CuriosityStream lets you turn your binge-watching habit to fantastic documentaries.
Documentaries are hot right now. The whole earth seems to be obsessed with Making a Murderer, and movies like What Happened Miss Simone?, Man on Wire and Jiro Dreams of Sushi have been big hits in the last few years too. I’m not surprised, considering I’m...
Cutting the cable cord: 5 things that happened when I finally did it
I’d been considering cutting the cable cord for about a year before I actually took the plunge. My kids and I rarely ever watch cable, and pretty much never use the landline (I don’t think I ever actually learned that phone number!), so it didn’t...
The Kid Should See This: A smartly curated collection of cool videos for kids (and their parents, too)
We’re always looking for cool educational videos for kids, whether they’re the funniest videos on YouTube, or educational videos and YouTube channels that our own kids love. In fact, we’ve joked that we could just do that, full time, every day. But...
7 of the best YouTube channels to get kids excited about math
Even though our kids will be getting lots of STEM in school these days (at least, we hope so), we love the idea of encouraging their love of learning about science, math, and related subjects outside the classroom too. YouTube can actually be a fantastic resource for...
A simple guide to cutting the cable cord: 4 of your best options
For well over a decade, people have been talking — or more like yelling — about being hamstrung by cable companies. Some had-it-up-to-here folks have started cutting the cable cord and looking for more manageable, customized ways of watching what they...
Common Sense Media: How to know what to watch with your kids, and when
It’s been awhile since we first mentioned Common Sense Media on Cool Mom Picks back in 2009. Since I check it so often, like to remind myself whether there are any pikes through the head in Hunger Games, or whether The Bad News Bears is totally inappropriate for...
6 fantastic educational YouTube channels for older kids, to help make the most of that extra screen time.
My kids are already saying they’re bored during the afternoon when it’s too hot to play outside too long. So yeah, they may be getting more screen time than usual, but I’ve been trying to justify it by finding some educational YouTube channels. Or at...
The New Spotify changes: 3 awesome reasons to become a Spotify Premium member right now
We’re huge Spotify fans in my home and on the go (in case you were still wondering whether moms actually know how to use Spotify), and now with the big New Spotify announcement yesterday, I’ve suddenly got a few more reasons to love this popular streaming...
The new Roku 3: Why you want it.
As an avowed Roku devotee — a word that’s hardly strong enough considering I’ve convinced most of my relatives to invest in one — I was excited to check out the new Roku 3 that just came out this spring. Let’s just say, they had me at...
Sling TV: Is this affordable cable alternative worth considering? A thorough look.
I finally sat down and took a good hard look at my cable bill and…whoa. When I consider that there are probably only 4-5 cable channels I really watch, aside from premiums HBO and Showtime; I do pretty much all my watching on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant...
Sending your mom a real card for Mother’s Day: What a novel idea!
With all the digital ways you can say “Happy Mother’s Day” to the special mom in your life this Sunday, sending an actual paper card is an extra special treat. And that’s why this card made me laugh. Yes, I love texting and Facetiming as much...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz
We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.
We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.
We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.
(Answer: It's complicated.)
We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.
Our Podcast. (It’s won awards and everything!)
Parents have questions, we have answers
NEW For 2019!
Atomic Habits by James Clear :Oct 1
No More Mean Girls, by Katie Hurley
The Yes Brain, by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
How to Break Up with Your Phone, by Christine Price
The New Childhood, by Jordan Shapiro
How to Be a Happier Parent by KJ Dell'Antonia
Raising Empowered Daughters by Mike Adamick
Radical Kindness by Angela Santomero
“We just had our first instance of one of our kids lying about a social media account. Any advice is appreciated on how to handle this in as positive a way.”
So they want to get a smartphone…
Work with us!
