entertainment Archives | Cool Mom Tech

Not into audiobooks? Here’s the one thing that finally changed my mind.

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps, Entertainment, Tips and Tricks

It took me longer than most people to get into audiobooks. Even while friends raved about flying through so many books on their commutes or while sitting in carpool lines, I had tried a few novels on Audible — good ones! — and just couldn’t get...

The Snowy Day: the Opera. How to stream it free with the kids over break

by Liz Gumbinner | Entertainment

For those of you who also grew up with Ezra Jack Keats’s magical The Snowy Day, you can imagine my thrill at discovering The Snowy Day has become a wonderful opera now available to stream on the the Houston Grand Opera website Even better, we can all watch it...

12 practical tech gifts to help get us through another long winter | Holiday Tech Gifts

by Cool Mom Staff | Holiday Tech Gifts

Not everyone loves a big, splurgey, outrageous tech gift — some of us are happy with practical tech gifts. Especially these days, when those gifts just may help us get through another (deep sigh) long winter. Colder weather has officially settled in for many of...

The best apps for road trips with kids: Map apps, entertainment apps, even restroom finder apps!

by Caroline Siegrist | Best Apps

I’m grateful for this list of the best apps for road trips with kids, because it turns out, I’m not allowed to put my kids in a hilarious sidecar by themselves during long drives. So I’ve been prepping my phone and the kids’ iPad for the long...

5 fun YouTube Kids Halloween video playlists and channels to get your kids in the spirit!

by Kristen Chase | Entertainment, Kids

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...

How to stream the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if you’ve cut the cable cord. (Psst: it’s easy, and cheap.)

by Kate Etue | Entertainment

This year, we want to stream the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but of course, we happened to have cut our cable cord years ago. Instead, we rely on several streaming services — mainly Netflix, the free HBOMax subscription that came with our phone plan, and our beloved Apple...

Here’s where to watch all the 2021 Oscars best picture nominees

by Kate Etue | Entertainment

In a typical Oscars year, I’m pretty much an expert on the (ahem) animated film category, but when it comes to the best picture or documentary feature film categories, I’ve maybe seen one or two movies. But 2020 was anything but typical, and one silver...

3 cool ways to try new board games online or play old favorites with friends

by Kate Etue | Entertainment

We’re huge board game geeks in my family. Our stack of strategy games is up to the ceiling. And while we’re always up for a new game, they’re expensive. So my new solution has been playing board games online before I buy! I get the full experience of...

12 escapist podcasts to help you get away — even if you don’t leave your living room

by Caroline Siegrist | Entertainment

Anyone else need a little break from the grindiest grind that is pandemic existence with small children? Or pandemic existence generally? I, for one, definitely do, and I’ve found some solace — and a few giggles — in these fun escapist podcasts that...

6 great Apple TV+ original shows to try, if you’re still on the fence about subscribing

by Kate Etue | Entertainment

Have you been wondering if there are enough Apple TV+ original shows to make it worth adding another streaming service to your menu? I get it, we have a lot—and I mean a lot—to choose from these days, and my family is on a budget. Since each service charges their own...

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

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.)

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