Christina Refford

It's time for those lazy days of summer, when our kids just want to swim, eat ice cream, and make sand castles. . .and not spend one moment thinking about math facts. But, when there are a couple of apps that sneak math practice into a r…

The dog ate my husband's Father's Day gift, but I'm sure that more than gifts, he will be thrilled with their homemade cards and too-tight hugs around his neck. And since I'm pretty sure our dog can't eat my laptop, we'll be playing this…

Back when kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo burst out on the scene with his debut Easy , Gotta Be Me was one of the standout songs for its kid-affirming lyrics and celebration of being different from the status quo. Flash forward a f…

The Fids and Kamily ballot for top kids' music had a new category in '11: Top Three Songs of the year. I never saw any results though, leading me to believe that among the thirty judges, we all picked three different songs. Hey, there wa…

My girls are too young to remember the Girlhood Journeys series of historical fiction that was published years ago. But, given how much they've gobbled up the American Girl books, I knew this newly reissued series might be right up their…

Even though my kids still have weeks left of school, Memorial Day weekend feels like the unofficial start of summer to me. For that reason, we've had the latest Okee Dokee Brothers' release, Can You Canoe? , on heavy rotation because its…

At last month's Kindiefest kids' music festival, I was introduced to the kooky-cool-and-colorful world of Mista Cookie Jar . (Yes, that's Mista Cookie Jar to you.) During his high-energy set---which included a woman dancing around on rol…

May you wake up tomorrow to hugs and something yummy for Mother's Day breakfast that you didn't have to make for yourself. And whenever your day starts to feel like any other Sunday, here's a song you can crank up and play to remind the …

Take one former Skankin' Pickle, add fatherhood and a taste for great kids' music, mix it all together, and you've got Mike Park's new kindie music label Family Fun Records . And to celebrate the launch of this new label, you can get a f…

We couldn't get May the Fourth go by without a few of our very favorite recent Star Wars picks . ("May the Fourth be with you?" Get it?) After all, we have a whole entire category just for them, and even a Star Wars Pinterest Board , con…

If you find yourself at that time of day when you all need a pick-me- up (and the kids are too young for a Venti Latte, heh), we've found an excellent tune from Caspar Babypants' brand new Hot Dog! release that gives my kids and me a big…

I used to spend hours wearing a path in the carpet and talking on our wall-anchored telephone. And though my tween daughter will be less, er, tethered when she finally gets her own phone, I know she will probably follow in my chatty foot…

If you're stumped for a great, unique, LOL gift for that celeb-loving, social-media loving person in your life, we've found a gift that we can pretty much guarantee they don't already have: A black-and-white poster created from the words…

To help us celebrate this 42nd anniversary of Earth Day (wow!), we've picked out a song from one of our favorite bands for kids and adults: They Might Be Giants. Their most awesome CD/DVD combo, Here Comes Science , is a must-have for an…

In a couple of weeks, I'll head to Brooklyn for the fourth annual Kindiefest kids' music conference . It's fun, enlightening, supportive, and---as you'd expect---full of great music from some of our favorite kids' performers. And though …

Even on years when the kids have to wear snow boots for the egg hunt, Easter has always felt like the start of spring. So my pick this week is a perfectly-timed song off of Frances England's much-loved 2008 release, Family Tree . The gen…

My kids may be too young to go to a PG-13 movie on their own, but that doesn't mean they aren't as obsessed with The Hunger Games as the rest of the world these days. And while they're already reenacting their favorite scenes from the bo…

I've tried to teach my kids to look beyond the color of a person's skin, or their clothes, accent or taste in music, and treat everyone the way they'd want to be treated. But, it turns out, I'd neglected to remind them of one major group…

The other night, I dragged my kids outside in their pajamas to show them Jupiter and Venus and felt so smart, considering that the only thing I can reliably find on my own in the cosmos is the moon. But thanks to one cool app, I already …

Along with some early spring cleaning, I've decided to beautify my desk a wee bit with a fresh new look for my laptop. The wallpaper I've chosen is definitely for the birds. And that's a very cool thing. Created by the Philadelphia illus…

Part of the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is that my kids are still as crazy about the stories as they were when they first read them a couple of years ago. And today, they are all aflutter about the lastest news about The …

Look out Peter Cottontail, my kids have a new favorite on the block. And this bunny is really a monster who only thinks he's a bunny in this adorable collaboration between a rabbity monster and one exasperated little girl. Listening to m…

Even with all their toys, my kids have always been fascinated by the no-frills blue-and-green globe they can spin around and look at countries with hard-to-say names like Azerbaijan. So you can imagine how neat they are finding a brand n…

I've never been able to see the real constellations in the night sky, which is one reason I love this new song from The Pop Ups. Instead of talking about Orion or the Big Dipper, it encourages kids to use a healthy dose of imagination to…