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

5 Great Deals on the Upper West Side (and beyond)

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 11/10/2011 - 10:00am

We love finding great deals for our readers so, as part of our focus on the Upper West Side this month, we got some of the best places in the neighborhood to offer you big discounts. Read on for discounts on two favorite kids' shows at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, music classes from ABC Do-Re-ME!, a deluxe party at The Little Gym and huge savings on NY Kids Club—good at all six locations, including the UWS! If you like a deal, don't dawdle: Some of these discounts are so deep they have limited availability, first-come, first-served.

Moms' Night Out with Mommy Poppins and Scribble Press

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 6:00pm

As you may know, we are featuring the Upper West Side on Mommy Poppins this month, writing about fun things to do, cool toy stores and places to eat, stay and play.

As part of our Upper West Side focus, we're hosting a Moms' Night Out with one of our favorite family spots in the neighborhood, Scribble Press, and it's a wonderful chance to take care of your holiday card and gift making.

NYC Online Grocery Shopping Smackdown: FreshDirect vs. Peapod

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:00am

When it comes to most things to do, NYC beats the suburbs hands down. Grocery shopping? Not one of them. Supermarket-deprived neighborhoods, walk-ups and lack of a parking (or even a car) make city shopping a challenge. For a long time FreshDirect has been a game changer for NYC families, but now there's a new option for online grocery shopping. This year, Peapod brought suburban grocery shopping to the City and I put it to the test.

Read on to find out how Peapod's new service in NYC stacks up to FreshDirect and how you can save a lot of dough on your groceries.

Join the Mommy Poppins Team: We're Looking for a Few Good Writers

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:00am

As you may already know, Mommy Poppins is growing, so we're looking for some new faces to join our team. We'd love to hear from writers who live in New York City, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, who want to help us create the best content for local parents.

We're looking for freelance bloggers to write reviews of local venues and events, as well as well-researched roundups of the top activities, classes and experiences for kids.

Read on for additional info about this opportunity, as well as instructions on how to apply.

Dialog in the Dark: See NYC in a Whole New Way at This Interactive Installation

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 10:00am

Have you ever wondered how the blind are able to make their way around this crazy city we live in? Some days, navigating NYC with perfect vision is tough! Dialog in the Dark, a new exhibit at the South Street Seaport, invites visitors to experience New York City from the point of view (so to speak) of the blind and visually impaired.

When you enter the interactive installation Dialog in the Dark, you're given a white cane to help you find your way and then the lights are turned out—from this point on you're in complete darkness as you're led through several replicas of NYC environments. Each area has its own smells, sounds and things to feel. Part of the fun is figuring out where you are, so I won't give too much away, but I will give you a sense of what it's like.

Mommy Poppins Expands to Two New Cities

Submitted by Anna Fader on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 1:56am

Mommy Poppins is growing, but before I tell you where we are going, I want to take a moment to look back.

I started Mommy Poppins almost five years ago as a New Year's resolution. As I began to write about raising my children and things to do with kids in NYC, I realized that I was quite passionate about the amazing opportunities for families in this city. And for the past four and a half years, I have worked on the site feverishly, with a burning energy I cannot really explain—trying to provide the very best, most unique information for parents on a well-organized and easy-to-use site that doesn't waste your time with a lot of nonsense.

I know that some people come to the site and probably think there is some big corporation behind it, but for a long time I was actually doing everything myself. Then I started having other moms write posts and run the sites. I have been fortunate to find amazing people who are now helping to make the site better than I could have all by myself. (You can read about our team on our About Page).

Are There Any Pick Your Own Organic Apple Orchards in New York?

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 09/09/2011 - 2:48am

[UPDATED: August 11, 2012]

Many people want to know where you can pick your own organic apples near NYC. I've asked the farmers about this, and they say that in our climate it's very hard to farm apples organically and nobody really does it. Instead, you'll find farms that use low-spray or sustainable farming practices.

Yes, we're all encouraged to eat organic apples because of the high amounts of pesticides and fungicides generally used on the fruit. However, picking your own apples or buying local apples is much better for the environment than buying organic apples that are shipped in from distant climes. Plus, you're supporting small local farmers.

Here are a couple of places where you can pick your own not-quite-organic apples near New York City.

Apple Picking Near NYC Especially for Families with Toddlers

Submitted by Anna Fader on Fri, 09/09/2011 - 2:27am

[UPDATED: August 11, 2012]

With apple- and pumpkin-picking season closing in, and the fall weather approaching, how best to include the little ones? We went looking for some of the best places to go apple picking within one hour of New York City that are good for families with toddlers. These spots have small trees with low-hanging fruit so that little ones can reach the apples, plus other fun stuff for kids like hay rides, petting zoos and more.