We’re making steady progress with our list of 12 things to do in the Autumn in London – ticking another off the list today with a visit to Stratford’s Discover Centre to check out their Dr Seuss experience.

It’s a few months since we visited, and we were surprised to find when we arrived that the entire centre has been refurbished.  It was always great fun, but the recent improvements are amazing!  It feels so much more spacious and modern, and there are now two floors of ‘Story World’ for children to explore.  With giant trees, clouds, tunnels, slides, lights and ships, there is no end to the imaginative play little ones can have.

Sophie ran wild, climbing mountains and making music by jumping on colourful stepping stones!

She loved the little boat, setting off on her own adventure around the world!

Alex meanwhile climbed on clouds and crewed control panels in a spaceship!

There were plenty of opportunities for slower play, with beautiful craft tables where the children used feathers, fabric and pens to make spoon people!

And, of course, dotted around were little story corners packed full of books – so we stopped and read a few along the way!

Despite the cold, we even spent a while in the wonderful garden, climbing and sliding.  It’s so safe and contained, it gave us grown ups a chance to catch up as the children explored.

After about an hour of play, it was our turn to visit the “Fantastic World of Dr Seuss” experience in the basement.  Every few months, a different theme takes over the exhibition space – so far we’ve visited an Oliver Jeffers show and a Michael Rosen showcase.  But we were particularly looking forward to Dr Seuss as Alex loves the funny rhymes and is getting so good at reading them himself!

We were ushered into the space where we sat on some grass outside the house from “Cat in the Hat” and listened to the host tell the story.  Then it was time to explore.  We found the tunnel from “Green Eggs and Ham”, following the tracks which featured the rhymes from the story and making up our own versions of the story.

Alex rolled green eggs down ramps while Sophie served up a full meal of green eggs and ham!

We felt the fluffy trees in Thneedville from The Lorax (we’ve not read that one so must get hold of it!)

But best of all, we explored the house from Cat in the Hat and made as much mess as Thing 1 and Thing 2!  I love Alex dressed as Thing 2, looking suspiciously at the fish from the story!

It was a great experience – there were loads of interactive things to do, and little challenges on worksheets for older children.  I’m sure we’ll be back, and if you’re a Dr Seuss fan, i’d highly recommend it.  It’s on until September 2017 so there’s loads of time to visit!