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

Cirque du Soleil's Ovo in New York City

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 8:03am

Note: This show returns to NYC in July 2017 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, and to Long Island in August 2017.

Typically, this site is all about how you can enjoy the riches of the city without being rich. There are so many things to do that are inexpensive, yet amazing. But there are also some things that are worth dropping some dough on, cause they're just that fabulous. In my opinion, Cirque du Soleil is one of those experiences.

PlayDate 4/12: Party Guide, NYC Apps, The Big Swim, Coney Island Opens, Ovo, More

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 04/11/2010 - 11:41am

What's new this week? Last chance to register for the Big Swim, sell your stuff at a great kids consignment event, and see photos of some awesome Easter Bonnets from the parade last weekend. Find out what else opened this week for kids in NYC and read about some cool and useful apps for your phone or to use online.

We just updated our NYC Kids Birthday Party Guide. Now you can conveniently find tons of party ideas and the best places to have a kids birthday party in NYC all on one page.

Also we have chosen all our winners for the Split Rock contest. Find out who won below.

What's Happening! Week in Review

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 04/09/2010 - 7:17am

Photograph of the week: Easter is pretty.

This week we went to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens and had a blast. We also checked out Socialsklz, a manners class that teaches modern-day social skills. And, found out that Birthday party places on Staten Island are just as fun at a fraction of the cost.

Meanwhile, just two days after we posted photos of the new playground at Brooklyn Bridge Park, predicting that the metal orb features of this park were going to get very hot on summer days, the NY Daily News ran an article saying the metal orbs are already burning hot and the Brooklyn Paper followed up to say that tents have been put in place to keep the burning orbs out of the sun.

PlayDate 4/5: Be on TV, Kids Club 13, Hanami Season, Shakespeare on the Run, More

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 6:56am

This week you and your kids can be on TV, see Shakespeare on the run, and see the flowering cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden or check out what's in bloom in Central Park. Plus learn about a new club for NYC kids and other news from around the web.

What's Happening! The Week in Review

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 04/02/2010 - 6:22am

There's so much going on we thought it might be helpful to provide a quick weekly round-up of all the things we've posted and what's hot to make it easier to follow along. If this is helpful, let us know.

This week's photo: A sign on a dirt road in Vermont that our GPS had led us down. I guess somebody was sick of lost tourists driving up to their house.

NYC Easter Parades 2010: Fancy Easter Bonnets and Greek Orthodox Celebrations

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 03/28/2010 - 10:32am

What the Village Halloween Parade is to Downtown, the Easter Fancy Hat parade is to Uptown; a chance to get dressed up and take to the streets in your quirkiest, home-made Easter bonnet. Not so much a parade, people mill about looking for the best bonnets, occasionally breaking into a waltz, swing dance or even song. It's as close as you're going to get to stepping into a classic movie.

Find out about this and other Easter Parades:

PlayDate March 23: New Brooklyn Playground, Hubble IMAX at LSC, Free Goodies, Viking Ship in Times Square, Food Revolution, More

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 03/22/2010 - 8:13pm

What's happening in NYC this week for kids? There's new playground in Brooklyn, a new IMAX space show at the Liberty Science Center, a viking ship has docked in Times Square, and for parents, a revealing new TV series about the food our kids are eating. Plus it's free cone day at Ben and Jerry's and free pastries at Starbucks today only. Get the scoop!

Opening this week:

Brand Spankin' New: Battery Park City Public Library

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 6:25am

A new public library branch opened in Battery Park City this week and is holding opening celebrations today. March 18, 2010. Besides being a beautiful, light and spacious facility, the new Battery Park City NYPL branch was constructed with a focus on environmental sustainability and will be the first GREEN Library in Manhattan.