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

Rye Playland Amusement Park in Westchester

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 08/01/2012 - 4:35am

There really is no place quite like Rye Playland Amusement Park in Westchester. So close to New York City, Playland is more than an amusement park—there's also a beach on the Long Island Sound, a pool, a lake with pedal boats, a boardwalk, mini-golf, an indoor skating rink, daily entertainment and more. All those amenities just add an extra layer of fun to a day spent riding roller coasters, the log flume, the Ferris wheel, Super Flight, plus all the kiddie rides in Kiddieland.

Cool Travel Apps to Find Your Way Around and Out of Problems

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 10:01pm

This is part of a series of posts on the best family travel apps. See the previous posts on the Best Hotel and Flight Booking Apps and Apps for Road Trips.

Travel is never completely problem free. It's the unpredictability that makes it an adventure. But when traveling with kids, the seemingly smallest inconveniences can feel like major upsets, like not being able to find a bathroom when you need one, or having to walk a few extra blocks because you missed your destination, or, heaven forbid, a medical emergency.

The following apps will help you find your way around your destination and solve lots of little problems you might face while traveling:

Best Travel Apps for Family Road Trips

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 07/18/2012 - 10:42pm

This is part of a series of posts on the best family travel apps. See other posts in this series on the Best Hotel and Flight Booking Apps and Tools and Apps for Road Trips.

If the romance of road trips hasn't worn off even though you've got kids in the back seat, I get it. The idea of just jumping in the car and driving to see what types of adventures await is definitely appealing, and with a little planning and the right tools road trips can be great family vacations with kids of all ages.

There's no question that the smart phone and tablets have revolutionized long car drives for families if only because their unlimited access to games and videos can keep the backseaters quiet almost indefinitely. But there's a lot more that your digital devices could be doing to make your road trip vacation better in ways that will get everyone in the family engaged in the adventure rather than in their screens.

Here are the best apps for making your family road trip vacation better:

Best Hotel and Flight Booking Apps and Tools

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 12:12am

On Saturday I spoke at the Apple Store in SoHo about the best apps for family Travel. All this week I'll be posting my suggested apps plus more tips and technology for family travel including the best apps for family road trips, how to find the best places to eat and things to do at your destination and keeping the kids engaged in your trip. In today's post I share my best strategies and tools for getting the best prices on airfares and finding inexpensive car rentals and accommodations.

The most stressful part of planning a family vacation, in my opinion, is booking the flights. No matter how you slice it, flying with a family is expensive and biting the bullet to buy those pricey tickets can be hard. Plus you're always wondering if the price might go down, or if you don't buy now will the prices go up.

Luckily there are a lot of apps that can help make this process easier, alerting you when fares come down and even helping you get refunds if ticket prices go down after you purchase. Read on for apps that help you save money on airfares and accommodations:

I'm Speaking About Family Travel at the Soho Apple Store

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sat, 07/14/2012 - 1:33am

I'm talking at the Apple Store in SoHo today about the best family travel apps. It's a free event and if you are in the area I hope you'll drop in and check it out. I've got a ton of information to share on apps that will help you save money as well as help solve some of the toughest problems of family vacations.

The event is at 11am today, Saturday, July 14th at the SoHo Apple Store (103 Prince Street), which is re-opening for the first time after a huge renovation, so you'll get to be one of the first people to see the new store as well.

Next week I'll be posting a Best Family Travel Apps Series all week long. So check the site for those too.The topics in the series will be on the best apps for saving money on hotel and flight bookings, road trips, finding the best places to eat and things to do, navigating your destination and more.

Potted Potter: The Harry Potter Parody Keeps Muggles in Stitches

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 07/09/2012 - 9:00am

A few years ago, we made it to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival for a hilarious production of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), a show that condensed all of the Bard's major plays into a 90-minute farce that even had my six-year-old quoting Shakespeare for a week. In a similar vein, Potted Potter, now playing at the Little Shubert Theatre on 42nd Street, compresses the entire Harry Potter saga into a 70-minute romp that's fun for fans young and old.

Zarkana Returns to Radio City as Over-the-top as Ever

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 10:00am

Radio City Music Hall is known for hosting huge spectacles on its football-stadium-size stage. And Cirque du Soleil is known for its enchantingly beautiful performances. Put them together and you get Zarkana, a visually stunning extravaganza of epic proportions.

We're in Print: Check Out Our Fun Off the Ferry Guide to Waterfront Brooklyn and Queens

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 06/05/2012 - 10:00am

Lately, I've been privileged to forge some amazing partnerships. Last month we helped promote the Partners in Preservation effort that awarded $3 million in grants to local historic landmarks. Apple has asked us to present some of our recommendations for educational apps at the company's Upper West Side store (more info on that to come). And we have another fun event coming up with a large company whose name (sort of) rhymes with doodle. So things are really hoppin' around here!

But today, I want to announce a new partnership I am particularly excited about: the East River Ferry. Last summer, I wrote about my experiences riding on the East River Ferry and all the fun things my family and I did at the different stops. Not only is the East River Ferry a pleasant way to get from one place to another, an all-day pass is an awesome way to explore the different neighborhoods it services (Midtown, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Dumbo and Lower Manhattan). This year, the folks at the East River Ferry and I teamed up to expand on the idea of my original post by creating a free pamphlet with 101 things to do along the East River Ferry route.