The Thimble STEM subscription box brings cool projects to your doorstep every month
I'm amazed at the quantity and quality of STEM toys and projects for kids that keep coming out. Anything that parents view as educational and kids view as entertainment gets a thumbs up in my book, which is why I'm excited about a new STEM subscription box service...
Fun Valentine’s Day tech gifts for $75 or less
Now that Valentine's Day is just a few days away, we look at it as one more thoughtful opportunity to give a coveted gadget to that special someone. I love any excuse to give (or ahem, get) a tech gift. And it definitely has more longevity than flowers. So in the...
Sponsored Message: VidMob helps you turn your home videos into masterpieces
This is a sponsored message from VidMob Take all those videos of school concerts, soccer games, even family vacations sucking up memory on your smartphone and turn them into professionally-edited masterpieces you'll watch over and over thanks to VidMob. This...
Organization help: Decluttr app gives you cash for unwanted CDs, DVDs, and games. But is it worth it?
Since starting to Konmari, or "tidy," my home almost a year ago, I've found myself avoiding certain categories of stuff left to purge, like the four large bins of CDs we've had stored in our basement since switching all our music over to digital. But I recently...
12 of the best geeky-cool printable Valentine’s cards: Star Wars, Minecraft, emojis, FNAF, science and more.
With Valentine's Day coming up, always love looking for fun printable geeky Valentine's cards for those kids less into doily hearts, and more into zombies, Star Wars, Minecraft, and outer space. Here are 12 of our favorite geeky-cool printable Valentines for kids that...
LumiKids Snow: Free app of the week
Welcome to our new weekly series on Cool Mom Tech that introduces you to some of our favorite free apps to download to your devices. Because as much as we love all the useful, fun, and entertaining apps we recommend here, admittedly we love them even more when they're...
Shop through apps, get Valentine’s deals. Nice!
If you're an iOS user, check out iTunes and you might be interested to see a new category called Valentine's Deals with Apple Pay. Well, at least I was interested so I took a closer look. And it seems that as an incentive to use Apple pay through your device -- which...
Fighting hackers: Expert tips for protecting your webcams, baby monitors, and connected devices
While we laud the continual stream of gadgets that provide us with smart appliances for smarter homes, it gives pause for thought on how all of these connected devices are interacting with each other, what they're accessing, and most importantly who is accessing them....
The best wireless Bluetooth earbuds: After much searching, they actually exist.
I was looking to track down the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds for a holiday gift for my audiophile boyfriend and wow, who knew it would be so hard. I've been really happy with all kinds of wireless over-ear headphones I've tried out, but wireless earbuds? They tend...
The cutest geeky DIY Valentine’s Day card mailbox
We recently put together a really fun collection of 11 DIY Valentine's crafts for preschoolers and young kids, and in the process of hunting, Kate tracked down this option that deserves its own space. If your kids need to bring their own mailboxes to school for...
Kids’ music for Valentine’s Day: Heart Beats is ultimate cool compilation, nothing sappy.
One of the sweetest things you can share with your kids on the 14th, well, in my opinion, is this brand-new compilation album of kids' music for Valentine's Day called Heart Beats, featuring a whole bevy of artists whose music we've loved for years, from Laurie...
The new UviCube UV light sterilizer: For more than just sterilizing baby bottles.
It's officially winter, as Jonas has let us know oh-so-subtly this past weekend. And since everyone in my house also has some form of a winter cold, I'm officially over the germs that go along with the cold weather. So while we're stuck inside, I've been making the...
Tech Tips & Tricks to Make Life (Way) Easier
How to free up space on your phones and tablets with 4 easy steps. Because more pictures are coming, you know it.
If there's one thing that will throw off my whole zen vibe, it's seeing that "you're out of memory" alert pop up on my tech devices when I try to download an app or take a video. I almost want to turn to my gadget and say: You're the smart one. Fix it. But since...
The best tips to spring clean your tech: Make your smart devices sparkle like they’ve never encountered a toddler
Ready for the best tips to help you spring clean your tech? Hey, it doesn't even have to be spring. The way we are constantly putting our hands all over the faces of our smart devices, you would think we were John Travolta at the Oscars. Sticky fingerprints, greasy...
Making math fun: 8 ways to help get teens excited about math
If you have a teen in your household, as some of us do, you'll know that their math homework is getting much more challenging and sometimes (we'll admit it) frustrating. But that doesn't mean that there aren't ways for making math fun in really great ways. Hey, it's...
Even More Coolness. Enjoy!
Star Wars bouquets! Can we say this is the Valentine’s gift you’ve been looking for?
Roses are red, violets are blue, but neither will put a smile on your Star Wars-loving valentine's face like one of these quirky Star Wars Valentines bouquets from our favorite geeky shop, Think Geek. Just imagine handing your beloved a bouquet that includes nine...
How to get started on Minecraft PE: One newbie parent’s intro into the square world
Of course I've heard about Minecraft. How could I not? The crazy best-selling, square-loving video game is practically everywhere and has been for years now. I also knew the super skinny basics on Minecraft: It's all about virtual, 3-D worlds engineered by players...
Tado offers smart climate control, now for homes without central heat or air
We do our best to save energy at home, but it is easier said than done with three kids who like to leave lights on all day long. (Even in the closets. Just, why?) That said, smart thermostats have been making it easier for so many families to conserve on heat and air...
Two fun, creative, and (mostly) free apps for kids to keep them engaged when they’re stuck indoors.
If you're tearing through the list of snow day activities to keep the kids occupied when you're stuck indoors, allow us help you with two beautifully designed, really fun new apps we've discovered from Seedling. As in, the same company whose affordable craft kits...
Snow Day by Bleu: The perfect kids’ music download for those of us hit with another snowpocalypse
With both my editors buried in winter storm Jonas and at least six inches outside my own suburban Boston window, it seems apt that today's kids' music download be one that sings of every school kids' favorite day: A snow day. Snow Day by singer-songwriter Blue (a.k.a...
The coolest new tech for parents this year: Best of CES 2016
At the recent CES 2016 show, coverage, I was excited to see all the incredible tech designed just to help parents make our lives run a little smoother on a day-to-day basis. (No diaper changing robots yet, sorry.) From trusted brands showing off impressive...
Must-read info: How your Instagram photos could be used by brands. And what to do about it.
Just a few days ago while perusing new Cool Mom Picks Instagram followers (hey, thanks new followers!), I clicked over to the Sesame Place Instagram feed and noticed something pretty surprising in their bio: Photos using #sesameplace become property of Sesame Place In...
David Bowie’s Kooks covered by Elizabeth Mitchell: Kids’ music download of the week
We were all saddened and shocked to hear of the passing of David Bowie earlier this week whose voice so many of us group up listening to on the radio or on our favorite albums and cassette tapes. I know that many of us at Cool Mom Tech immediately turned on David...
A must see: Dr. King’s legacy, in his own writing
One thing that's become abundantly clear to me after a year of following Black Lives Matter tweets and listening more closely to what people of color have to say about their own heroes and history without media spin, is that a lot of us have only grasped a very very...
With the Felt greeting card app, your kids will be begging you to let them write their thank you notes
If you haven't quite gotten around to having your kids write out their thank you notes for all those Christmas and Hanukkah gifts they got last month, you might want to check out the new Felt greeting card app which just launched. By letting you design your own...
The coolest new wearable fitness trackers: 7 fascinating picks from CES 2016
I'm still trying to parse through the gads of incredible tech I saw at the International CES 2016 show last week, but one thing is for certain, wearable fitness trackers, those hot tech accessories that really blew up over the last couple of years, still take center...
The Hatch Baby smart changing pad: Life-changing new tech? Or way TMI?
As we're seeing at CES this past week week, pretty much everything in our homes is going "smart" these days, and your baby's changing table is no exception. The Hatch Baby smart changing pad isn't just a soft place for your baby to lay while they get cleaned up. It...