Hope Bear, Mood Bears Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by H chan
When I first saw these bears, I thought what a wonderful idea. They are such a fantastic tool for helping anyone to communicate emotions or to learn more about them. I was really excited to see how the actual bears stood up to the hype, and let me tell you, they do! I only had the bear I my hands for a few minutes before my son (aged 10, Au-HD) asked if he could take it to cuddle because it looked really soft. I had to find it later on to finish the review.
I love the concept of Mood Bears. Each one follows clever colour psychology, each colour representing an emotion. They can be used at home, in an educational or healthcare setting, to help someone express how they’re feeling and encourage a sense of safety. Science shows that colours, and textures have an effect on the human brain, so these bears have had a lot of thought go into their creation. They have also been featured on the television, on Dragons Den, and This Morning, to name a couple.
The website claims that each bear comes with a poem in its pocket, the little pocket on the belly of my bear didn’t have a poem included, but I am sure that they are a lovely addition.
The Hope bear has a hot pink head, a baby pink torso and limbs in yellow, green, baby blue and purple. It has a rainbow embroidered on each foot. The tag inscription tells us that the rainbows are to symbolise brightness on darker days. To give us hope on difficult days, and this bear acts as a reminder that there is always someone there for us. It is a large, paper based tag, but can be easily removed and the safety information on it retained for future use if needed. The bear itself is really cute, it’s face in good proportions and the ears are the cutest.
The bear comes with the CE mark, and is produced by the company Tomy.
Hope is incredibly soft, and very well made. The stitching holds well when pulled and she (according to my son it’s a she) has already been hugged more than you can imagine and her shape remains the same, despite how soft the body is. It didn’t come with any unpleasant smells, which sometimes plush toys can have, which means that it won’t trigger those sensitive to smells. I think she and the other bears are a wonderful way to help children communicate their emotions when they can’t find the right words. They can also be a tool for those who need to regulate a certain type of emotion. With my son, he was immediately drawn to Hope Bear. In fact, I didn’t even see her for two days as he had it in his room and carried it around with him.
There are eight different mood bears currently available, Hope, Happy, Sad, Love, Silly, Calm, Angry and Nervous. It would be lovely if they came with a booklet or something for the child to read whilst loving their bear.
I think a Mood Bear would be a perfect gift for someone this festive Season, not just for children. You can tell how much thought has gone into creating them.
My favourite feature has to be the cute little pocket. We have decided that if my son is feeling sad, he can write a note and pop it into the pocket, then I can find it without it being made into a bigger deal for him. Then, I can write one back, or send him little hopeful notes to cheer him up in stressful situations. Which gives the bear another facet of awesomeness in our book.
We give the Hope bear a 5 out of 5 star review. It does exactly what it sets out to do. Even though we have only had a few days to interact with the bear, and I don’t think we have been fully in need of hope this week, now it is here and the foundations have been set, it will be a very useful aid when the time comes. It has provided comfort, and is easily lovable.
Rating: 5/5
You can purchase Hope bear, or browse the others in the collection here https://moodbears.com/products/hope-bear?variant=50008901943634 and it retails at £19.99. There are also super cute mini versions, at a price of £10.99 which is a more affordable option should you be looking to purchase more than one. Bundle sets are available too.