How Great Can This Day Be by Lori Henriques: Kids’ music download of the week
It can be hard to remember how wonderful the holidays are when our "to do" list is a mile long with food to make, gifts to buy, homes to decorate, and--oh yeah--kids to raise. That's one reason I adore this new song by Lori Henriques which reminds us How Great Can...
Kids Creation Station transforms your kids’ artwork through 3D printing
3D printing hasn't exactly taken off yet, but based on glimpses we've seen -- like food, makeup, and super cool small stuff -- we'd love to see it start to play a larger role in our lives. And with an incredible new site called the Kids Creation Station, presented...
MarcoPolo Weather app: Control the weather! Well, kind of.
All three of my kids have a slight obsession with the weather. I'm sure some of their curiosity is due to the downright weird weather we often see here in Colorado, so it's no wonder my youngest is really enjoying the MarcoPolo Weather app, which gives him some...
ScratchJr iPad app brings coding to the kindergarten set
Let's face it: Our kids and these tiny screens are going to be together for the long haul. Might as well teach the ins and outs of all things digital from early on, right? I'm talking about coding for kids: teaching children how to speak programming languages...
Sparkup: An e-reader just for kids. (As in, hands off Mommy’s Kindle.)
Though reading to the kids has always been one of my favorite things to do, it’s not always possible for those of us who travel for work, have a newborn, or just get too busy to drop everything to read a book for the fourth time in an hour. On those days, instead of...
12 printables you’ll want to have printer ink on hand for over the holidays
If you're like me, you'll be printing your fair share of printables and more over the holiday season, which as we all know, often means those dreaded last-minute trips to the office store for more printer ink. Always at the most inconvenient time, right? Well, pretty...
Frozen’s Anna and Elsa, now teaching kids to code: Do you want to build a snowflake?
While I don't think that it's essential to turn everything princess-themed to get girls coding and engineering, I do think that relatable themes and properties, whatever they may be, will bring more female enthusiasts into the fray. My own girls love Minecraft, they...
HipChip makes collecting for a group gift easier, with a lot less nagging
Though I'm sure my kids' teachers, coaches, and other VIP's appreciate the effort that goes into collecting money for a group gift at the holidays, I just dread being the poor person in charge of that thankless job. Bugging people for money, no matter how noble the...
What are the best wireless speakers for kids? Reader Q&A
I am looking for a compact Bluetooth speaker for my daughter for the holidays. I don't want to spend a fortune, but I do want good quality. And she's 6, so I'd like it to be something she can grow with. - Jennifer It's a definite cool mom move to think ahead...
Sponsored Message: Peppa Pig’s new apps are free and loaded with fun
This is a sponsored message from Entertainment One Family Preschoolers can't seem to get enough of Peppa Pig, one of the coolest new cartoons to hit the tube in the last ten years. Probably because Peppa Pig likes a lot of the same things your own kids do, from...
Twelve South’s SurfacePad: If you’re going to cover that iPhone 6, may as well be in something gorgeous
The minute I slipped the SurfacePad from our innovative friends at the small company Twelve South onto my iPhone 6, it practically winked at me. All of sudden my trusty phone was not only smart, but now it was fancy, too. Well, fancier. Between the smooth Napa leather...
Looptworks: The loveliest gadget cases made from leftover materials
We have covered tons of gorgeous mobile phone and tablet cases on Cool Mom Tech over the years, many of which I covet. But I'm really in love with pretty much every leather gadget case on the Looptworks site, not only because they're beautiful, but moreover, because...
Tips & Tricks to Make Life (Way!) Easier
5 tips for picking an e-reader that’s right for you
From the rumors we're hearing, it might not be long before our kids are toting a single e-reader to school in lieu of all those heavy textbooks. e-readers are changing the world, so it's not surprising that we get a ton of mail from Cool Mom Tech readers asking for...
Best Buy Wish List Video – Last Minute Shopping Tips
Here's the next fun installment as part of our Best Buy Wish List video series featuring our co-founder Kristen. This time she's getting a few last minute shopping tips from a friendly Blue Shirt who's got the inside scoop on things like the last possible moment you...
Here’s how to get to inbox zero. You can do it!
I have more problems managing my inbox flow than you can imagine. Seriously, you don't want to know how old some of the emails in my inbox are. (Okay, 4 years. Just in Gmail. My other account goes back to 2002.) So after much urging by kindred spirits on Twitter, and...
12 smart tech organization tips for the holidays. Get those homes ready! Mostly.
The holidays are coming—as in, fast—and that means company. While we're always thinking about organization tips like cleaning off the china or straightening the bookshelves, it's easy to forget about what a presence tech is in our homes and how it can really make us...
Tinybop Homes: Take a peek inside a Brooklyn brownstone. Or a Mongolian ger.
I confess: I've always been super curious about how other people live. I'm the nosy one who tries to catch a glimpse through lit windows while walking or driving by, and I'm afraid my kids have inherited my curiosity. Thankfully the new Tinybop Homes app lets all of...
Let EverMinder be a reminder to you
I can keep amazing amounts of information in my poor, overtaxed brain, including practice schedules, appointment times, my wedding anniversary and my own kids' birthdays. But for anything beyond that, I need help. Fortunately EverMinder reminder website is here to...
The new Kindle Voyage: An e-reader that makes you want switch to e-readers.
Up until a couple years ago, I held on steadfastly to the whole idea of wanting to read with a real book in my hands, as opposed to seeing digitized pages on an e-reader. That is, until I got my hands on a Kindle, and became hooked. So I'm really happy to report that...
Free music for kids for Thanksgiving | Kids’ music download of the week
With all the adults around them pondering such things as "greens beans or brussel sprouts" or "what type of stuffing", it must seem to kids at this time of the year that we've all lost our minds as we ponder what to serve for Thanksgiving dinner. So today's download...
Notti smart lamp: our cell phone alerts just got waaaayy prettier
I am so grateful for the advances in tech we've seen in the last few years. Still, there are times when I know I need to put down the screens and be present, but that's really hard when I'm expecting an important call or email. The Notti Smart Lamp, which is at the...
The nabi Big Tab HD: a kids’ tablet where size does matter
We haven't been shy about singing our praises for nabi tablets for kids. Between the nabi Square, nabi Jr. and the nabi 2 (which I dubbed the best kids' tablet at the time), it's pretty safe to say that we are very fond of their awesome educational products. When I...
Bring the great outdoors inside with the scenic Toca Nature app
Though my kids love to explore the woods behind our house, with the weather turning frosty their time spent outdoors will be shortened considerably. So for those days when Mother Nature is less than hospitable, I'm thrilled to find the Toca Nature app from Cool Mom...
Math apps for kids that are fun and focused on learning? Goes in the plus column in our ledger.
We're always on the lookout for the best math apps for kids that put some fun in the fundamentals, especially for the 3- to 7-year-old crowd. Getting kids excited and interested in math from an early age just makes good sense -- good number sense, to be more...
Sol Republic PUNK: An ultra rugged, affordable Bluetooth wireless speaker that rocks hard. (No wonder it’s named PUNK.)
These days, you can't swing a USB cable a foot without knocking over at least 40 different Bluetooth wireless speakers. And that's just the good ones. Thanks to Cool Mom Tech, I've been lucky enough to try out a lot of these same speakers. Oh, the solo dance parties...
Oh Appy Day! featuring Gail Simmons
Oh Appy Day! gives you the scoop on the coolest apps from some of the coolest people anywhere. This week, our favorite foodie mama, Gail Simmons, shares her favorite. The apps I use most, truthfully, are Uber and Waze in tandem. I’m a Brooklyn mom—I just moved to...
14 of the best (this means fun!) YouTube videos for kids
The thing about YouTube is, it can go from super fun to totally overwhelming--not to mention disturbing--on a dime. Sometimes when I'm watching my 5-year-old son watch his YouTube videos on my old iPad, all I can do is hope that we don't land on something very...