kids' toys Archives | Cool Mom Tech

The Seriously STEM Award winners: 4 of the best educational STEM toys of the year

by Liz Gumbinner | Tech Toys and Random Fun

I was so honored to return as a judge for the second annual Seriously STEM awards, honoring the best educational STEM toys. In collaboration with STEM.org, and with judges including educators, journalists, science museum directors, and independent STEM toy experts...

LEGO’s new NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander building set is out of this world.

by Kate Etue | Tech Toys and Random Fun

This summer, July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Lunar Landing. Even though space travel has been a reality my kids’ entire lives — and mine, too — they’re still incredibly curious about the cosmos. And since they’re...

Coding just got cooler (and cuter) with the Artie 3000 robot.

by Kristen Chase | Tech Toys and Random Fun

One of our favorite tech discoveries at this year’s New York Toy Fair was this adorable new drawing robot Artie 3000. What makes him so special you ask? Well, let’s just say he teaches kids ages 7-12 how to code using activities created in collaboration...

Dyson has a vacuum cleaner toy for kids that actually works. Yes, you read that correctly

by Kristen Chase | Tech Toys and Random Fun

Back when my kids were toddlers, I remember joking with friends that I wished their little play vacuum cleaners they loved so much would actually work. And well, that’s exactly what Dyson has made. I’m not even kidding one bit. The new Casdon Dyson Ball...

Detective Agency: The new Carmen Sandiego-style game from Osmo

by Kate Etue | Games + Gaming

We’re huge fans of Osmo around my house. The kids love to play their innovative games, and I love that they seamlessly marry tangible, hands-on play with screen time. So when I saw their new game just announced today, Detective Agency, is a Carmen Sandiego-style...

Web Coolness: Turning off an annoying Instagram feature, a new Snapchat feature you should know about, and more

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

Here are some of our favorite links from this past week. We hope you find them interesting and useful! Here’s how to turn off the Instagram activity status feature. Did you know about this new Google Maps feature? (Plus, more Google Maps features you should...

2 awesome new Cubetto accessories we’re geeking out about.

by Kate Etue | Tech Toys and Random Fun

Of all the STEM coding toys that have come through our door, our favorite has been Cubetto. Maybe it’s the heirloom quality of the robot’s square wooden housing, with a personable little smile on the front. Or the fact that they don’t have to steal...

How kids can get artful with coding: The fun new sketch pack from Wonder Workshop.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tech Toys and Random Fun

I’m always happy when companies find a way to take their kids’ toys, games and activities and add components or extensions that keep them fresh for kids to play with. One of the best tech companies at this: Wonder Workshop, whose robots we’ve called...

Live long and relax, with this Star Trek pool float.

by Kristen Chase | Tech Toys and Random Fun

Captain’s log: We are still digging out of the most recent Nor’Easter but to divert our attention to warmer climes, we’ve got our eye on this Star Trek captain’s chair pool float. Related: 10 of the coolest pool floats the whole family will...

Jooki: Why we adore this 21st century jukebox for kids | CES 2018

by Liz Gumbinner | Kids Music, Tech Toys and Random Fun

Wow was I excited to discover Jooki at CES 2018. I mean, I saw a whole lot of new tech for kids, but not a whole lot beyond STEM and coding toys that really made me go wow. So I’ll be sharing a few top favorites for kids over the coming days, but I have to start...

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.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.