Alina Adams

Alina Adams - NYC Writer

Alina was born in the former Soviet Union, spent her teen years in San Francisco, and came to New York City to work for ABC Daytime and ABC Sports. She spent her pre-marriage/pre-kid years as a figure-skating researcher and producer for the U.S. and World Championships, the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and various professional shows.

After learning that international travel and resentful toddlers don’t mix, she switched to PGP Productions and its soap operas As the World Turns and Guiding Light, where she wrote New York Times best-selling tie-in books and developed interactive properties like AnotherWorldToday.com.

The birth of her third child (and the process of enrolling her two older kids into NYC schools—a full-time job in itself!) convinced Alina that she was not, in fact, Superwoman, and prompted her to leave TV and turn to writing books, including romance novels (Counterpoint: An Interactive Family Saga, When a Man Loves a Woman), figure-skating mysteries (Murder on Ice, On Thin Ice) and nonfiction (Soap Opera 451: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments).

In addition to contributing to Mommy Poppins, Alina blogs for Jewish parenting site Kveller.com and is in the process of turning her previously published backlist into enhanced e-books with multimedia features like audio, video and more. Follow her exhaustive and exhausting efforts to become a Mommy Media Mogul (is that a thing? If it isn’t, it really should be) at AlinaAdams.com and on Google+

Latest posts by Alina

6 Ways to Ease the Preschool Transition for Kids — and Parents

Submitted by Alina Adams on Fri, 08/23/2019 - 11:00am

The start of a new school year gets everyone's nerves jumping—including when it's time to make the transition to preschool.

Every child is, of course, different. Some love to dive into new adventures without so much as a look back. Others are more cautious, preferring to watch and get the lay of the land. But children and parents are bound to be apprehensive about a child's first day (or week, or month) in a new environment, surrounded by new people and new routines.

We asked veteran preschool teachers in the NYC metropolitan area for their no-fail tips to help make this transition a positive experience for all and came away with six top suggestions.

If you're still searching for the right preschool, check out our directory of NYC schools, as well as those in the surrounding suburbs, such as New Jersey, Westchester, and Long Island.

Upper East Side with Kids: Top 50 Things to Do, Eat, and See

Submitted by Alina Adams on Fri, 05/03/2019 - 9:00am

Lush Central Park makes for a perfect day on the UES. Photo by ep_jhu via flickr

Like the Upper West Side and Park Slope, the Upper East Side is one of those neighborhoods where you can barely go a block without passing some kind of kid-centric business or attraction.

Despite its somewhat snooty reputation, the 'hood has lots of fun (and often affordable!) activities for kids of all ages, from toddlers to teens. From unique play spaces to world-class art museums, lush landscaped parks, lovely independent toy stores, and afternoon tea complete with fairy wings, the Upper East Side has all that plus mansions, parades, public art, towering temples and churches, athletic complexes, and some of the priciest real estate in town.

Explore the neighborhood and see the best it has to offer NYC families with our top 50 things to do with kids on Manhattan's family-friendly Upper East Side.

14 Brooklyn Gym Party Spots for Kids

Submitted by Alina Adams on Tue, 03/26/2019 - 11:00am

Kidville parties are legendary and hassle-free!

For preschoolers and young school-age kids, gym parties are an easy solution to the space limitations of the typical Brooklyn apartment. Young guests get to run, tumble, bounce, and jump around without having to worry about breaking anything or using their indoor voices, while you sit back, relax, and just watch. By the end, they're so tuckered out, even the sugar rush from the cake won't get them going again.

Here are 14 Brooklyn gyms that will make your kid's party extra special and allow guests to celebrate by burning off all their excess energy. Find even more birthday ideas in our Party Guide.

NYC STEM Camps: Robots, Coding, and More Educational Tech Fun

Submitted by Alina Adams on Fri, 03/01/2019 - 10:00am

Students can test handmade robots on obstacle courses.

NYC kids who’ve been itching for the school year to be over so they can devote more time to their extracurricular technology passions are in luck. We've rounded up more than a dozen techie summer camps right here in the city, which all offer hands-on building, coding, 3D printing and more.

No matter your child’s interest, age or location, you should be able to pick out the perfect camp from our list below to fuel some summertime STEM learning. Act fast, too, if you want to take advantage of early bird pricing.

Learn Spanish: Language Classes for NYC Kids

Submitted by Alina Adams on Wed, 08/01/2018 - 11:00am

At the Language Workshop for Children, kids learn language through enriched play. Photo courtesy of the Language Workshop

Many New York City public schools offer wonderful dual-language Spanish programs, as well as other languages. But if your child's school doesn't offer a language program, there are lots of Spanish language programs around the city that teach young kids to habla Español. We've rounded up some of our favorite Spanish language learning centers for New York City kids. And best of all: Thanks to the wonderful diversity of New York City culture, your kids will certainly get to practice what they learn in the classroom!

Find more NYC classes in our Classes Guide and Directory Listings, and check out our guide to Foreign Language Camps for NYC Kids.

Football Leagues and Lessons for NYC Kids

Submitted by Alina Adams on Sat, 07/15/2017 - 3:00pm

Baseball may be America's official pastime but a recent study claims football is actually our favorite sport—and not just during Super Bowl season either. But while grown-ups may love watching or playing football, they're often less enthusiastic when it comes to their kids doing it, for risk of concussions and other head injuries.

Fortunately, New York City is home to a number of football programs for NYC kids, including non-contact options like flag and touch football, where tackling isn't part of the game. And even if your kids do opt for traditional American tackle football, these leagues make safety a priority, and generally children aren't allowed to pile on until they're past the peewee stage.

So get out that pigskin: Here are seven football programs where New York City kids can get their game on.

Find more NYC classes in our Classes Guide and Directory Listings.

Hockey and Ice Skating Summer Camps for NYC Kids

Submitted by Alina Adams on Mon, 01/09/2017 - 9:00am

When considering athletic camps for summertime fun, swimming, baseball, tennis, and outdoor team sports come to mind first, but if your kids prefer their summer vacation served ice cold it's totally doable in NYC even when the temperatures are well above freezing. Four of our city's wonderful indoor ice-skating rinks offer figure skating or ice hockey summer camps for your budding Michelle Kwan or Wayne Gretzky.

NYC's Kindergarten Application: Everything You Need To Know

Submitted by Alina Adams on Tue, 01/03/2017 - 1:30pm

It's kindergarten application crunch time in New York City. Kindergarten Connect, the relatively new form that New York City parents need to fill out either online, on paper, or by phone in order to apply their children to kindergarten for the 2018-2019 school year, must be filed by Friday, January 12 (although that deadline has been extended by the Department of Education in the past). It is not first-come, first-served, so when you turn it in doesn’t matter, as long as you do it by the deadline.

Perhaps it seems you sweated through preschool options and the pre-K decision just moments ago and are once again feeling overwhelmed at the options—the process. As the author of Getting Into NYC Kindergarten, I realize that there is a great deal of confusion about what goes on Kindergarten Connect, and what doesn’t, as well as the optimal way to rank your options to raise the odds of getting into your top-choice school, including a popular zoned kindergarten. So I've put together some simple tips to demystify the process. Relax, it's not high school—not yet!