What are the best services and tools to monitor my kids screen time? 5 top picks | Guide to Digital Parenting
As part of ourĀ Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting, answering parents’ top questions about family technology, we’re sharing the best services and tools to help you monitor your kids on their gadgets. While most routers, phones, tablets and computers have...
How do I know when my child is ready for a smartphone: 7 essential questions to ask | Guide to Digital Parenting
We can’t tell you how much debate we’ve seen over the simple question, “when is my kid ready for a smartphone?” It brings out nearly as much stress, passion and well, sanctimony, as questions about breastfeeding or sleep training. Well, after...
What are the best screen time management strategies that work for parents? 5 that work. | Guide to Digital Parenting
Next up in our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting, we tackle one of the biggest challenges parents face each day: screen time management. We know full well how hard it can be to decide how much is the right amount of time for our kids, especially as they get older....
What’s the best way to set screen time rules at home? 5 simple methods | Guide to Digital Parenting
As part of ourĀ Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting, we know that a top question from parents is the best way to set screen time rules when we’re at home. And we’ve got so many helpful approaches for you! Because bringing gadgets into your family’s...
How can I stop inappropriate follow requests on Instagram?
Last week, we had a lively discussion about inappropriate follow requests on Instagram in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group. Many parents bemoaned the challenges of trying to navigate this with their kids on Instagram, even on private accounts. Unfortunately,...
Screen time and social media with kids: We might be doing it wrong, parents
Since reading Anya Kamenetz’s interview with Jordan Shapiro on NPR, I’ve made some heavy shifts in how I’m approaching screen time with my kids. For the years that they’ve been on video games, tablets and most recently, their own phones,...
How to set up the Screen Time app to manage your child’s screen time
After finally updating my son’s iPhone SE to iOS 12, I’ve been able to properly utilize the Screen Time app, which by the way, is where you’ll find all the Restrictions you might be familiar with from previous iOS versions. If you’ve got kids...
The most hilarious way to organize iPhone apps that we’ve ever seen
We’ve seen lots of different ways to organize your iPhone apps, and well, just when we thought we’d seen the best, we discovered this iPhone app organization method from Ian Stanczyk (above).Ā It’s not necessarily the best, but certainly the funniest....
So why are we all still on Facebook again?
If we’re all perfectly honest with ourselves, then we know that Facebook has presented many privacy issues for a long time now. We’ve been writing about Facebook privacy issues since we started Cool Mom Tech in 2010. That’s nine years. NINE. A quick...
What you need to know about the crazy Facetime glitch. Who can see you?
If you’re a frequent Facetime user, you might want to turn it off until Apple fixes a recent glitch that actually allows callers to listen and see the people they’re calling, even if they don’t answer. Creepy much? Related: Watch out for this Apple...
5 simple strategies for making your phone less distracting
We’ve been talking a lot about screen addiction and overuse here over the last few weeks (and well, years), including our Curb Your Screen Addiction series. Well, we recently chatted with author Jake Knapp on our Spawned podcast, who has a well of fantastic...NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week
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.
The Spawned Podcast. (It’s won awards and everything!)
At-Home Learning Help
* 14 very cool virtual summer camps for kids
* 8 of our favorite online educational resources
* 10 awesome online STEM camps for kids this summer
* Homeschooling 101: Tips for newbies
* 8 ideas for homeschool schedules that may work for you
* Creative ways to socialize online
* 5 audiobook apps keep us entertained and learning
* The best ways to clean and disinfect your phones and gadgets
* 15 awesome podcasts to keep kids engaged
“Are you guys okay with Facebook Messenger for your kids to stay in touch with friends?”
Parents have questions, we have answers
So they want to get a smartphone…
Work with us!
