If your kids are gamers, here are 8 tips for raising kids to have good gaming etiquette
My teenage son and his friends are avid online gamers, so I recently broached the topic of good gaming etiquette for kids and teens with them. “What?” they asked, “You mean like when people tell you to go kill yourself when you mess up?” Ouch. I knew this kind of...
3 spooky fun Nintendo Switch games to get kids + teens into the Halloween spirit
If you've been following Cool Mom Tech lately you know how much we loooove Halloween! So when we learned about a few games for our kids' beloved Nintendo Switches that feel perfect for the spooky season, we were excited to share them, Because we can't be the only ones...
Fun Halloween iPhone cases that we’d dress our phones in all year long.
Who says your iPhone can't get dressed up for Halloween too? These fun Halloween iPhone cases are the perfect way to get a little festive for the month of October -- and beyond. But especially now, with so many costumed trick or treaters hoping to (safely) return to...
How to get rid of that unread email count badge on iPhone. Because we have enough stress these days!
I know I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of the unread email count badge on my phone that taunts me loudly in BRIGHT. RED. NUMBERS. Every so often, a friend on social media gleefully (like a Mr. Burns kind of gleeful if you ask me) will prompt friends and...
The 3 best digital planners for parents, according to parents with very strong opinions about planners!
I'm always on a quest for the best digital planner for the school year, because I have developed a very bad habit: Every year I get tempted by the beautiful, fun, old-fashioned paper planners I discover on Etsy or in our local stationery stores. They're just brimming...
What does Indigenous mean? This video is the perfect explainer for kids.
On Indigenous People's Day, a lot of kids may be asking us to explain what Indigenous means. It's not the kind of word that's in a lot of kids' day-to-day vocabularies -- or at least not yet. And parents may have trouble explaining what it means, how it's different...
Nintendo Switch! Get it?
If you've got a geeky gamer to shop for, allow me to share these Nintendo Switch switch plates that I just stumbled on. Because frankly, I know I need to laugh more these days and this is doing it for me. Made by a popular 3-D printer on Etsy based out of Oregon, it's...
Is the Skylight calendar worth the splurge for big, busy families? We tried it.
I'm mom to a busy family of six, so when I saw the Skylight Calendar in my Instagram feed my first thought was, "This could change my life." Here's the thing: I have a job. I homeschool my kids and teach class at a co-op. My oldest two kids have jobs. The oldest three...
5 fun YouTube Kids Halloween video playlists and channels to get your kids in the spirit!
Here are some fun Halloween-themed playlists that your kids may enjoy on YouTube. Yes, YouTube. Now that YouTube Kids has upped their parental controls game, I've been feeling more comfortable with them using the app, and hey, sometimes it's nice to just let them...
Is the new iOS 15 Focus Mode feature helpful for parents? I tried it to find out.
Lately I've heard some mixed opinions about the Focus feature on the latest iOS 15. If you haven't updated your iPhone yet, Focus mode is similar to the Sleep mode introduced with iOS 14 with even more detail and more ways to customize your notifications from apps,...
44 cool things you can do with the Amazon Echo: From productive time-savers to just plain fun.
I received an Amazon Echo for Christmas a few years ago, and I have to admit at first I was a little skeptical. What is all the buzz about anyway and what can I actually do with an Amazon Echo? I wasn't sure it could really do more for me than Siri or my phone, but...
7 elegant cord management solutions to help tame tangles and tidy your workspace
Taming cords is one of my own top tech challenges, even as tech becomes increasingly cordless. So I'm always on the lookout for new ways to get my home office desk more organized and keep tangles at bay. Despite what design magazines tend to portray in their perfect...
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The top 10 most popular posts on Cool Mom Tech in 2021
Every year, we think it's fascinating to look back and see the top posts we wrote that captured our readers' interests and imagination. Some of the favorites were just fun (hey, trendy halloween costume!) while most this year were really helpful. And hey, we're...
All the ways kids are using tech to make their holiday gift wishlists: 11 ideas
I'm absolutely fascinated by the way my own kids and step kids use tech to make ongoing gift wish lists -- the iOS Notes app has become the method of choice for them and so far, that's working pretty well for us. Then I saw Jessica Bradley Rushing's hilariously 2021...
The best Black Friday tips to save you money online: Read this before you buy a thing!
For over a decade now (whoa) we've been sharing the best Black Friday tips to help you find the best deals with the least hassle. Now that Black Friday has turned into "Black Friday through Cyber Monday," which turned into an entire month of Black Friday deals, which...
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Alexa, surround me in the glory of Billie Eilish
If you've ever said, "Alexa, play When the Party's Over" then you'll be thrilled that Amazon has just announced the launch of the Billie Eilish special edition Amazon Echo Studio and it's pretty darn cool if you're a super-fan. Remember back in the dark ages, when we...
There’s an official Among Us costume out for Halloween. Sus! Sus!
When your teen takes the time to text you the news about InnerSloth's official Among Us costume for Halloween this year, you know that the party game that got millions of kids through the worst of the pandemic last year is only growing in power. Kind of like a player...
What my teen daughter had to say about THAT article about Instagram and body image
We're all talking about "that" Wall Street Journal article about Instagram: Facebook Knows It's Toxic for Teen Girls. You're probably talking about it. Or your kids are. I know it's all we've been seeing in our social feeds this week around here, and easily 15 people...
These 4 excellent mindfulness podcasts for kids help soothe the scaries of the world
I am so grateful for these terrific mindfulness podcasts for kids.I know I'm not the only one seeing increased anxiety levels in my kids since COVID turned their worlds -- and ours -- upside down. So all the resources I can find to help my kids cope are so valuable to...
I’m getting better sleep thanks to this app. Which you may not even think of as a sleep app.
It's been a while since we shared our favorite apps to help you get better sleep. So long, that our last post about favorite sleep apps seems to include apps all recently acquired by mattress companies. Hm. I did recently write about my favorite iOS tip for helping me...
The Dinner Party is an outstanding resource if you’re dealing with loss and grief
This week, a wonderfully human, poignant video from husband-wife team Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody went viral. Perhaps you've seen it? They used the platform to respond to a Princess Bride fan named Amanda Webb (@Alaska_Webb), a young woman who had recently lost...
10 of the best math apps for middle school that make learning fun.
As a former homeschooling parent, I am a huge fan of math apps for middle school -- and for tweens and teens whatever their grade level. I used to say that I was okay teaching math until around 3rd or 4th grade, and then I needed some help explaining certain topics to...
10 terrific reading apps for kids in middle school and high school | Back to School Tech
Sometimes we think of reading apps as for little kids, but reading apps for kids in middle school and high school can be extremely helpful. Whether your kids are voracious readers or a bit more reluctant to get lost in a book when there are video games to be played...
5 ergonomic laptop accessories you should consider for your work and study set-ups
As someone who now regularly attends physical therapy, let me be the first to advise you about the importance of ergonomic laptop accessories: So important! Given how much time we all spend on our computers these days, it really pays in the long-term to have a...
Claim your cord with these brilliant personalized cord tags
The upside of my family existing in the Apple device ecosystem together is that we can all share cords and cables. The downside? We can all share cords and cables. So I was thrilled to come across these personalized cord tags from Delightful Luna on Etsy. They let you...
6 of the best affordable headphones for students, from kids to teens.
We spent the past year evaluating the best headphones for students who are remote learning. While this fall, plenty of kids are headed back to school in person, we know that some will still be staying home, some will be doing hybrid learning, and with the pandemic...
10 of the best summer tech posts on Cool Mom Tech right now
As we mentioned on Cool Mom Picks, our team is off on a little break this week. Don't we all need one these days? (The answer is yes. Yes we do.) But hey, before we took off, we wanted to put together some of our very favorite summer tech posts -- which also happen to...