Founder of Mommy Poppins
A fourth-generation Brooklynite, Anna started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to help families find the best things to do with kids in NYC, with a particular emphasis on sharing activities that are free, affordable, and enriching. The site, used by millions of families, has grown to become the ultimate resource for parents in the major US cities, plus travel guides for 100s of destinations.
Anna is a believer in the magic of summer camps, traveling with kids, and that you can raise kids on a budget and still have a rich life full of amazing memories. Anna's first Mommy Poppins book, The Young Traveler's Journal and Activity Book, published in 2025 and co-written with her daughter, Amelia Eigerman, brings that ethos to life, in addition to this website.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
We've updated our camp guide, with over 100 noteworthy Summer Day Camps in New York City or the surrounding areas for kids of all ages. Plus this year we've added a new page just for Sleep Away Camps. In our guides you'll find tons of great camps, dates for open houses, tips on how to save money on Summer Camp, and even some free camps and summer programs.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Going to Sleep Away camp can be a priceless experience for any child, but it can also seem crazy expensive. There are some free and cheap summer camps, but there are also programs that can help families make summer camp more affordable. Here are the best ways to save money on sending your child to summer camp:
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Is it just me or does it seem like lice outbreaks are becoming much more frequent in NYC schools? After never having gotten lice, my kids have had it twice each in the last two years and I keep hearing classrooms are breaking out with lice a few times a year. Perhaps this is due to the DOE changing their policy about sending kids home from school if nits are found in a child's hair, but whatever the reason it stinks for parents who have to be ever-vigilant to keep kids (and ourselves) lice-free.
Going through a lice infestation is never pretty, but I've managed to get pretty good at delousing my family. The most important thing is to make sure you nip it in the bud with a thorough treatment and don't keep having recurrences. Here are some tips on how to avoid getting lice and how to treat lice naturally if you do get them (hint, the answer is not "kindly").
Submitted by Anna Fader on
[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.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
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.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
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.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
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.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
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.
