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

Giveaway: Fun-a-go-go Makes Eating Out Fun-a-gain

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 5:18pm

Last week we posted about Drop and Dine, a fabulous new way to enjoy dinner out at a restaurant together/alone with your toddler or child. Today we've got another great solution for eating out with kids??”Fun-a-Go-Go??”and we're giving away whole party pack of them.

Fun-a-Go-Go is a deceptively simple solution for entertaining children in a restaurant. It's just a small folio with a dry erase board and marker that clips on so it never gets lost. The kit has dozens of game and activity ideas printed on it to keep your little one entertained through even the longest restaurant meal. There's even more ideas posted on their website, or you can make up your own.

Recommended for children ages 3 and up, I think Fun-a-Go-Go is great. I love the simplicity of it, the way it allows you to interact with your children to get them set up in games that they can then continue on their own, allowing you to eat and talk.

Scholastic Store Story Times

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 6:22am

The Scholastic Store holds free story hours every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am in their SoHo store. The store also has play activities areas like a big Colorforms magnet wall where kids can create their own pictures, a Magic School Bus with a screening area, and a giant dinosaur with a cozy beanbag tail to curl up and read so story hour could easily turn into several hours of indoor entertainment and reading.

NYPL Online Catalog of Vintage Valentine Images

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 5:40am

A message of true love. Digital ID: 1588522. New York Public Library

The other day we posted our Vintage Valentine craft idea. Well, we just discovered the New York Public Library has a huge collection of Vintage Valentine artwork.

Make Dumplings with Your Kids for Lunar New Year

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 9:59pm

Dumplings are one of the symbolic foods of the Chinese New Year, so Amber sent us this fun activity idea for celebrating Lunar New Year with kids. It's a bit of prep work to get the filling made, but kids will love filling and eating their own dumplings. It would be a great activity for a Lunar New Year kids' party, and a healthy snack too!

City Bakery Hot Chocolate Festival

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 1:03pm

The weather hasn't been too bad lately, so if you need a different excuse to fill up on hot chocolate, how about City Bakery's Hot Chocolate Festival. Every day in the month of February City Bakery is offering up a unique flavor at their 18th Street store. If you don't know about City Bakery's famous hot chocolate, then all the more reason to head over to what some believe is the best hot chocolate in Manhattan.

Fortune Cookie Valentines Craft

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 5:22am

Valentine's Day is coming up and we're sharing some fun and easy Valentine crafts to do with kids. We love this one because it works perfectly with the fact that Valentines and Chinese New Year are so close.

Have a Dress-Up Fashion Show

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 5:55pm

It's fashion week in New York City, so we have a Fashion Week-inspired activity for any day you're stuck at home and going stir-crazy, or just want to enjoy how adorably cute your kids are.

Excellent Art Classes for New York Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 11:02am

The Henry Street SettlementГўв‚¬в„ўs Abrons Arts Center offers affordable, superb programs for all ages and skill levels in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. This Winter, due to some reshuffling of classes, some of the classes are under-enrolled. If you are looking for art classes for you toddler through high schooler, this is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of one of New York's incredible cultural institutions.