holiday apps Archives | Cool Mom Tech

Download Apple’s free Make Your Holiday booklet and give your kids 20+ fun, creative projects to keep them busy all month.

by Liz Gumbinner | DIY, Holiday Picks, Kids

I am not exaggerating when I say that I cried after watching a presentation about Apple’s new, totally free, Make Your Holiday at-home family program. Our kids have been through so much, and whenever I think of all the companies that have stepped up to offer...

15 fun Amazon Echo skills for the holidays, from fun and festive to really helpful

by Kate Etue | Fun Apps

Just in time for the holidays, we’ve found 15 fun Amazon Echo skills that can help you stay organized, add a little more fun to your family time, and even put some magic into the holidays for your kids. If you and Alexa are in a rut, just remember: she can do a...

Hey, Alexa! Where’s Santa? And other festive Echo skills for the holiday.

by Kate Etue | Lifestyle Apps

Just in time for Christmas, we’ve found 7 festive Echo skills that make the holidays just a little more fun, for your kids and for you too. And hey, if you don’t have an Amazon Echo just yet, this might be reason to ask Santa for one. Hey, maybe...

5 fun, not-too-scary Halloween apps for kids

by Kate Etue | Fun Apps for Kids

Halloween is right around the corner, so we decided to round-up fun Halloween apps for kids that aren’t too scary, all of which happen to be free (yay!). What a fun way to get them excited about Halloween, though if your kids are anything like ours,...

Web coolness: Photographing fireworks, driverless grocery delivery, and more!

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

Here are a few cool tech links from around the web. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Here’s how to photograph fireworks so you’ll actually enjoy the pictures later. [Photo: colink on flickr via Wired] And if you aren’t seeing them in person,...

15 ways Alexa can make your life easier and cooler this holiday season

by Kate Etue | Smart Appliances, Tips and Tricks

At my house, we use our Amazon Echo every single day. I ask Alexa to place orders, find the proper cooking temperature of pork, or play my favorite playlist, just to name a few. So with the holidays here, I thought it would be fun to share 15 ways Alexa can make your...

Why the new Local app could make you delete Yelp for good.

by Liz Gumbinner | Shopping Apps, Travel Apps

I admit, Yelp drives me crazy for a number of reasons. And now, just in time for the holiday shopping and travel, comes a truly viable app alternative. Let’s say you live in Silverlake, you like comedy shows and galleries, and four of your friends have recently...

Last-minute tech gift ideas you can still get. But you know, hurry!

by Kristen Chase | Holiday Picks

So what if it’s the day before Christmas Eve? That’s plenty of time to grab a fabulous gift for anyone still left on your list. (Or, maybe everyone if you’re just starting). We put together a bunch of solid last-minute tech gift ideas you can still...

Christmas Lights Displays: The app that tells you who’s got the best lights in your neighborhood

by Kate Etue | Holiday Picks

One of my family’s favorite holiday traditions is the night we tuck our kids in bed, sneak downstairs and make hot chocolate to go, then get them up and load in the car to drive around the city looking at Christmas lights. But the worst is loading up and not...

5 of the best Santa apps that prove he’s real. Hear that, Virginia?

by Kate Etue | Fun Apps, Fun Apps for Kids, Holiday Picks

We’ve tried a lot of Christmas apps over the years (like, lots), and let’s just say a good Santa app is hard to find. We’ve narrowed it down to these 5 fun Santa apps that we think your kids will love. You can track Santa’s flight on Christmas...

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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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