Anna Fader

Founder & CEO of Mommy Poppins
Anna was born in Park Slope, spent her early years in the West Village. By the time she graduated high school, she had lived in 4 of the 5 boroughs. Growing up in NYC in the '70s meant the streets were her playgrounds. Museums and avant garde music venues were the kid-friendly activities. And living downtown taught her the importance of creating community for families in NYC.

Now, raising her own two children in the city, she tries to create the same sense of magic and community she felt growing up, despite today's more commercialized version of kid-friendly New York.

She started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to share a more artsy, educational, uncommercial, community-oriented vision of raising kids in New York City. Today Mommy Poppins is relied on by millions of families as the authority on the best things to do with kids beyond New York City: from Boston to Philly, Los Angeles, Houston and travel guides for dozens more cities and destinations.

Latest posts by Anna

You're Invited to Our Free Healthy Family Fun Event

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 01/24/2013 - 10:00am

This event has reached capacity but don't worry, we'll be hosting additional events soon! Since 2007, we've been telling you about the best things to do and places to go with kids in NYC. Starting this year, we're doing one better: We're planning a series of live events for families at our favorite New York City spots, and our first one is coming up next Friday, February 1 at New York Kids Club.

Join us for a few hours of fun at one of the best places for kids to get their ya-yas out: New York Kids Club. This is a free event but reservations are required. Space is very limited and we expect the event to fill up quickly. But don't worry: We'll be organizing many more events over the next few months. Following us on Facebook is a great way to make sure you get early notification of an upcoming event.

Read on for additional details and RSVP now.

Restaurants Near the 9/11 Memorial to Eat at with Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 01/17/2013 - 11:00am

Ground Zero has become a must-see destination for many families visiting NYC. Making a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum meaningful for children may be challenging, but finding a decent place to eat nearby is even more so. Besides all the construction still under way, the neighborhood lunch spots mainly cater to office workers from the Financial District so there are a lot of fast-food chains and delis with limited seating.

If you are heading up to Tribeca afterward, you'll find many family-friendly restaurants but in the immediate vicinity of the World Trade Center site, options are a more limited. Luckily, I know the area well and can give you the inside scoop on where to look for the best inexpensive kid-friendly restaurants and eats near Ground Zero.

Make Facing Challenges Fun for Kids with a Challenge-a-Day Project

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 12/06/2012 - 10:00am

As parents, we instinctively want to make things easy on our kids, but making sure they are faced with appropriate challenges is one of the best things we can do for them. Tackling a challenge builds self-esteem and teaches new skills, resilience and perseverance.

This past summer, I organized a challenge-a-day project for my son that turned out to be really great. Not only were the challenges fun, they exposed him to new experiences and helped him learn new skills. By the end, he was doing all kinds of things that he didn't think he was capable of and, by repeatedly tackling challenges, he internalized the idea that he can, in fact, achieve things that seem hard. A challenge-a-day program can also be great for kids with sensory issues, anxiety or other struggles since it allows them to slowly build up tolerance to desired tasks.

If you'd like to try a challenge-a-day project like my family did, here's what you need to know:

Our Fun Holiday Event Will Help You and Hurricane Sandy Victims

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 11/15/2012 - 10:00am

Holiday Portrait Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser Sunday, December 2 at J&R Jr.
Limited space available. Reserve your portrait session now!

Mommy Poppins is hosting a special holiday event that we hope will add some holiday cheer, make your life a little easier and give to those who need it most this year.

Our Holiday Portrait Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser will help you check one of the toughest seasonal tasks off your list: holiday cards. You'll get cool portraits, discounted holiday cards and gift shopping, fun holiday activities all in one—and 100% of the proceeds go to Hurricane Sandy relief. That's a true win-win-win. Read on for all the details about our Holiday Portrait Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser.

Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida: A (Sur)Really Unique Museum Experience

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 09/28/2012 - 10:00am

One of my favorite outings from our trip to Clearwater Beach Florida, was a day trip we took to St Petersburg to visit the Salvador Dali Museum. The Dali Museum has a huge collection of Dali paintings from his days as a student through his entire career. Kids should find the surrealistic paintings interesting, observing the odd juxtapositions of images, hidden pictures within pictures, as well as the famous melting clocks.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: See Winter from the Dolphin Tale Movie

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 09/27/2012 - 10:00am

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, in Clearwater Beach, Florida, is quite different from any other aquarium you may have been to. Primarily a rescue and rehabilitation facility for marine life, the aquarium only became a popular place to visit after the story of the rescue and rehabilitation of a dolphin named Winter became a star-studded feature film, Dolphin Tale.

Since the film's creation, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium now has two separate buildings, connected by a free Jolley Trolley. The original building houses Winter and all the other animals that are either being rehabilitated for release or now live at the aquarium because they can not be released back in the wild.

There is also a brand new Winter's Dolphin Tale Adventure building dedicated completely to learning about the story behind Winter and the making of the movie Dolphin Tale. The Dolphin Tale Adventure experience is included with your admission to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and both are interesting and educational.

Weekend Getaway to Hudson Valley's Rhinebeck

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 7:10am

Want a fun weekend away that doesn’t involve waiting on line at an amusement park or trekking all your belongings to the beach?

Alison Lowenstein is a local mom and author of the popular book City Baby Brooklyn. Her second is City Weekends, a wonderful resource full of ideas for things to do in and around New York City. City Weekends isn't specifically focused on family weekend trips, but one of the things I love about it is that it's full of great weekend trip ideas that can still be kid-friendly without being so kid-centric. (FYI, Alison's latest is City Kid New York and has received some nice reviews as well).

Read on to learn about one of her weekend trip suggestions for a fun family trip to the country in the Hudson Valley's Rhinebeck:

Labor Day Weekend Getaways | IEPs | Coolest New Classes | New Queens Playground

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 10:25am

Another summer bites the dust. And based on all the Facebook pictures and status updates people have been sharing, it seems a good time was had by all. It's been great seeing everyone's family vacations, but now it's Labor Day weekend and time to get serious. Well, after one last weekend of fun things to do, one of these car-free getaway ideas or maybe some last-minute Labor Day weekend getaway deals.

Now it's time for apple picking and back to school. If you're in the market for enrichment, you'll find the coolest new kids' classes in our newly updated Classes Guide and our brand-new Directory where you can search for programs by age, location or type. And we're adding more listings every day. Or, if you're too cool for school, you might need to check out this list of support groups and resources for NYC homeschool parents.

Besides lots of great apple picking spots, our regional sister sites have shared some great day trip ideas for Labor Day weekend in New Jersey, a powwow and great camping spots on Long Island, and a day trip to Old Saybrook in Connecticut.

Here's what else happened this week: