Today David and I took Esther and William to London. We got the fast train from Ashford to Stratford where we joined our friend, Louise, to explore Discover! the Children’s Story Centre.

Esther and William were incredibly well behaved on a packed train. The secret of our travel success these days are Vital Baby Trap a Snacks that I bought earlier this year at The Baby Show. Esther and William just love them!

The Discover Story Centre is on Stratford High Street. I was impressed as soon as we arrived with the friendliness of the reception staff. They were keen to welcome us and ensure we had all the information required to make the most of our day.

I was also impressed with the range of books being sold in the reception area. A range of authors and genres suitable for children from pre school to the end of primary.

There was also a cafe in the reception area selling hot drinks and snacks. They had picnic tables in this area too with highchairs available. The Discover Centre encourages you to bring in your own food for your children which for me was a huge plus. Near me if you go to a soft play centre, for example, you can only feed your babies food that you have bought on site.

The other thing that I loved about The Discover Centre was the baby and toddler facilities. There was a buggy park on each floor. There were lockers available for storing bags in. The toilets were all child sized and there was a spacious and clean changing area.

We parked our double buggy with ease in the buggy park and we set Esther and William free. The centre is quite small but it is open and so you have good visibility of your child or children at all times. We were lucky to have three adults to two toddlers and with this ratio we wrealy could let Esther and William roam free through The Story Trail.

Esther and William raced around The Story Trail room exploring all the different interactive exhibitions.

They both loved the magical forest and enjoyed climbing and walking over the trip trap bridge.

They loved the forest animal puppets and engaged in some lovely story acting with Daddy.

Esther loved listening to the stories on the story machines. She loves anything at the moment that involves pressing buttons. On this machine you could mix and match beginnings, middles and ends of stories and you could even record your own.

The centre is obviously language focused and even with our tiny toddlers they were discovering and using new words throughout the day. It was a real sesnosry experience with things to see, textures to touch and sounds to hear. There were baskets of books and comfortable seats in each of the different zones. Esther and I sat at The Mad Hatters Tea Party Table and talked about foods. We played with the puppets in the woodland and we trip trapped over the bridge imagining the monsters and trolls beneath. It was wonderful and I am not really sure who enjoyed it more?!

As a teacher I would love to take a class here for a literacy based trip as I think the inspiration for storytelling and story writing would be wonderful. There are so many props and dressing up clothes that everyone can get involved.

I loved the craft area too where today you could make a spoon puppet to take home. There was a wide range of creative materials to be used. The whole thing has obvioulsy ben very carefully planned and put together.

Esther loved dancing with the noisy polka dots. She kept going back to the multicoloured dance floor especially when the music playing was ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It …’ It was really very cute. She is becoming quite the disco diva!

William loved the slide and came home utterly exhausted from his exertions of climbing up the steps and sliding down the slide over and over again. He is such a boy!

Both babies also loved The Story Garden. We played on the giant musical instruments …

… and both babies took it in turns driving the large wooden car.

Most of all in the garden William liked taking the wood chippings from the floor and putting them in the bin. He was a boy on a mission, wanting to tidy the whole of the garden.

Until he discovered that actually making a mess with Esther, his partner in crime, was much more fun. ‘Mess’ they shouted as they sprinkled chippings from the playground floor to the path. They had such a lovely time!

At 20 months Esther and William still very much need their midday nap and so we went out of the centre for a walk and some lunch. Esther and William were able to have a sleep before their lunch and in the afternoon we returned to the Discover Centre revived and ready for the Superheroes Exhibition.

The Superheroes Exhibition was fast and loud. I know some nephews of mine who would absolutely love it! Esther and William were perhaps a little young to understand the concept of this room but they enjoyed it all the same. They played with basket balls, raced around the neon city lights with their superhero capes on, loaded and unloaded wheelbarrows with shopping and bricks, had a go at drawing a cartoon strip and played in the shop, the vets and the superhero’s apartment. There was of course a car too which they loved pretending to drive.

It was a very intense experience in the Superhero Basement so Esther and William were soon ready to head back upstairs for one last walk around the story train, one last slide down the slide and of course to put a few more wood chips in the bin. All in the name of tidiness!

We spent hours at The Discover Centre and really did have a wonderful time. On top of all the wonderful thinsg we found there I was also very impressed with the price. Just £4.50 per adult and free for our children under two to discover a whole world of imaginative play and fun. You pay that for two hours soft play in Kent with no structure and often quite poor resources and toys.

When Esther and William are a bit older I would love to take them back again to make use of the craft table and to attend some of the storytelling workshops. For now though they were more than happy with their own independent explorations and discoveries.

What a great day! We will definitely be recommending The Discover Centre to our friends and we will be coming back very soon.