Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre — Attraction in Craven Arms

I visited with my grandson age 6, and luckily only paid £4.75 for 2 people, via Groupon. Any more and I would have asked for a refund! As some people have already stated, it takes about 4 minutes to walk through the "museum". The video playing in the theatre was not exciting/entertaining enough for anyone under 50. My grandson lasted about a minute before boredom kicked in, and he had more fun jumping around on the block seats! We arrived at the activity table. Well, that is a very generous description. A few pieces of paper with a dot to dot mammoth, and not a single pencil with a useable point! 6 yr olds don't take kindly to using a wax crayon!!!! And that was pretty much it. Raining heavily, so only option was to grab a bite for lunch. Er not at those prices! We made do with a flapjack between us, and an ice cream. The rest of the centre is taken up by charity stalls, and a great big shop! So were there any good points. The mammoth - quite cool (his words). The staff couldn't be more friendly. The cafe was clean and the food looked great even though we couldn't afford it! Here's some suggestions based on our trip (after a 40 minute drive ). Have someone make a video that is interesting to youngsters. Technology would allow you to have a video of mammoths and dinosaurs roaming the hills, and cartoon based segments, maybe make a series of say 6 short films, instead of one long boring one. (Just my grandsons, and my opinion). Include some more activities for youngsters. Create an activity sheet to complete which has a free ice cream if its completed.(Count the squirrels, name the grass, who made the pottery? etc. (This really isn't rocket science!), and please have the pencils sharpened otherwise get rid. Create some different activity sheets. The dot to dot mammoth took about 30 seconds to complete! Have the activity sheets spaced out around the museum, not as the big finale (Which it wasn't!). Would I go back, or recommend? Not unless it changes to make it more interactive. I did take a quick look at the rear of the building, and saw the very minimal play equipment. I know it's expensive, but some more interesting kids play equipment would be great.So overall, not a very...

Visited for the first time to attend the "Iron Age Camp". This event was under-funded and poorly organized (would happily have paid 3x what it cost, just for it to be better than what it was!) It looked like it was going to be such a fun and interesting event to take the kids to over the bank holiday, but it was nothing like it was advertised to be! It was underwhelming and lacking a friendly, engaging instructor. Cooking flatbreads over a fire was supposed to be one of the main activities. But we learnt after arrival, that this was actually done over an indoor portable stove due to the "dry hot summer" with no chance for the children to engage in this activity. The way this was conducted, raised hygiene / health concerns with multiple parents at the event. I heard the instructor reply in response to one parent expressing said concerns: "Well, no-one is spitting in the bowls." (Without washing and no-one was asked to wash their hands before handling / rehandling the ingredients or utensils). I'll stop there! All these activities could have easily have been done at home. If you go, maybe don't let your kid eat the flatbed, as there might be risk that they end up with a tummy bug! 🤮 It was also advertised that the children would get to use a slingshot / catapult, but it was actually a tennis ball and rope! Everything was so basic and a little depressing! (The discovery center itself is time-worn, shabby and in need of some TLC - urgent funding!) It gets 2* though, because the children sort of enjoyed their 40 minutes of vaguely,...

Lovely place to explore the beautiful Shropshire countryside, free parking for Blue Badge holders and if it's available there is an electric mobility scooter for those who need it.

A lovely educator gave our group a talk about the local wildlife, and the prehistoric finds from the area- she was excellent with our group of mixed aged children and was able to cope with a barrage of questions on various topics- we were very impressed with her knowledge and skills.

There are pathways down to the pond area and beyond which although uneven in places can be negotiated with a powerchair or scooter, however some areas of the path are better than others so do be aware of this.

There are benches outside and in the park area, with a decent play area for kids. The café is a little pricey but this is not unexpected given the location, and the café staff are very helpful and will bring your tray out if you need assistance.

The toilets were pretty clean given how busy they were at the time, plenty of hand sanitizer available at the entrance and masks worn by staff and most visitors indoors. Well...