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

Hey Joe Guitar: Private Music Lessons for Kids in New York City

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 2:50pm

[UPDATED: July 18, 2012]

I periodically receive emails from parents looking for help finding a private music teacher for their children. Up until now I've never had a great answer, usually directing them to one of the nearby music schools. Outside of getting a recommendation from a friend or neighbor, finding a music teacher who does private lessons in your home can be a hit or miss affair.

But I recently learned about Hey Joe Guitar, a service that provides screened music teachers to children and adults. Hey Joe Guitar offers lessons in guitar, piano, voice, violin, horns, drums -- in fact, every teachable instrument -- and their teachers are graduates of top music schools in the nation, all screened with background checks and also for their amiability, flexibility and love of teaching.

Best Family Friendly Dim Sum Restaurants in New York City's Chinatown

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 6:54am

Dim sum is one of the really fun things you can do with kids in New York City. With huge steaming carts of dumplings and other intriguing Chinese delights that roll right up to your table so you can point and pick exactly what you want, it's a culinary experience your kids won't soon forget.

With Chinese New Year around the corner, I thought it's be a good opportunity to share some of my favorite dim sum restaurants, but first some tips on going to dim sum with kids and ideas on what to order once you are there.

New York City Summer Camp Fairs and Open Houses 2011

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 9:11pm

A great way to get a feel for a camp is to visit it in person. Whether you're thinking about day camp here in NYC or in the country, or especially sleep away camp, there's no better way to check it out than to meet the people and see the facilities first-hand. Many camps will let you visit any time, but some have special open house dates where you can get a tour and maybe even try out some of the activities for yourself. We've collected a bunch of upcoming open house dates, but if you don't see the camp you're interested in listed here, just give them a call and ask when you can visit. And if you can't get out of the city just now, check out the Camp Fairs being held by New York Family starting this weekend, on Saturday in Manhattan, or in Brooklyn on Sunday.

Check out our Camp Guide for more ideas on cool summer camps around NYC.

10 Cool Things Happening Now: Camp Fairs, Free Swimming Classes and Ice Skating, Hot Chocolate Festival and More

Submitted by Anna Fader on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 11:03am

There's just so much freaking cool stuff going on all the time in NYC and if I wasn't so busy staring in disbelief at all the snow I would write up each of these things separately, but as it is I have a lot of ironic tweeting and facebooking to do about how unbelievable this winter has been. Who has time to blog?

Seriously though, read on because there's a bunch of really neat things that you want to know about from free swimming and ice skating to a play that offers babysitting as well as theater. Plus s'mores, hot cocoa, a baby and me lunch deal and more.

Boredom Busters: Best Activity and Coloring Books for Kids

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 01/25/2011 - 7:09am

As much as we love getting out and enjoying all the fun indoor activities of NYC, when the temperatures are this cold it's also nice to spend a cozy day at home playing around the house. But cozy can go crazy very quickly if you are not well stocked with things to do. And the perfect thing to have on hand, especially for apartment dwellers, in my opinion, is activity books.

Here are my favorite boredom busting activity books for boys and girls. These also make terrific birthday party gifts or long distance travel sanity savers.

Off Your Desk Helps You File (And Get Paid) On Health Insurance Claims

Submitted by Anna Fader on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 11:23pm

Note: Next week we will be offering a Poppins Perk to try out Off Your Desk to try at an incredibly low price.
While the politicians debate our health care crisis in Washington, every day, regular people have to struggle to try to get adequate health care without going broke. It is likely that everyone, at one time or another, has had a run in with their insurance company. From my personal experience I know that I will need to file most claims at least twice in order to get them processed correctly, whether because they were "lost" or denied or just some petty thing they can find to not file it, knowing that many people are too busy to follow up.

New Winter Fun Guide and Updated Indoor Activity Guide Here With The Best Things To Do Now

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sun, 01/16/2011 - 3:40pm

If cold, gray and slushy are the only words that come to mind when you think of Winter in NYC, then you have come to the right place. Just because the thermometer seems frozen below 32 degrees and you're too cold to think, there's no reason you can't still have fun.

Our Winter Fun Guide is a new guide for us and filled with the best things to do in New York City this winter from culture highlights to indoor and outdoor sports, winter day and weekend trips and other ways to have fun without the sun. We'll be adding more to this guide in the coming weeks and you can always find the latest winter news at the bottom of the guide. Make sure to check it whenever you need a little bit of frosty inspiration.

We've also updated our Indoor Activity Guide where you can find lots of places to get in from the cold, from play spaces to free indoor spots to hang out. There's no need to suffer from cabin fever.

Our Winter and Indoor Guides have everything you need to know to keep the good times rolling until Puxatawny Phil brings us warmer days.