Raven Snook

Raven is a writer, editor, performer and mom, who was born and bred in NYC, just like her husband, her mother and now, her daughter. As a writer, she's contributed articles to New York Magazine, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, the New York Post, TV Guide, Better Homes and Gardens, iVillage, AOL TV and Moviefone, Parents.com, and worked as an in-house editor for ParentsConnect.com and TimeOutKids.com. As a performer, she's appeared on many downtown stages (sometimes even for pay!), a couple of obscure films and TV shows, and The Maury Povich Show as a female drag queen. She's also the founder of Hot Mama Burlesque, the world's only all-moms burlesque show. After being the NYC editor from March 2011-March 2015, she is now happy to just be a blogger as she pursues additional writing opportunities.

Latest posts by Raven Snook

Halloween Costume Swaps for Kids: Where to Find Free, New-to-you Costumes

Submitted by Raven Snook on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 9:00am

Unfortunately, National Costume Swap isn't happening in 2015. My eight-year-old daughter is the Imelda Marcos of costumes. Every Halloween she's invited to a terrifying number of celebrations and she insists on a different outfit for each one. I happen to love dressing up, too, so, I admit, I indulge her. Trouble is, she outgrows her costumes much more quickly than I do mine—we never get more than one Halloween season out of them.

Instead of throwing all of those barely used costumes into the donation bin (or worse, the landfill), we've found a better, eco-friendly option that saves us money and is actually pretty fun: Halloween costume swaps. At these community events, you trade your child's old costumes for new-to-you outfits. My daughter enjoys tearing through tables piled high with outlandish getups, and I love hanging on to my cash.

Costume swaps have really taken off in popularity in recent years as families become ever more frugal and environmentally aware. In fact, there's even an annual National Costume Swap Day! This year's edition officially takes place on Saturday, October 12, but local community organizations across the country hold costume swaps on various dates throughout the month. We've got the scoop on how to find costume swaps in your area and tips on how to host your own.

New Victory Theater 2013-14 Season Highlights: The Best Family Shows for NYC Kids

Submitted by Raven Snook on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 10:00am

My daughter and I see a mind-boggling number of kids' shows every year. (One of the exhausting perks of being a Mommy Poppins blogger!) Some are wonderful; others, not so much (those are the shows I don't write about).

While there are lots of New York City theater troupes mounting productions for kids, there's one that consistently stands out: the New Victory Theater. Based in a beautiful and historic Off Broadway house, the nonprofit company produces a full season of eclectic works aimed at families. And when I say families, I mean every single member: I find that I often enjoy the shows as much as my daughter because they're offbeat, thought-provoking and never dumbed down or condescending. But the New Victory is much more than just a place to go see a show. Through a range of interactive educational activities like performance workshops and camps, post-show talk-backs and TXT Marks the Spot (a seriously cool high-tech scavenger hunt after select performances), the organization is raising the next generation of theatergoers and performing artists.

As longtime fans, we here at Mommy Poppins are excited to announce our new partnership with the New Victory Theater, which brings our readers more access to its incredible lineup of shows, ticket discounts and two exclusive special events (stay tuned for details). We begin with a preview of the New Victory 2013-2014 season, including show recommendations for every age and stage, tips on how to save money on tickets, exclusive video from the upcoming productions and details about enriching programs that may be under your radar.

This Week: Pumpkin Patches Near NYC, Early Halloween Fun, Brand-new Central Park Playground

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 09/26/2013 - 4:00pm

I feel like summer just ended and school just started. Yet already it's fall and my daughter is complaining because we haven't figured out our family Halloween costumes. To help you avoid seasonal nagging in your home, we've started overhauling our NYC Kids Halloween Guide, including updating our roundups of pumpkin patches near NYC, on Long Island and in New Jersey, as well as posts about popular Halloween happenings that require advance tickets like the Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze in Historic Hudson Valley and the New York Botanical Garden's Haunted Pumpkin Garden.

Other posts of note: Our Westchester site wrote about the new Mount Kisco drop-in creative spot, Arts Garage, part of the popular go-kart track and bowling alley Grand Prix. Our bloggers in Los Angeles shared ideas for managing your child's food allergies in school and at parties. Meanwhile our Boston site has tips about being a good spectator at your kids' sporting events and 20 ways to ease the pain of flying internationally with a toddler. That info should come in handy if you're inspired to visit Bristol, UK after reading our post about all the fun things to do with kids there.

Feeling lucky this week? Use that mojo to enter to win our current giveaways: a children's art class at the Art Studio on the Upper West Side and a family four-pack to see The Wiggles in concert in Westbury, Long Island. Both giveaways end soon so enter right away.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC this week:

East Village Family-Friendly Restaurants

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 09/26/2013 - 9:00am

With almost as many restaurants as NYU students, the East Village offers a wide variety of places to eat. The big issue for parents is that many of the eateries aren't traditionally family-friendly. They're pricey with exotic dishes (by kid standards, anyway), and filled with black-clad twenty-somethings who roll their eyes at the very sight of a child.

But as long as you're not expecting high chairs or chicken fingers and fries, there are a lot of great East Village restaurants that welcome families, even though they're not the main clientele. My daughter and I spend a lot of time in the neighborhood and we're big fans of a lot of local eateries, both new and old. And when I say old, I mean it: Some of our top picks, like Indian Row, date back to my childhood. Others, like Yonah Schimmel, my 78-year-old mother remembers going to as a kid!

We finish up our month-long focus on the East Village with a roundup of our 15 favorite places to eat in the area with kids, most of which my family can vouch for personally. You can find more family dining posts in our NYC Kid-Friendly Restaurant Guide.

Ariel Goes Interactive: Little Mermaid Second Screen Live Parent Review

Submitted by Raven Snook on Sun, 09/22/2013 - 10:00am

Just like other Disney properties—errr, princesses before her, Ariel is taking a second swim around the cineplex. However, the current rerelease of The Little Mermaid has a controversial high-tech hook. Subtitled Second Screen Live, it's a two-screen moviegoing experience. You download an app to your iPad that syncs up to the flick and encourages you to engage in a variety of games and activities, from trivia to mazes to sing-alongs.

In parenting circles, the knee-jerk reaction to this concept seems to be overwhelmingly negative. And I get why. As conscientious moms and dads, we're always looking to cut down on our kids' screen time. Also, using mobile devices during movies is pretty much despised by everyone (except for all those rude people who do it! I'm sure you know one or ten). Plus, Second Screen Live is clearly another attempt by Disney to wring even more money out of its already super-lucrative franchises.

But as the mom of an eight-year-old who exclaimed, "That was awesome!" after a recent Little Mermaid Second Screen Live screening, I've got to tell you, I felt the same way. It was like Rocky Horror for families with a digital twist. (As you can see from the photo, my daughter even dressed up.) And since it's very interactive and requires kids to read directions and complete challenges, it's much more stimulating than your average cinema outing.

This Week: Best Fall Kids' Theater Shows, Family Fun at Maker Faire, Minecraft and Coding Websites for Kids

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 09/19/2013 - 4:00pm

It's been a high-tech week here at Mommy Poppins NYC. We shared some of our favorite FREE coding websites for kids, rounded up Minecraft clubs in NYC, explored the American Museum of Natural History in a whole new way thanks to the History Hero app and tonight, my daughter and I are off to see the digitally interactive Little Mermaid Second Screen Live.

Lest you think HAL has taken over, we posted about some good old-fashioned analog activities, too, like great places to see autumn leaves in NYC and the top family shows opening this fall. Our regional sites are also chock-full of seasonal fun like fall harvest festivals in Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut and on Long Island, and family-friendly apple and pumpkin-picking spots throughout the tri-state area.

This weekend brings some of our absolute favorite annual events in NYC, including Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science and the Queens County Fair. Plus, on Sunday Mommy Poppins is hosting a special eco-themed family cruise on Manhattan by Sail's Clipper City Tall Ship. Enjoy hands-on nature activities, sailor skills, face painting and stunning New York Harbor views. Tickets are selling fast so get yours today.

Here's what else we covered in NYC this week:

News: The Little Mermaid Goes High Tech, Dinosaur Safari Extends at the Bronx Zoo, NYC is No. 1 and That's Not Good

Submitted by Raven Snook on Tue, 09/17/2013 - 10:00am

In this edition of our biweekly links roundup, we've got the scoop on a brilliant new service aimed at the parents of Lego-obsessed kids, a new high-tech way to apply to kindergarten, the extension of a super-popular family attraction and why audiences will be leaving their iPads on at Disney's rerelease of The Little Mermaid. Plus, some improvements are coming to the South Street Seaport and Randall's Island, and why New York City's latest No. 1 status isn't a compliment.

This Week: Free Fall Harvest Festivals, Best New Museum Exhibits for NYC Kids, Queens' New Destination Playground

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 09/12/2013 - 1:00pm

After less than a week at school, my daughter says she feels like she never left. Not that she's complaining. Going back-to-school means seeing old friends and after-school playground playdates and a break from me constantly demanding, "Go clean your room!" It also means our big back-to-school giveaway is soon coming to a close. There are still a few excellent prizes up for grabs, including boys' and girls' Schwinn bikes, and KRE-O CityVille Invasion building sets from Hasbro. Be sure to enter before they end.

Beyond school, fall brings all kinds of cool seasonal fun like apple picking and harvest celebrations. This week, we added posts about pick-your-own orchards in Westchester and Rockland Counties and organic apple picking in New Jersey to our Farm Guide. We also rounded up a bunch of harvest festivals, pumpkin patches and corn mazes right here in NYC.

Planning your next big family vacation? (Hey, holiday break will be here before you know it.) Our Travel site has a post about the best things to do with kids in Bath, England that will make you want to book your tickets pronto. And of course our regional sites are filled with wonderful day trip destinations like Saugerties in Ulster County, NY, Chester Township, NJ and the Trash Museum in Hartford, CT.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week: