educational

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…

Full disclosure before talking about the new Ken Burns app: I’m a big Ken Burns fan. For nearly 40 years, the award-winning historical documentarian has been telling beautiful, expansive, influential stories on film about everything from…

Lucky kids. In the olden days, we learned numbers from boring flashcards, but our fortunate progeny have a sweet monster floating in a bathtub wearing a shower cap as their instructor right from an iPad. Just as we loved The Lonely Beast…

If you haven't tried Zoobean yet, you're missing out. It's a great resource for personalized kids' book recommendations and now we're excited to announce that they've just launched a digital membership option, making it that much easier …

Can you teach kids about the foundations of programming through a storybook about one little girl, a friendly Snow Leopard, a wise penguin, and a green robot? After learning about Linda Liukas' Kickstarter campaign to bring her entertain…

We finally decided to give our sixth grader a smart phone. And while I think the good has outweighed the bad so far, I really wasn't prepared for how complicated things would get -- and how quickly it would happen. So I can see why imple…

We're huge fans of the Endless Alphabet app around here. I mean, it was created by the same team of people who made Sesame Street's The Monster at the End of this Book , one of my childhood favorites. So I'm excited they've launched the …

Are your kids going as stir crazy as ours are with this Polar Vortex and other crazy weather? We've exhausted every board game and put together every puzzle we have in our house. So, TV. And child friendly entertainment on our computers.…

Ever since my kids started elementary school, I have always tried to volunteer and chaperone whenever possible, especially in these years that the kids still actually want me to be there. But with many different opportunities to help out…

As I woke up New Year's day and made pancakes to the sweet sounds of NPR, I realized how much I really like radio. But with radio dying, I've started making my way over to podcasts which let you filter exactly what you want, when you wan…

Shakespeare's plays are some of the most difficult pieces of literature your kids will study in school. English has changed significantly over the last 400 years, so try being 10 and having to know what the Bard meant by phrases like "Fi…

If your kids are budding creative types, but they still love to get techy with their masterpieces, you'll want to check out this cool new app that allows them to add voiceover narration to their photographs or artwork. Because next Spiel…

The Geography Drive USA app is one of our favorite fun ways for kids to learn about geography, and so we were excited to see the release of their newest educational kids' app— Geography Drive Arcade . This is a mini-arcade version of the…

The coolest new digital camera for the holidays may be one that doesn't even work. Well, not until you put it together and learn a whole bunch about the technology behind a point-and-shoot. And I know more than a couple of kids who would…

If you've been eyeing a tablet as a gift for a very special someone, especially someone who has kids, new changes to Kindle FreeTime may just seal the deal for making that Kindle Fire purchase. When the service first launched, we thought…

If your kids are no longer enchanted by SIRI, there's a new robot in town that is ready to enter their iPhone and make things fun again. Known as ROMO , this programmable robotic pet is part educational, part adorable, and part little fu…

Tablets are at the top of so many kids' wish lists this Christmas, even for the littlest ones in our homes. For the preschool set who is just starting to learn about technology, the intuitive design of touch-directed devices are amazing.…

We're big fans of products that fan the flames of our girls' love for science , and really make it cool for a girl to use her brain. PBS has always been a great channel for shows that make education cool, and I predict they're gonna have…

My kids don't know much about marine life. I'm not sure why this is—maybe because we're landlocked and don't have regular exposure to the ocean. Or maybe because children's book illustrators tend to favor more cuddly, furry creatures for…

Congratulations to one of our favorite kindie bands, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, for winning a Latin Grammy for Best Children's Latin Album! Their Spanish-language kids' CD ¡Fantastico! will turn your Sunday into a fiesta filled …

The problem with trying to find a tablet for kids is that many of them tend to look like, well, tablets for kids . And the thing is, no matter how amazing might be (looking at you, Nabi 2 and Nabi Jr ) I can't convince my older kids that…

Growing up in the midwest, our neighbors had two solar panels on their roof. I always thought that was so cool. Now panels are popping up in my neighborhood, and it's still just as cool to me. I would love to see even more solar energy s…

While we've been singing the praises of Toca Boca apps for kids for ages now, we're not the only ones. They are wildly engaging, often educational, and absolutely charming with quirky details and humorous characters that can only come fr…

If you love giving your kids access to ebooks but hate having to buy them a la carte, check out the new ebook library recently launched by Zuuka, one of the oldest and best resources in the ebook world. Over the last few years, iStoryTim…