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

Spooky Fun is Everywhere in Our Halloween Fun Guide

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 10/20/2010 - 8:31pm

Last week we updated our Fall Fun Guide with all the culture highlights, festivals and fun stuff to do this season, and our Pick Your Own Guide for places to go apple and pumpkin picking. This week we've added our updated Halloween Fun Guide with all our tips for having the bestest Halloween with kids in New York City and the region. We've also created a new Museums Guide (an update of our old Culture Guide) which has write-ups of all the local museums we've reviewed as well as tips for how to get more out of them with kids.

5 Film and Movie Series for Kids in New York City: Fall Culture Highlights 2010

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 10/14/2010 - 4:16am

The hit family movie of the Fall season is sure to be MEGAMIND from Dreamworks (coming to theaters in November), but if you like taking your kids to the movies there's no reason to limit yourself to what the big movie studios are pushing. In NYC there are several family film series that show everything from blockbuster feature films to cute little art house shorts and many of them are FREE.

Below are the highlights from the family movie series in New York City this Fall:

Celebrate Halloween with Mommy Poppins at Our Free Halloween Party

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 10:35am

RSVP BELOW

On Monday, October 25 from 4-7pm at the blurb.com pop up shop at 60 Mercer St in SoHo we will be welcoming kids of all ages for a great Halloween party.

Here's what we have planned!

Check Out Our Fall Fun Guide, Our Apple and Pumpkin Picking Guide and Other Site News

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 10/10/2010 - 8:12pm

We've been posting lots of great Fall Fun and now we've made it easier for you to find. Our Fall Fun Guide includes highlights from the top venues for kids culture in New York City plus our lists of Fall Festivals, Day Trips, in New York City and the Tri-State area and other Fall Fun.

We also put all our Pick Your Own Posts on one page so now you can find all the Apple Picking, Pumpkin Picking and even Strawberry Picking for Summer and other Farm Fun handily in our Pick Your Own Guide.

News: We're adding to the Mommy Poppins family. If you'd like to contribute to the site, send two sample posts that you think would be a great addition to the site to Mommy AT Mommy Poppins DOT com with a short bio that includes where you live and how old your children are. We do pay our contributors and it's lots of fun too!

Klub 4 Kidz: Williamsburg's New Indoor Play Gym Keeps Kids Big and Little Moving

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 10/06/2010 - 9:00am

Northern Brooklyn has hit the play space jackpot lately with not one or two, but three brand new play gyms opening up. Talk about going from zero to 60. Williamsburg's Klub 4 Kidz is the newest addition and offers a different type of experience than most of the play spaces in Manhattan and Brooklyn with a giant play structure, climbing wall, plus spaces for classes and birthday parties. The unique thing about Klub 4 Kidz is that it's as good for 10 year olds as it is for 3 year olds, whereas most play spaces are really designed for the preschool and younger set.

Even if you don't live in Brooklyn, you'll be surprised how easy it is to get to Klub 4 Kids by train from Manhattan or car from Queens and there are lots of great restaurants and boutiques in Williamsburg to make it a fun day trip. So read on:

Recap Video from World Maker Faire NYC 2010

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 11:20am

We went to World Maker Faire this weekend and it was a blast. Tons of craft activities, science experiments, and weird stuff to look at for both kids and adults alike. Some of the highlights were making marshmallow guns out of pvc piping, the Life-Sized Game of Mousetrap, the coke and mentos rocket demo, free knitting and crocheting lessons, and much much more. I put together this 2 minute video of the highlights of our day.

Three Great Children's Books for Contrarian-Loving Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 9:07pm

Let's face it, kids love reading about other kids being bad. Kids become giddy as they gleefully chastise their naughty counterparts in classics like "Oh, David!." Here are a few new books that celebrate naughtiness—for educational purposes only, of course.

Chore Charts Apps That Help Track Kids Chores and Rewards

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 09/07/2010 - 5:39am

This evening my 7 year old unloaded the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor, made his bed, picked up his toys, and expressed gratitude in the form of a polite "Thank you for making dinner." I kid you not...and I'm not trying to impress you with my uber mothering either. In fact, this is the first time he ever did some of those things.

The magic behind this household chore windfall was a new app I installed on my iPhone and my son's iPod Touch,