The Little Treehouse

CLOOOOSED. Who knows what happened. They haven’t updated anything on the website, their phone is disconnected, and if you peer inside their front door, it looks like 3 months worth of mail piled up.

They are still open but have limited hours. You can bring your own food now or you can order in. They have take out menus. Place is for sale so it’s bare bones but great on cold or rainy or really hot days. Still have tumbling mats and bars downstairs.

Twice now I have taken the time to drive here on a weekend and it had been closed when it is supposed to be open.
The hours are wrong on the website and they are super unreliable with the time they actually decide to open.
What a disappointment… For the adults and kids.

I went here for a mom group meet-​up in December 2012 and was excited to come back when my son was older because it seemed like a great place. Fast forward a year and I had a playdate set for Sunday ¹¹⁄₂₄. Imagine my disappointment when, after a 40 minute drive, we pulled up and found the place closed! There was no notice on their website, Facebook, Twitter, or even the voicemail that greets you when you call. What a terrible business practice! We certainly won’t be going back ever again – if they ever open up, that is.

I love the idea, but the management SUCKS! Im here right now and the place is TRASHED. Understandably kids are going to mess it up, but the staff is just standing around in back doing NOTHING at all. You want to eat here? Good luck! They used to have terrible hours for lunch but they fixed that– now they don’t have food AT ALL M-​F!!! I like the idea but it is expensive for what you get– which isn’t much these days. Also– and I understand this isnt the Treehouses fault– but NOBODY watches their kids!!!

Eh, expensive and my local Y has more interesting things going on for my 4-​year-​old – and it’s free. This is definitely more suitable for a three-​and-​under crowd. Interesting to note, you can bring your own food in during the week but not on the weekend.

Three and a half stars.
The good: great bad weather hang out for infants and toddlers.
Kids love it
Play gym downstairs very cool and seems safe
Famy friendly restaurant — eat together or while kids play
The not so good: crowded on bad weather days
Toys are mostly infant to very young toddler level
Some toys pretty beat up
Hours have been recently significantly reduced
Gym not available on weekends for private parties
Staff seems overworked — not rude but not very welcoming either

Great spot! I’ve been going here since it started at the tiny location at the top of the Hill. It’s grown into an awesome hub for kids.
The play space is geared towards younger kids, but the classes, food, etc. are for all ages!

Overall, I would agree with the past review that this place is a rip off.
Pros:
— The classes are pretty good, albeit a bit pricey. The downstairs space in general was really well set-​up. The teacher and equipment remained exciting to my daughter over the duration of the class.
— The design of the physical space is really cute. Especially the space for kids to wash their hands!
— If you just want a place to get out of the house, meet a friend, get some coffee and have your kids entertained inside, this is a fair option on occasion.
Cons:
— When this place first opened, it had a ton of really great, high quality toys. Almost every time we have gone since then, there are less and less toys and those that are there are in worse condition. My daughter used to love the shopping carts. They’re gone. Then she loved the doll house. The people and furniture are now gone. She loved the rocking boat. It now is only allowed to be used upside down as a set of stairs. The dress up clothes that she used to love don’t look or smell clean, and are often missing the parts that hold them together (ie velcro to keep cape on or coat closed). Now our visits begin with a series of questions about what happened to (fill in the blank).
— The food is really over priced, bland and just not very good. The coffee is lukewarm and not that good either.
— The tables are generally not maintained. About 3 out of 4 times that I go, I have to clean food, wrappers, spills and/​or plates off of a table to find a space to sit. I think more people would clean up after themselves if there was a place to put used dishes.
— The non-​teaching staff are not particularly friendly. This may be due to the fact that they are short-​staffed. I am not sure. But, for example, at times they put my change directly in the tip chair instead of giving it to me. There has been more than once that I signed out and they could not find my name on their list of people who had signed in and (despite the fact that I always do sign in) they seemed annoyed with me. I have seen this happen to other people as well. Lastly, when I first went in for a «free» trial class, the staff member on duty assured me that I was mistaken, that there were no free trials and I would have to be the $ 22 or whatever drop-​in rate. I was told at a later date that there are in fact free classes and other parents had taken advantage of them without charge (although I was never reimbursed).

One of my favorite places for kids in the city to play. It definitely has the Chestnut HIll feel to it but it’s a quality establishment, kind of like a cross between The Little Gym and Starbucks. You get kid time and me time as a parent. Great place for playdates where kids get to play and parents get to talk to each other, make new friends, enjoy a cup of coffee. I suppose you can also choose to play with your kids ;)
I love the wooden play apparatuses. Simple. Crafted. Everything about this place shows that they’ve thought about the experience. They’ve been open for awhile now and I’m starting to notice that some of the toys are getting beat up but there’s still plenty of things to enjoy.
Downside, it can be a bit pricey per visit but when you need that break and you can swing it in these economic times it’s good for your kid and it’s good for you. Especially needed during the wintertime when you can’t get out to parks or playgrounds.
There’s also tumbling and music classes here. My 3yr old loves his class. You can drop them in their class downstairs and enjoy me time in the seated area. There’s wi-​fi here so I try to get some work done when I’m here. The most cost effective thing to do is become a member which includes class time and playtime. That’s what we decided to do.
On certain days this place can be a zoo like most places for children. That should be expected especially around holidays or when schools are off.
I do hope this place continues to improve but as for kids places in the Philly area, Little Treehouse stands high above.

I love this place! Sure it’s not the most cost-​effective place to bring your children, $ 8.50 per child, adults free but I just love it here and I am sure one can be frugal and feed the kids ahead of time (no outside food allowed, sorry!) My first Little Treehouse experience was during a playdate for my 16 month old w another mom and her toddler. The boys played their little hearts out on the mini-​slide and play area during which us mamafolk sipped coffee and enjoyed snacks (I had a Pumpkin Spice vegan cookies-​yummO). While we were there, LTH was hosting their kiddie NYE celebration. The staff passed out favors and served cookies and juice (gassp for free? yes for free) to celebrate New Years Eve. There was even a countdown and bubble machine thereafter *charming*. It’s a great place for the small fries (under 4) as you don’t have to worry about them getting trampled as easily as because of the layout and activities offered. I also love that they offer unlimited play for those with memeberships for classes, which a pretty good deal considering the price of classes, although they don’t offer Saturday classes in lieu of birthday parties. LTH is definitely an asset to the Chestnut Hill family scene.

Great Place for a rainy/​cold day for your little ones. The environment is warm and welcoming, the play area is clean and had great wooden toys and play things, lots of costumes for dress-​up. I was a bit worried that my 4 year old would be too old for it, but she enjoyed it immensely and met several new friends the same age while playing there.
Love the concept, the café and food is decent but a bit overpriced. There was one lady at the desk who was just plain mean, but every other person there was kind and attentive.

We love this place! During the cold months it was a godsend. We take the tumbling class they offer once a week and my 2 year old has a blast. We also just had his 2^nd birthday there and it was great. Everybody had a fantastic time and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a birthday party location.
The only downside is the food can be a bit pricey and they don’t let you bring outside food in anymore.

I am here in the treehouse right now, and I’m loving it. This is my second time here, and my kids love it. We got a salad and two grilled cheese sandwiches. The salad was delicious, and the grilled cheese was a little overdone but not so bad that the kids didn’t eat it.
The only thing I hate is that some adults don’t listen to the rules about no shoes on the carpet. But besides that I love it. I will definitely be back.

I’ve been taking my daughter to the Little Treehouse since it was in its old storefront a few blocks up Germantown Avenue. She is now 5 ½ and still loves the place as much as she ever did — we even had her birthday party here! (It was spectacular, by the way, and stress-​free for me.) The space has been designed in such an amazing way — it’s a real visual treat. The food is great, too. I’ve enjoyed pizzas, salads, and sandwiches there and all were fresh and delicious. Best of all, I can enjoy a relaxing lunch or coffee with my child-​ed or child-​free friends and my daughter can have a wonderful time, too.
I have especially enjoyed meeting new people here. The atmosphere is so conducive to having little chats with other parents — it provides a needed social outlet for adults as well as kids. The upcoming tumbling classes and other programs will definitely make this even more of a community hub for families.
We also belong to all of the area museums, including Please Touch, but I would never compare that with The Little Treehouse. Even though my daughter is older now, it’s impossible to relax at the PTM because the place is so darned BIG. The Little Treehouse serves an entirely different purpose and, to my way of thinking, it’s a bargain and a privilege to have it in our neighborhood. By the way, I know someone who’s friends with the owner, and they are not «making a killing,» as Damon B. so offensively put it. Opening a business like this, with so much incredible attention to detail, takes mountainous amounts of both cash and chutzpah. Supporting businesses like The Little Treehouse enhances our quality of life here in Philadelphia.

RIP OFF. Admission, lunch for 2 toddlers, my wife, and I=$ 62! It really is a great concept, but the owners of The Little Treehouse fail to pull it off well. We pay $ 100 annually for the Please Touch Museum, and they offer tasty food for reasonable prices too!
The proprietors are trying to be somewhat gourmet, but falling flat and overcharging for it. My wife’s 9 dollar grilled cheese? Meh. And it seems like they could’ve packed more fun equipment into that big room; you get the impression, especially after signing a waiver upon admission, that the owners are petrified of getting sued. So they went out and got boring hippie equipment. One slide that rises a towering two feet off the ground, for example.
The owners of this place must be making a killing, however we do not plan to continue to stuff their pockets in the future.

Nice price nice concept my daughter who turned 4 the day we went loved it just as much as the babies all in all a good place

This is a great place to take a baby/​toddler on a crappy day or even on a nice day when you just need to get out of the house. All the toys are pretty safe for the 1 and under crowd, so I could let my baby go crazy. At this point she just sucks on a few toys and crawls a bit from one area to the next but I think she is having fun. There are handy bags so that you can take the drool covered toys out of circulation and they can be cleaned. Still, there is a lot of toy sharing and you are really worried about colds/​flu this is not the place for you.
They sell passes and if you are willing to go on weekdays after 1 the admission is cheaper.

The Little Treehouse is not a treehouse, but it is a fun and safe place to take a little kid for a few hours. For $ 6.50−7.50, you and your tike are admitted to a large room with lots of cool toys, several tables, and an area where some food and toys are available for sale. They have lots of wooden toys, some dress up clothes, some stuffed animals and a few things to climb on.
I enjoyed taking my daughter here because I felt like I could let her crawl around all she wanted to and there wasn’t anything dangerous she could get into; at home, if we take our eyes off her for a minute she sticking her fingers into the electrical sockets. The staff keeps everything clean, and the toys are washed daily. This might not be the best place for hyperactive kids — the atmosphere is pretty calm and there’s not a lot of room for running around. The price is more reasonable if you buy a 10-​pack of passes for $ 45 or $ 55 (depending on whether you choose off-​peak or all-​hours passes). If this is still too expensive for you, try Smith Memorial Playground in Fairmount Park instead.

Having a two year old, I was so happy to see that this place has moved into a more spacious and beautiful spot. Trying to find a category to fit this place into is tough. It is not a day care center and it is not a park. But rather an indoor playground of sorts.
They have an enormous play area with tons of toys on a clean carpeted and padded play area. It is great for little kiddos. I would say any child under 5 would have a great time here. They have a snack bar and a seated wifi area so that adults can sit and enjoy a coffee and a snack while watching their children play.
The prices are great. $ 7.50 for the day. You can stay for as little or as long as you like and even come back later without paying more. They also offer ten day passes at $ 55, as well as incentives if you refer any new clients. They also have sing-​a-​longs, craft time, story times, etc.
Personally, I am not one for Mommy and Me groups, but would love for my kid to get more interaction with other children her age. This allows her to do this and allows me to not feel guilty if I do not want to talk to the other Moms about the latest gossip. Or I can, if I feel like it too.