Recreational & Family - Cost Effective to have LBS Repair bottom bracket on kid's bike

My daughter has a 20" Gary Fishter mountain bike (a Gamma Ray). The bottom bracket is loose, by which I mean the crank is not snug within the bottom bracket: it moves around by around 1/4 of an inch.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it would be cost effective to have an LBS make the repair? Any thoughts on whether a self-repair is viable?

Probably cheaper for the LBS to fix it as you'll need to buy specialized tools to get the crank off.
On the other hand, if you have several bikes, it would be worth it to get the tools and do it yourself. Many people find this quite doable.

Parktool.com has the info. to do repairs, they tell you what tools you need, and you can buy them from Park.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=94

http://www.parktool.com/repair/byregion.asp?catid=61&imageField2.x=26&imageField2.y=10

You could give it a try but if you need special tools you'll be screwed.

Take the bike to the shop and watch n learn how to wrench it, also buy the tools needed if you're up for it later on.

Take it to the shop. The BB may just need to be tightened down, not repacked and rebuilt. Take it to the LBS you frequent and the work may be gratias.

FYI, the local bike shop did the work gratis--although I did end up purchasing a new tire and having them install it. They just tightened down the bottom bracket.