A Superhero in the East End

DISCOVER 383-387 High Street Stratford London E15 4QZ discover.org.uk

Discover Children's story centre was a hidden gem for me and a great success with my children when we visited on a hot saturday afternoon in may. They loved charging around the basement with their superhero capes on.

We caught the train from Richmond to Waterloo and then jumped on the Jubilee line all the way to Stratford. We had been put off by the long journey previously, but in reality it was really straight forward, and the children enjoyed the glass doors on the Jubilee platform.

An added bonus of visiting Stratford was seeing the Olympic building site and we popped into the new and huge Westfield shopping centre and had free pretzel and frozen yogurt samples!

Discover is a very short walk (5 minutes) from Stratford station. The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful. On admission, at £16 per family, we were given tickets for our choice of story slot later in the day. They sold a selection of drinks, snacks and some filled rolls but were happy for us to bring our own food in.  They also sold a selection of books and small toys, luckily my kids didn't seem to notice!

A brilliant place for a party or a school trip. My younger son, D, unashamedly crashed a birthday party plonking himself at the front to hear the interactive story teller!

Our first stop was the basement currently host to the superheroes of Alphabet City – A, E, I, O and U. The children enjoyed transporting bricks up a pulley and building a wall. The cartoon style graphics were very stimulating and both boys took the superheroes guide booklet into school this week for show and tell.

Once we had exhausted the basement my older child, J, loved making a collage in the creative space on the ground floor. D enjoyed the light triggered sound installation. We were all entertained by the magic mirrors and the funny shapes they made us!

It was a hot day but both boys enjoyed going in the garden to play on the slides and play equipment which gave R and I a chance to sit in the sun and talk about the week's events! It was lovely and quiet during our visit but talking to some local mums who visit regularly they said it can be busy on rainy days, hardly surprising given the great indoor space available and the range of activities.

For the journey home we decided to detour via Canary Wharf on the DLR. My kids loved sitting at the front of the driverless train although we were asked to move back a row by the operator!

Definitely on our list of places to return to and recommended to everyone this week.

4 out of 5 stars