it as a session rather than a party activity.

• We find our build a bear parties are most popular for 5 - 9 year olds but there's no maximum age, and we've even run build a bear parties for adults a couple of times.

​​​​​Our dedicated party area comfortably seats up to 12 children (up to 14 if they’re little). If your guest list is larger, we can seat additional children in the main studio area.

For bigger parties, we can often accommodate you at our 10am party slot, subject to existing bookings. You can also enquire about hosting a weekday after‑school party.

Please note that a late‑opening fee may apply for parties that run beyond our standard hours.

To keep the space safe and comfortable for everyone, we kindly ask that no more than two parents or helpers stay during the party due to limited room in the party area.

While we no longer offer a party food option or allow you to bring food, you're welcome to bring a birthday cake or cupcakes to sing 'Happy Birthday'.

If you decide to bring a cake, please also bring napkins to wrap the cake for the children to take home.

Yes! At Crafty Monkey, we sell DIY Pottery Painting and Build a Bear kits, in our online shop, perfect for people who want to take a longer time painting or hosting a creative party at home.

If you’re not local, we can post out both our pottery and teddy bear making kits right to your door! Our pottery kits can be painted with acrylic paints, meaning there's no need to return them for glazing and firing and the children can take home their pieces the same day.

Kids Build A Bear Parties start at £16 per head.

Cost Per Child

Small Bears £16 with outfits £26

Large Bears £21 with outfits £33

Absolutely! Personalising teddy's is part of the fun at Crafty Monkey Studio in St Neots.  Each guest can choose their favourite bear or animal and bring it to life during the feeding (stuffing) process. 

Children can make their furry friend unique by choosing from a selection of wish hearts, naming it and personalising a t-shirt. We also sell a range of outfits, clothing, and accessories to match its personality and style.

Whether you're creating a teddy bear for a birthday gift, a special treat, or as part of one of our popular Build a Bear parties, creating a customised teddy bear is a fun and memorable experience for children making every Build a Bear extra special.

Visit our Build a Bear Shop to browse a selection of our range.

Each child gets:

• A choice from our range of animal and bear skins

• Magic food (stuffing) to fill and fluff up their furry friend

• A wish heart or star for making a wish

• A T-shirt to decorate

• An adoption certificate for their bear or animal

• Bear outfits (if you've selected this party option)

See what happens at our build a bear parties in our 'Steps to Make a Teddy Bear' on our build a bear page.

Yes! We sell no-sew DIY teddy bear making kits in our online shop and post them anywhere in the UK, so you can enjoy the fun even if you're not local to St Neots.

Every kit comes with full instructions, so they're perfect for hosting your own bear-making party at home or another venue, or as a gift.

Order DIY Teddy Bear Kits

Kids Pottery Painting Parties for our standard Party Animal Range based on a minimum of 8 are:

£16 a head

This includes our studio fee.

For fewer than 8 children it will be the price of the pottery chosen from our retail range plus a £4.50 studio fee per painter.

Yes, they can order items from our main range, however, they will incur an additional £4.50 studio fee per painter on top of the item price.

We use specialist underglaze paints made for pottery and ceramic painting studios. They're water-based, certified non-toxic, safe for all ages (including babies' hand and footprints) and food-safe once glazed and fired.

We allocate 1 hour 30 minutes for both our children's pottery painting and bear parties and 2 hours for teen parties.  

However, the time children spend on the activity can vary greatly depending on their age, interests and personalities.

Bear Parties

Most bear making parties last around an hour, which is often the perfect length for younger children. Children under 6 typically have shorter attention spans and tend to complete their bears more quickly, with some finishing in as little as 30 to 45 minutes.

For younger children, we often recommend a bear party over pottery painting, as the activity is generally better suited to their age group and attention span.

Pottery Painting Parties

Pottery painting party duration is particularly dependent on the age of the children. Older children (typically aged 7 to 8 and above) often enjoy taking their time, adding detail to their designs and making full use of the allocated party time.

Younger children can sometimes complete their pottery in as little as 30 minutes. In a group environment, some children will also rush their painting to keep up with friends who have finished, rather than taking their time with their own piece.

While we happily offer pottery painting parties for younger children, we generally recommend them for ages 7 to 8+ for the best experience.

Of course, these are only general guidelines and there are always exceptions. Some younger children love spending ages creating detailed designs, while some older children prefer to finish more quickly.

What happens if they finish early?

If children finish early, we keep them entertained decorating paper bags with colouring pens. The bags can then be used to take their bears home, or to collect their pottery items once they have been kiln-fired and are ready for collection.

Due to limited space, we can only accommodate two adults staying during the party. If you have more family members who’d like to stay, and your party is 12 children or fewer, we can allow up to two additional adults.

Parents can drop off and enjoy some time to themselves in town. A coffee, a wander around the shops… they’ll thank you later for the break.

Please arrive no earlier than five minutes before your booked time. This allows us time to prepare the party area after the previous party or assist customers with earlier bookings.

If the party area is ready when you arrive, you’re welcome to wait there. However, if we’re still busy, we may not be able to attend to you properly until your allocated time slot.

We kindly ask that parents drop their children at the front of the studio, where we’ll bring them through to the party area. This helps minimise disruption to other customers painting pottery.

If parents arrive early, please ask them to wait outside with their child until you arrive.

In case of rain, there is a sheltered area nearby at Moores Walk Café, located two doors down.

You could suggest this café as a spot for parents to relax and catch up during the party. Alternatively, there are lots of other local cafés nearby, or they may wish to use the time for shopping or running errands in town.

Yes, depending on where you're located and how many children are attending we may be able to bring the party to a venue of your choice subject to an attendance fee.

We also offer flexible DIY party kits for build a bear and pottery painting, designed for you to run the party yourself.

You can choose from much more than just teddy bears! Alongside our classic bears, we stock a wide range of no-sew animals, from unicorns and dinosaurs to dogs, cats and monkeys (our faves!).

See our selection in our online bear shop.

Yes! Our build a bears are ready to take home as soon as they're made, whether it's created at a session or at our bear making parties.

Yes, depending on your location, how many children are attending and our availability, we may be able to come and run the party. An attendance fee will apply, starting from £50.

We also sell build a bear kits with instructions and the steps to run the session yourself.

Our no-sew DIY teddy bear kits, available to buy online so you can enjoy the activity at home, include everything you need to make your own teddy bear:

• A teddy bear skin (not just bears - we have a range of animals)

• 100% recycled teddy stuffing

• A special wish star

• An adoption certificate

• A bear T-shirt to decorate (you can use felt pens for this)

• Instructions

• A letter to the birthday child (if the kits are for a bear party)

Outfits and accessories are also available to buy online in our teddy bear kits shop.

Our pottery painting parties for kids include:

• Party invites

• 1.5 hours' use of our party area

• A birthday card for the birthday child

• An item to paint from our large kids' party range - we have pottery pieces to suit all ages

• Guidance and instructions from our friendly staff

• All paints and materials

• We do all the clean-up, so you can relax!

• Kiln firing - we'll email you when items are ready to collect (allow around 2 weeks)

• Individually wrapped items - each piece is bagged and labelled with the child's name, making them easy to hand out

• Optional add-on: a personalised keepsake party plate for the birthday child to mark the occasion

Our parties are creative, fun and stress-free - perfect for making memories that last!

We offer a large and diverse selection of pottery. If you'd like to theme your party, simply email us with your chosen theme and we'll be happy to suggest suitable pottery pieces along with pricing information.

See our themed children's parties blog post for ideas.

Their party pieces will be left to dry, before we glaze and kiln-fire them. This process takes around two weeks. We'll email you when everything is ready, along with a link to book a collection slot.

All items will be individually wrapped and clearly labelled with each child's name, making them easy to hand out after collection.