Organic cafe doubles as kids playroom

With the snow piling up in the Philadelphia region, some new parents are looking for indoor things to do with their toddlers. A unique cafe in Chestnut Hill allows kids to make as much noise and as big a mess as they like.  It also allows parents a relaxing moment with a good cup of coffee.

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It sounds noisy, and it seems chaotic – but parents love this place because it's so relaxing. Leona Goldshaw of Mount Airy says the Little Treehouse Cafe is calming because she doesn't have to chase her around 2 1/2-year-old son.

Goldshaw: When you go out with your kids to a coffee shop – you literally can't do it. You have to be constantly monitoring your kid. Here they can play it's it's more relaxing to communicate.

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Half of the Little Treehouse is a cafe, with organic sandwiches and a brick-lined pizza oven. The other half is a play space filled with wooden toys and castles. The owner is Rachel Williams, who less than a year ago renovated this former post office – floor to ceiling – to be both fun and functional.

Williams: You see the big flowers suspended from ceiling? They are made of Tectum – they're designed to absorb sound from the kids. I've played cello in here – it's phenomenal. It's very flattering if you're a string player.

The play cafe is a relatively new idea, marketing to the different needs of kids and parents – one needs to play like a child, the other needs to socialize like an adult. Martha Millison of Mount Airy says her and her 2 year-old both need to get out of the house.

Millison: Well, it can be isolating to a be a parent of a young child, so it's just really great to have another place to come where your child can be a kid – can be loud, can make a mess, and you can still feel relaxed and have some tea.

Millison had arranged to meet with her friend at the cafe – a tele-commuting lawyer and mother of a two year old. Ringing the cafe area is an electric power strip of about 30 outlets – too high for little fingers to reach, but just right for plugging in a laptop computer. It's not unusual to see a parent spoon-feeding a toddler while checking email.

Wendy Schwartz uses the play cafe as an adjunct office. She's a local realtor who brings clients and their children here to take a break from house-hunting. She says sometimes this is where the deal gets inked.

Schwartz:They have nice big tables there where we can sit down and sign all that paperwork and go over contracts. It's nice that we have a big open space for all to be entertained, and we can do more tedious paperwork.

Schwartz uses the cafe to introduce prospective homebuyers to the unique qualities of Chestnut Hill. The Little Treehouse is not free – there is an $8.50 door charge. The cafe menu has neither chicken fingers nor tater tots – but things like olive tapenade, antipasto, and a Scilian tuna panini.

Adam Levy – a psychology professor with two young daughters – says it's valuable as a place to bond with other parents.

Levy: When there are babies sometimes you have to stay near them – but there's a not a lot going on. They just eat, drink, and go to the bathroom. You get bored. It's nice to go to a place where they have books and magazines – it's cool, with other parents who knew what was up.

Levy says the play cafe is comforting because inside it's crazy, but it's contained.

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