tweens + big kids

Whether your kids are figuring out how to sound out words for the first time, or you have older grade-schoolers who just might choose an educational app over a game from time to time if it's fun enough, educational apps can certainly be …

Can it get any cuter than this? That's the first thing that I said to myself when I saw The Polaroid Cube camera . I mean, look at it: This new little number is teeny -- less than 2 inches -- but can shoot quality 6 megapixels photos and…

From what we're hearing from our readers, more of your kids are heading back to school with gadgets in hand. While we'd always recommend a case like an Otterbox for pure protection, my kids also have my old iPhone hanging around the hous…

I do not play Candy Crush. Hear that, Facebook friends who keep sending me invites? Not going to happen. But that doesn't mean I'm against playing games on smartphones. In fact, just last week I was playing something fun on my husband's …

With our smartphones able to do so many fun things now, it can feel like we're walking around with a party in our purses. Well, AR for Her decided to make that quite literal with this Clutch Bluetooth Speaker . As in, yes, it's designed …

Much to my children's delight, my new Macbook meant transferring ownership of the old one. As in the embarrassing old Macbook I've shared here before, the one with missing letters galore. Seeing as how they have yet to master the art of …

Editor's Note (April 2015): Due to numerous issues with order fulfillment and reports about non-response from this company, we are compelled to rescind our recommendation of this company. We're deeply disappointed by this because we valu…

My kids are just two weeks into summer break, and they're so happy to have their days to just play outside and swim and you know, not do math. But since I don't want them to lose everything they've learned in just a few months, I've put …

The new Monument Valley app may be the most gorgeous, mindblowingly cool app I've seen in a while. And that's saying something. It's a puzzle game that's like Figaro Pho meets MC Escher. Your job is to get the silent little princess Ida …

School's almost out for summer where I am, so I'm glad to find an awesome new educational app called My Incredible Body that takes kids -- and hey, parents too -- on a fascinating journey through nearly all the organ systems in our body …

Sadly, my kids' interest in most drawing apps are growing more and more short-lived. The basic digital coloring pages just don't hold the interest of a seven and nine-year-old they way they once did. And then we found the My Virtual Fash…

Sure, our kids love to play with iPads like uh, all kids these days, but no matter how educational an app may be , it's usually a solitary activity. We've loved collaborative games made for iPad like Duo Plink (though the company is sadl…

We've covered the Snapchat app extensively since its launch, and it's grown to be extremely popular with tweens and teens, and now even brands are jumping into the app, finding new ways to promote to users there. Now that Snapchat has an…

T his is the first in a new series of posts about apps that kids are using, that parents should be aware of. And there are lots. Hope it helps. Last week brought the announcement the new Facebook Nearby Friends feature in the Facebook mo…

Kids are using cell phones now at younger ages, and the options for parent-approved, kid-safe phones are growing, which is why it's not surprising that Sprint is jumping into the ring with their new WeGo cell phone for kids. While there'…

As a parent, one of my favorite discoveries at International CES this year was the sense of volume limiting headphones for kids that seem to be creeping into the market. It's been slow going--we discovered the Aerial 7 headphones close t…

Kids lack perspective. We see it in our own kids when they moan, this is the worst day ever! and we remember it from our own childhood when a fifteen minute wait felt like hours. But here's one cool way to give kids a little perspective,…

The new The MoMA Art Lab app is for every parent who knows that kids are the original modern artists. Think about it: a child's artistic interpretation of the world is not always realistic or literal, they love to use non-traditional mat…

We've been fans of littleBits , the creative, magnetic, electronic maker toy, for quite a while. Though now that it's turning our kids into rock stars with their littleBits Synth Kit , we're total groupies. This is one very satisfying to…

W hen my 11-year old son got stranded in the terrible snowstorm we had here in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I decided that he might need an emergency cell phone for kids. While he does have an iPod Touch, I think he needs something else. Any…

My kids will no longer settle for any old box of Valentine's cards, especially now that they know how easy it is to dig up some cool printable Minecraft Valentine cards to hand out in class. Even for those of us who aren't sure if the Sh…

I feel lucky that my daughter is a voracious reader, but her curiosity has a downside: She always wants to know more. So I also feel fortunate to have discovered Duh! books . These fiction e-books, geared toward kids from second to fifth…

We love companies that consistently try to improve their already-pretty-fab products, so we're enthusiastic to tell you that SquareHub , a social networking app made just for families that we love, is branching out to Android families no…

Football parents around the country are becoming more and more concerned about concussions. Some of these medical findings we're hearing about are pretty scary. But football isn't going away any time soon, so how do we keep our kids safe…