The Sod Room

The Sod Room is a really cute place for infants (probably ideal up to age 2). It is small, but clean and beautifully decorated and furnished with sustainable, eco friendly toys for children to play with. I would say you could probably spend 1 – 1.5 hours here and your kids would have a great time exploring free/​independent play. It is on the second floor, but it does not have an elevator, so leave your stroller in the car. It also does not have a café, so bring your own snacks. Metered, street parking is easy, and the South Loop location is great.

Nothing but great things to say about Sod Room. The space is beautiful, CLEAN, calm, environmentally friendly, and provides great entertainment for all my kids. staff and management are super friendly and helpful. My daughter left one of her brand new boots behind and we didn’t realize it until months later. They just so happened to still have it and even brought it down to the car for me so I didn’t have to bring all the kids in just to get the boot.
Great customer service goes a long way for me :) Thanks Sod Room!

We recently had my sons first birthday at the SOD Room and it was such a great experience. The staff was so so helpful from set up to clean up we never had to worry about a thing, just focus on the birthday boy. The room was great very clean, well decorated for the event (both decorations provided by the staff and brought in by us) and spacious enough for all of our guests (about 30 people with a mixture of adults and kids). We can’t wait to have another one of our sons birthdays at the SOD Room.

I can’t say enough good things about the The Sod Room. I highly, highly, highly recommend this playspace. We held at joint birthday party at The Sod Room for our daughter’s first birthday along with a friend’s daughter who was turning 2. The space is a large beautiful loft, with exposed brick, lots of natural sunlight, wood timber beams and a skylight which makes for a perfect setting and great photo ops. On top of that the play area is amazing and very thoughtfully designed — it’s filled with all wooden, artisanal toys for the kids to enjoy (pull toys, a rocking horse, wooden kitchen, table and tea set, a wooden train set, a wooden little jungle gym and ribbons streamers for the kids to run through which my daughter loved). We had kids ranging in age from 1 – 5 years old and they all had fun playing in the space. On the other side of the play area is a party room with a fridge, kitchenette and table and chairs so you can bring your own food and drinks or you can get the party package where they provide the food.
What’s so nice about The Sod Room is that the whole space is yours for our party so you don’t have to share it with other parties. With so many kids, it’s nice to have a contained, private party space that feels intimate but it’s not at your house which in my book is a HUGE plus… which leads me to my next point. The Sod Room is independently own by a husband and wife team who are so nice and helpful. The day of your party… someone will greet you downstairs and help you upload our stuff. They help you set up everything — food, décor, drinks in a matter of minutes (like 25 mins — seriously it was amazing) so by the time your guests arrive you are ready to meet and greet and play! At the end of the party, they clean up and pack everything away. One last huge bonus is the price point for a private party which I felt was very economical.
Both kids and adults had a fabulous time. We need more playspaces like this in the city! LOVED The Sod Room!
PS. During the week, they have open play too so if need something for your kiddo to do… definitely come enjoy The Sod Room.

I recently held my son’s 2^nd year birthday at the SOD room and had a wonderful experience. The place is beautiful, calm and spacious and even though we had about 60 (yes you read it right, 20 something toddlers and rest are adults), we never felt that we lack space. The owners are so nice and helpful, I didn’t have to worry about a thing. All the guests had a great time, enjoyed the food and setting and everyone was so happy to discover SOD room.
I would not hesitate to have another party at SOD room.

The SOD Room Rocks!!! I had my son 3^rd birthday party here on Palm Sunday March 20^th, I was so impressed how helpful & kind the staff was during my son Robot theme party. The space was very clean, bright, fun. My guest had a great time & the kids loved the open play space. My son robot party was a success… thank you once again for help making my baby party a success.
Delilah & Gabriel
Moreno

the cleanest playspace we’ve visited…
here for a bday party and they even provided the décor to match the space. everything wooden — very montessori to match our son’s daycare teachings. no cheapie toys, no misc out of place pieces thrown in a corner and some creative playthings (loved the famers market). very nice party room as well.
my only complaint and i admit it’s not very legit — after cake — the playroom was not available for one last romp. every other party we’ve been to allowed the kids to return to play for a few more minutes. they were well on their way cleaning up and closing up and wouldn’t dare make eye contact with us!

My wife and son have been coming here for several years and love it, especially in the winters when there is not much to do outside. My son recently had his 4^th birthday party here, and the owner/​staff made it a wonderful experience. From the planning to the setup/​clean up, it was a great experience working with them. There are so many different areas for the kids to play in, and as a result, kids of varying ages very much enjoyed their time there. Would highly recommend for birthday parties or just on a cold wintery day in Chicago

We just had my son’s 3^rd birthday at Sod Room this past weekend. They did a great job. Everything went smoothly and everyone had a great time. We did the basic package and they still set everything up, collected the gifts, organized everyone for singing happy birthday, helped cut and give out the cake, distributed the favors and cleaned up. Essentially, once we arrived, they took care of everything and I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I can’t recommend Sod Room enough.

We celebrated our daughter’s Birthday party here and it was amazing ! We loved everything about the place ! The stuff was very helpful and everything went smooth, the atmosphere is so relaxing but at the same time so many interesting things for kids, love that the toys are made from wood ! Thank you Sod room for helping us so much !

Winters in Chicago can be rough and you have to find places for your children to play while you relax and have some coffee! I found that place!
I absolutely LOVE the South Loop area and I wish I could get down here more often. I live west of Chicago so coming to the South Loop area is a treat for me.
I’d been wanting to check out the Sod Room for a long, long time and I finally made it down here. Wish I lived closer. It’s a great space for kids under 5 to play. It’s a no shoes, socks only place so come prepared. I love the exposed brick, loft style of the playroom. I really appreciate that they offer you coffee because parents need their coffee and it’s nice to know that your kids are playing safely while you take a coffee break.
They have small rock climbing section that you climb to get to the top of a slide.
My daughter who is 4 was so good at this but my little guy 2 ½ had a harder time. I love that he got to practice and I could help him. Good exercise for him.
There is a neat kitchen area and a train area.
So many cute sections. The owners have really made this play space unique and filled it with love. It’s such a relaxing and peaceful place.
I love that they have a little room for the kids to eat their snacks. My daughter sat there while I kept an eye on my little guy. I could watch them both simultaneously. When I was leaving one of the moms brought a small pizza in with her for lunch. I thought that was a great idea. I really hope we can go back there again soon.
And I found parking right in front! It’s pay to park but there are plenty of parking spaces so no worries.
My daughter asked if we could go back tomorrow!

This place is kid heaven! We just hosted our daughter’s 2^nd birthday here and the entire experience was fantastic. The space is great for young children, and designed in a way that adults can actually relax and enjoy themselves while the kids play! The owner was super friendly and helpful and made the experience of hosting a breeze. We highly recommend the Sod Room to any parent looking for a great indoor play space or looking to host a young child’s birthday party. We will definitely be back!

I’ve been meaning to check out this playroom as I was impressed by all the positive reviews and it looked great. We finally got to visit The Sod Room and loved it! My little girl had fun crawling all over the place and playing with the various toys. She also especially liked going down the big green slide.
As others have mentioned, the atmosphere in this playroom is relaxed and mellow. I also like the fact that there are tables and chairs on the other side of the gate to the playroom where you can bring your own food to eat and drink.

Took my daughter here for an art class and after she got to play. The art class is ages 2 – 5 and my daughter is 19 months but she still had fun.
The art class was $ 24 and all day play was included and street parking I spent $ 4 for about 2 hours. Street parking wasn’t bad at all.
The place is bright, clean and has a nice variety of toys. It wasn’t too crowded which was nice, all the kids had something to play with. Staff was friendly.

We had our 1 year old’s birthday party here and it was perfect! The space was clean and the owners were hands-​on and ensured that everything went smoothly. They assisted with the set up, cake cutting, music, present organizing and general event sequence. We had all ages of kids at the party and they all loved the play space. It’s a happy clean space with lots of natural light making for great pictures, etc. I would absolutely have another party here! Great experience.

Incredible place to take toddlers to play! Especially on cold and rainy days. The owner is so kind and sincere and this place always brings a smile to my face. They have classes for the kids and coffee dewing do the adults! It’s really wonderful!

It’s spacious enough for my daughter to roam around and plenty of eco-​friendly toys for her to play with. This location offers complimentary tea and water as well. This is well worth paying for $ 2/​hour for parking. The admission is great for one day, can eat around the area and come back to play! $ 12 for one child. $ 9 additional sibling. Under 1 $ 6 without the first child pricing.

Let me start of by saying my son and I have been to all of the local playrooms over the last couple of years and this one is hands down my favorite. The atmosphere is much more relaxed and welcoming than many of the other play rooms. The décor is beautiful, inventive and unique. The toys are great quality and very interactive. My favorite thing is probably the huge indoor treehouse which kids can climb on and under. My ONLY complaint is that you have to pay for street parking, but parking is at least always very easy to find.

Love it here!!! We want to move in! The manager was so nice! This is a great place if you have a munchkin with lots of energy and you have a little energy left. You can literally just sit your little one down and let them enjoy themself. There are so many toys and fun things to explore! However, the place is so much fun that I found myself crawling around on the floor and into spaces with my munchkin as well.

I am leaving a follow up review saying that guys improved a lot! Me and my friends have been at the Sod room few times after and it was spot on clean! Good job! Keep it up.
And my name is Kate, not Mary))) I helped register profile for someone else under my email, but its all resolved now, Thanks Unilocal