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

Star Wars Birthday Party: Ideas for a Jedi Training Academy Theme Kids Party

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 2:03am

When I saw the Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland last year, my first thought was, "this is so cool. I bet you could recreate this experience at home for an amazing birthday party theme." (I never claimed to be normal.) If you haven't seen it, Disney's Jedi Training Academy lets kids learn light saber moves and battle Darth Vader. It's pretty freaking cool, and I figured if you cut out some of the stage craft (like the fog machine) you could fairly simply recreate the Jedi Training Academy experience at home for the most amazing birthday party idea a mini Star Wars geek could imagine.

NYC School Zones: Where to Find Accurate Public School Zone Maps

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 10:00am

New York City got an F in geography this month as news got around that 311 (the official New York City info line) has been giving out inaccurate information about elementary school zones. Over the past few years, there has been an unprecedented amount of school rezoning due to the introduction of several new schools to help ease overcrowding. Apparently even the DOE and NYC.gov can't keep up with the changes, so what are parents supposed to do—especially with the deadline for kindergarten applications looming?

I spent several hours sussing out where NYC parents can find accurate school zoning maps. It was not an easy task as there literally is no one place to find accurate school zoning maps for NYC... until now. Read on to see how you can get the right information when looking up your zoned schools.

Family Comedy Shows and Improv Classes for NYC Kids and Teenagers

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/21/2012 - 12:00pm

Some babies are early talkers, some are early walkers. My second child was a precocious jokester. He told his first (nonverbal) joke at about six months. Since he's my second child I don't recall the actual joke, but I remember making a mental note that I had a little comedian on my hands. Years later the comedy continues... to the chagrin of his teachers, I'm sure.

Of course, exposing him to age-appropriate funny business hasn't been easy. Let's face it, if you tried to take kids to your average comedy show, you'd spend most of the evening covering their ears (and possibly their eyes) with your hands. But there are a handful of family-friendly comedy shows and great kids' comedy classes in New York City, so you can see your own wisenheimer on the stage.

My son and I attended a couple of these shows, and he also took a few improv and comedy classes. Read on to find out what they're like, and find out details about a series of free kids' comedy classes that start next week.

Nuclear Cowboyz: Get Revved Up for this FMX Motocross Extravaganza

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:00am

I have to admit that motocross really isn't my thing. I'm much more likely to get excited by the idea of spending an evening curled up with a copy of Pride and Prejudice than sitting in an arena watching motorcycles fly through the air to heavy metal music. But I'm always up for trying something new—especially when the prospect makes my kids go wild. So when we were invited to check out Nuclear Cowboyz, the FMX (freestyle motocross) extravaganza, I put on my best tweeds and went to see what surprises a pyrotechnic motocross show might hold for us.

After watching the promo video, I became intrigued. The footage promised daring tricks, fire and lasers. Is Nuclear Cowboyz the Cirque du Soleil of motocross?

10 Great Deals and Discounts on Winter Classes for NYC Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 9:00am

It's cold outside (finally) so going to the playground is no longer a sure bet. Time to sign up for some winter classes. We reached out to some of our favorite play spots and asked them to extend deals to our readers. The result is ten excellent offers for kids that you won't want to miss, from babies through tweens. Save up to 50% on classes like chess, music, cooking, swimming, art and more. Or snag amazing savings on children's gym memberships and classes. Act fast! These deals are too hot to hang around long.

Farm Camps Give City Kids a Taste of Country Life

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 01/15/2012 - 9:40am

How often do NYC kids get to hang out with pigs? Well, real pigs. At two New York summer camps, NYC kids can get a taste of real farm life with real animal chores and hands-on gardening experience. There are two different farm day camp experiences NYC kids can try that take them to a world completely outside of NYC, even if they are in NYC.

All-Inclusive Winter Family Resorts: Ridin-Hy Ranch

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 10:52pm

[UPDATED: JANUARY 9, 2013]

This is the second in a series of posts about All-Inclusive Winter Resorts for Family Vacations in the New York City Region. In our previous post, we reviewed Woodloch Pines Resort in the Poconos.

If you like your vacations a little more on the rustic side, Ridin-Hy Ranch might be the answer. This Adirondack ranch resort offers good old-fashioned winter fun, hold the glitz and glamour. Winter activity highlights include horseback riding through snow-covered trails, sleigh rides, ice skating, snow tubing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing and nightly entertainment.

Best of New York City for Kids 2011: Our Favorite New NYC Spots

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 01/01/2012 - 12:00pm

Happy New Year! New Year's is always a special time for Mommy Poppins because I started the site as a New Year's resolution five years ago (happy fifth birthday, MP!), and I wrote our popular list of 100 Things to Do in NYC with Kids the following New Year's. (Apparently I'm highly motivated by New Year's, who knew?). Unfortunately, I don't have anything that exciting up my sleeve today, but couldn't let January 1 go by without acknowledging some of the amazing new destinations we wrote about in 2011.

As we all know, NYC is constantly evolving with new attractions opening (and closing) all the time. While the pace of new kid biz openings seems to have slowed from its heyday a few years ago, there are still incredible places popping up in New York City. If you follow the site religiously, you will know about all of these, but for those of you who may have missed one or two of the approximately 500 posts we wrote this year, here's a rundown of our favorite new NYC attractions for families that opened in 2011.